It's happen'n!
"Are you going to the Happen'n?" Dawn, Ellie, Carol, and others from the Sunday drum circle at Woodstock community center have been asking me for months. Yes, I am, and the "Happen'n" - the second annual Catskill Mountain Womyn's World Drum & Percussion Happen'n - is August 19-22. Produced by Drum Central, formed by Woodstock musicians Fre Atlast and Leaf Miller to acknowledge, research and further "women's participation in the ancient and sacred rite of drumming," the Happen'n has grown from last year's successful event, which drew about 200 women from across the continent for a weekend of joyous, concentrated learning, music-making and celebration...
An important aspect of the Happen'n -emphasized by the instructors with joy and wonder- is the very existence of an all-women's drum gathering with women teachers. Twenty or 30 years ago, drumming was simply not done by women in our culture, and gaining acceptance themselves, let alone finding women teachers, was a struggle. "To me this event is so incredible," says Leaf, "When I think of all the classes I've sat in and been the only women. All of us teachers experienced that exclusion. It's not unusual now to see women carrying djembes, really playing. But it's a fairly recent phenomenon."...
"In the United States," Fre asserts "we've been separated from the shared experience people have when they drum and sing and move. I work with kids, and they think music comes from the radio, and they're not good enough to play it. You go to other places, and it's not like that. In Brazil everyone plays everyday."
Coincidentally, International Drumming Day is the Sunday of the Happen'n. If you want to come, registration for overnight accommodations has been filled for weeks, but there are still a few openings for women and girls who wish to commute on Friday and Saturday at a per day fee. To register, or for information about classes and events during the year, contact Drum Central via email: info@drumentral.net.