i am now doing gift certificates for the West African drumming
classes. The Holiday special is 10 classes for $100 or 8 classes for $80
that’s $50 off!!

if you would like to give the gift of rhythm and get your friend in to
the mix with us at Croatan–what better present than discount drum
classes?  —let me know if you are interested.

Updates:

WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING:
Monday nights
Beginners:
5–7pm
7–9pm
Advanced:
9–11pm

There will be no African Drum class on: DEC. 21st or DEC. 28th

WEST AFRICAN DANCE:

SAT. at 12pm (noon)–1:30pm

besides regular saturday class at Croatan—there is an additional
dance class with Dawn on Dec. 18th at Turks Head studio in West
Chester if you want more dancin.

The class is at 7:15pm at:
780 Miles Road
West Chester, PA 19380
(484) 467-4234
(also if any of my advance class drummers want to go drum, let me know)

There will be NO DANCE CLASS ON DEC. 26th

SAMBA CLASS
Thursdays 8–9:30pm

Class will meet every Thursday at 8:00pm EXCEPT the following dates:
Dec 24th
Dec 31st

upcoming PERFORMANCES for Unidos–(samba students)

Saturday, December 19th
Calvary Church
48th and Baltimore in West Philly
Event Time: 7:30pm
Arrival time: TBD
http://crossroadsconcerts.org/

and come see..
PHILLYBLOCO!
@ World Cafe Live–downstairs!
Jan. 9th
9pm
http://www.myspace.com/phillybloco
www.worldcafelive.com

ALSO please note:
YOGA CLASS HAS ENDED. THERE IS NO LONGER A YOGA SESSION AT CROATAN.

–keep the pulse.
–ASHE

jay

The Healing Drum

The West African drum and dance students at Croatan Studio–were
invited by Josiah Lash to come be a part of Congreso’s World AIDS day
celebration and rememberance of the struggle this past Tuesday.

There were probably about 30-40 people total. The clients here are
HIV-positive, the poorest of N. Philly, the majority are immigrants,
and the most fun, wise people you can imagine.

Congreso de Latinos Unidos (Congreso) located in North Philadelphia,
is a very large, community based, non-profit agency founded in 1977 by
Puerto Rican activists “concerned with the social and economic
conditions of the growing Latino community in Philadelphia”.
Congreso’s mission is, “to provide leadership in the development and
operation of social, education, economic and health care services and
resources that meet the needs of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican and
Latino community. All of Congreso’s programs, services and advocacy
efforts are dedicated to empowering members of [the] community to
confront and overcome the myriad of problems facing them, and to
reclaim the future for their families and their children”.

Congreso’s vision is to provide a bilingual and culturally sensitive
comprehensive network of services to support and empower residents to
create positive solutions to challenges they face daily. As a holistic
human service agency, Congreso offers a wide range of adult and youth
services including: truancy intervention, out-of-school time youth
development programs, workforce development, drug and alcohol
counseling, housing counseling, health education, teen pregnancy
prevention and intervention, maternal and child health programs, and
HIV/AIDS services.

The drummers and dancers at Croatan do a lot of different kinds of
events–trying to bring the drums to empower and celebrate and
educate, and many folks just don’t seem to get it.  It takes a long
time for a connection to be made–or it just gets viewed as a
“cultural presentation”.

Not this time.

The folks at Congreso knew what was going on and responded immediately
with dancing and smiles and clapping and shout-outs.  Most of them
came from cultures that know the drum is used for healing and for
getting the people together. We have so much to learn from them.

We are all born with a drum in our chest.

The beat of the drum resonates with the human heartbeat. In a world so
confusing and torn by evils very few of us understand– how better to
find balance and center than to connect to the heart essence?  If we
can do this personally it is personally beneficial. But when it
happens communally it is world changing.  Drumming for me is prayer.
The same holds true for personal and communal prayer.

Everything is rhythm. From the microscopic atoms vibrating around the
nucleus to the planets spinning around the sun. Rhythm is vibrations
repeated and everything that is alive is vibrating. Rhythm tells us
how and why. When we are off rhythm–we get sick. When we get
communally off–rhythm we create epidemics and oppression. To
understand the rhythms then–is to be engaged in healing work.

We dance through time as a group. We must learn how to synchronize our
personal rhythms with those of our fellow creatures.

If “religion” means to bind together, then a religion that works is
one that binds together the many rhythms that affect us by creating
spaces and atmospheres and rituals that attempt to synchronize the
three dances–the personal, the cultural, and the cosmic. When this
happens, the reward is a new dimension of rhythm and time known as
“the Sacred”.

I felt like we were in a very sacred space this past Tuesday afternoon
down at Congreso.

All the boundaries were crossed here and we created a common humanity
in grieving and celebrating together. There were people of many ethnic
nationalities, huge gaps in age ( from 2 years old to 70!)–gender,
sexual orientation, and class and we were all dancing together. We
were united against a disease that doesn’t discriminate and we were
able to show that solidarity with each other in a defiant gesture of
life because of the drum.

To be in a room with a few dozen folks who most people think are
“dying” and “poor”. and to feel and participate in the healing
passionate aliveness that came through in their dancing and fellowship
is nothing less than the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.

It was an honor to be with those beautiful souls and if we can provide
the backbeat for that kind of transformation and healing to happen–we
have a mighty gift in the drum.
–jay

Three-Day Conference SeriesGathering Around the Unhewn Stone

Biblical Explorations of Nature, Civilization, and Feral Faith

Keynote Speaker:  Ched Myers

-activist theologian and author of Binding the Strongman,

Say to this Mountain, and The Biblical Vision of Sabbath

Economics

Dates: October 16, 17, 18   2009

(opens Friday at noon, ends Sunday at 1pm)

Location:  Circle of Hope

2007 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19125

Contact: Jay Beck

jay@psalters.org

(734) 717-0771

Description:  The conference will focus on Biblical themes of Sabbath/hunter-gatherer economics, rewilding and resistance with a focus on re-reading our biblical origin stories that will shed light and give hope to our current economic and environmental crisis.  There will also be panel discussions and presentations on topics such as primal parenting, practical rewilding, musical presentations by Theillalogical Spoon and Psalters, and a report from a women’s anarcho-primitivism and Christianity conference held this spring.

Cost:  It is free to attend this event.  All meals will be potluck- please bring food to share and your own dishware.

Accommodations:  Those coming from out of town are welcome to sleep in the building.  Please bring your own sleeping ware if you plan to do so.