What an incredible weekend! This year's drumSTRONG event was an amazing accomplishment. We set another world record marathon drumcircle with 28 hours of non-stop drumming, all in a celebration of survivorship and beating cancer. Hundreds of people participated in the main event in Weddington, North Carolina on a beautiful horse farm with perfect weather. 50 other cities around the world also held drumcircle events in the name of drumSTRONG including: Dusseldorf, Germany, Tokyo and Hiroshima Japan, Los Angeles and Baltimore. Some of these cities were webcast in with the main event, so they could see us in North Carolina, and we could see and play along with them, creating a truly global drumcircle.
Many of the attendees had raised money through their drumming, being sponsored per hour, including Ann, who raised over $1,300.00 that will go to charities helping those who are fighting cancer and to help find a cure. Many of the attendees at the event in North Carolina were cancer survivors. Many had lost loved ones. Many continue to care for loved ones fighting cancer. All were part of the process of finding a cure by playing their drums.
There were about 15 facilitators who came from as far as California to attend this event. Each of us took hour long shifts to facilitate the circle. Ann and I co-facilitated one of the shifts and at one point had a four-way chant going "Drum - Strong - Beat - Cancer" The entire time there was one drum that never stopped (in the video it is the large drum up on the stand (me in red shirt playing it at the start). The 'Mother drum' was always playing to represent the fight for life and survivorship.
You can watch clips of the drumcircle here:
Videos from other cities can also be seen here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/drumstrong
Besides the drumcircle, there were many other happenings going on including lots of vendors and informational booths and a stage that featured a full lineup of eclectic music (rock, reggae, bellydance, folk, soul, etc.) Jonathan was asked to play along with an all star lineup of amazing drummers including, Jim Donovan, Vinx, Jeff Sype, Arthur Hull, Dave Holland, Mike Deaton and others.
Check out that video - http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6972801
Besides the drumcircle, there were many other happenings going on including lots of vendors and informational booths and a stage that featured a full lineup of eclectic music (rock, reggae, bellydance, folk, soul, etc.) Jonathan was asked to play along with an all star lineup of amazing drummers including, Jim Donovan, Vinx, Jeff Sype, Arthur Hull, Dave Holland, Mike Deaton and others.
Check out that video - http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6972801
At the end of the circle, we closed with a song that went, "Drum strong! ... All night long! ... We can beat it! ... We can defeat it! ..."
Next year's drumSTRONG is scheduled to take place May 21 - 22nd.
Next year's drumSTRONG is scheduled to take place May 21 - 22nd.
No comments:
Post a Comment