Fanta Connection

In preparation for Rhythm Café (this coming Sunday at the studio from 2-5pm), members of the older ROOTS class joined the youth performers at their rehearsal. They will be performing a couple of pieces together at the annual event. After meeting & greeting they worked on a vocal and drum version of Drum Talk, a series of rhythms from the northern region of Ghana. We also had a terrific joint Bell Forest rehearsal with lots of cool rainforest sound effects.
Rhythm Café is also a chance for us to kick off the fundraising campaign for FOOTSTEPS TO GHANA 2011. This is an educational tour that Baobab Youth will undertake to Ghana in the summer of 2011. Some members of the ROOTS class will be moving up into the youth group by then, so last night's joint rehearsal was a great way to get to know each other better. AND as luck would have it, we were visited by the FANTA Fairy. On past youth trips to Ghana (2001 & 2006) the favourite drink to enjoy at the village "spot" is a bottle of cool orange Fanta. last night everyone got a taste of that for themselves, handed out by Lucia, one of our senior members who was on the 2006 trip. Bottled Fanta is hard to come by in Ottawa, so it was an awesome and much-appreciated treat. Big Thanks to the FANTA Fairy!!!!

Youth on the Hill

Baobab Youth Performers performed this past Monday in the Senate Chamber in honour of National Child Day. Hosted by Senators Jim Munson, Terry Mercer and Ethel Cochrane, the event was a wonderful mix of inspiring stories and performances by young people . Baobab Youth had the honour of opening and closing the event, complete with procession and recession. The drum sounds great in the beautiful and wood-filled room....dancing on the plush red carpet was another thing... Other performers included Propeller Dance, HB Breakers from Hintonburg Community centre (we are big fans!) and the Ottawa Catholic School Board choir.

Grannies Groove!

Several members of the Capital Grannies have been gathering for occasional workshops at the Baobab Tree House studio with Kathy Armstrong. They recently performed at a gathering of several granny groups, who are part of a large network that raises money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. They led themselves in arrangements of West African drum pieces, south African chants on some of Baobab 's drums and drums that they made themselves. Apparently they were a hit!

"We did it and loved it! A short quiet practice in the kitchen ( they didn't want any noise !) and then we were on. It was a great feeling when all the grandmothers joined in with our singing and chanting! The more they did the more we enjoyed the moment. The audience seemed to really get into it and followed us around the room on the last piece - they were chanting and clapping. It is amazing how drumming, singing and chanting can create such community spirit. Thanks so much for giving us the confidence we needed. We now want to expand our pieces so will be back in touch for more workshops! "
-Kate Bryant