Drumming Circle & Uplifting Discussion 🪘✨🌍
Details
NO MUSICAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
About Drum & Soul
Drum & Soul is a participatory community gathering combining drumming, singing, reflection, conversation, and shared food.
We love the joy and energy of making music together, but Drum & Soul is more than a drumming circle. We use rhythm and music to awaken qualities such as presence, listening, courage, cooperation, and connection. Through discussion, we explore what these qualities mean in our lives and communities, and how we can put them into practice beyond the gathering.
Our hope is simple: to grow as individuals while also becoming more capable of contributing to the wellbeing and transformation of the communities around us.
Drum & Soul is inspired by Bahá’í spiritual principles and is open to everyone, whether you are religious, spiritual, unsure, or neither.
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What to Expect
We begin with a short centring exercise, then learn simple rhythms through demonstration and call and response drumming.
From there, we move into small group discussion around a theme connected to life, human relationships, community, or our role in society.
We then return to music for an open collective jam, and finish by sharing a potluck meal together.
Some people come especially for the drumming. Others find themselves drawn to the conversations. We see both as important parts of the same experience.
Typical Gathering
- 🫱🏽🫲🏻 Arrival & connection
- 🙋🏻♀️ Welcome & centring
- 🪘 Guided drumming & rhythm learning
- 💬 Small group discussion
- 🕺🏽 Collective jamming & improvisation
- 🦋 Potluck dinner & social time
The flow may shift slightly depending on the group and the space.
What is it for?
Come if you would like to make music with others, become more comfortable expressing yourself, meet people beyond your usual circles, explore meaningful ideas, and contribute to a growing community.
No musical experience is needed. If you feel shy or unsure in groups, that is completely natural. We're in it together, and matters to us is participation and not performance.
Drum & Instruments
Drums are available on a first come first served basis, and we provide plenty of smaller percussion instruments so everyone can participate.
You are also very welcome to bring your own drum or instrument.
Potluck & Contributions
Our potluck is part of the gathering, not simply food provided at the end. Sharing a meal gives us another way to contribute, care for one another, and continue the conversations that begin in the circle.
There is no admission fee, but this is a shared gathering rather than a fully hosted event, so we warmly encourage everyone who is able to bring a small food item to share.
Simple savoury and easy to serve foods are especially helpful, such as fruit, vegetables and dip, wraps, sandwiches, hummus and pita, samosas, spring rolls, crackers and cheese, or similar meal friendly items.
Sweet items are welcome too, but the above more preferred.
If bringing food is difficult, you are still welcome to join. An optional contribution toward food and materials can also be sent by e transfer to hooshmandnyc@gmail.com
Life between gatherings
Drum & Soul does not have to end when the monthly gathering ends.
For those who want to go deeper, we also have smaller gatherings we call In-Motion sessions, for deeper drumming, discussion, learning, and service. We also conduct informal home and café gatherings where relationships and conversations can continue more personally.
These smaller spaces help us gradually carry what we explore together into our friendships, families, neighbourhoods, and daily lives.
Ask us about these gatherings and our WhatsApp community if you would like to stay connected.
A little about our purpose
We do not believe a fulfilling life is only about developing ourselves, nor only about trying to improve the world around us. The two belong together.
Music can open something in us. Reflection and conversation can help us recognize it and deepen our understanding. But eventually, what we discover has to find expression in the way we live, relate, serve, and contribute.
That is the journey Drum & Soul is trying to create space for.
Come ready to drum, connect, reflect, contribute, and learn with others.
📷 Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/artsoultoronto/
🎥 A glimpse from one of our sessions
https://youtu.be/ejfeV1PF-0k
This gathering is also posted in other groups.