Drummunity!

continued

At regular intervals Fithian introduces musical games and community-building activities. The group repeats a five-beat phrase, and in the three-beat rest that follows, all the participants call out their names in turn. By the third time around the circle, the group's short-term memory muscles have been toned up, and everyone calls out each name. In another game, the entire group plays a rhythmic phrase in unison, followed by brief individual solos, or by short singing phrases. Lots of good-natured laughter and appreciative cheers greet everyone's contributions.

At the end of the evening you walk downstairs and out onto Main Street, hands warm, body still vibrating, resonating with the rhythms, and a little extra bounce in your step.

[Review published November 2007]