Thursday, September 26, 2013

Creative Practice Week 5

Part of University of Florida's Dance major curriculum includes two semesters of West African by the one and only Mohamed DaCosta.  One semester of the class I was apart of the show Agbedidi.

While I was very emerged in the dance class I never ventured into the most important part, the drums!!

So I decided to go back and see Mohamed and ask if I could play the drums, and was thrilled when he said I could.  I had always enjoyed the rhythms of the drums but had never sat behind one.  At first I was so nervous, luckily many of the drummers knew me as a dancer and encouraged me.  After a few minutes I was whisked away my rhythm and the drums.  I remember at one point thinking my hands were hurting but I just kept going.  It was such a crazy experience, I'm sure I was totally off the rhythm but I got lost in the moment. 

This sense of flow state brought me back to a personal memory of Mohamed, one day in class he seemed almost angry or upset, he sat down at the drum and before I knew it he was completely unconnected from the world and was in his own world.  I truly experienced him in a flow state. While I don't know if I accomplished that full sense of flow state, I do think that I got lost in world of rhythms and drums. 

Some ways I might adapt this model for participants in the health settings is introducing them to something that they have been around or always wanted to try.  Children are so good at doing this, I would love to challenge and engage adult patients in this idea.  The idea of trying something new with not only a musical interment but also a physical art form such as a new style of painting such as water color or pottery.  To invite these adult participants I would engage them with an art form they are comfortable with and then introduce these new experiences.  I am so intrigued to see their reflections after the fact.  I would also like to approach this with just asking the patient to try this new thing, and then compare their reflections. 



Sadly I was unable to get any media of me drumming, partly because the time went so fast it was over before I even knew it.

Here are some clips about Mohamed and the dance class and show I participated in!!







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