Conga Drumming Class! Wendnesday, 7/18

Learn how to play the Latin Conga drums and percussion
instruments at tomorrow's YWDEP drum night, 6-8 p.m.
1525 Newton St NW, at the corner of 16th and Newton
Sts, inside the St Stephens Episcopal Church. Our
guest instructor, Holly, will be showing up the ins
and outs of the Rhumba - a Cuban dance accompanied by
rhythm on the Congas and other percussion instruments.


Please RSVP if you plan to come so we can plan for
drums!

Thank you,
Kristen Arant
YWDEP
202-213-7810

BUSY YWDEP SCHEDULE THIS WEEK! 7/11-7/15

WEDNESDAY SESSION - 6-8 p.m. at St Stephens Church
*IMPORTANT*
please attend, and bring any poetry, songs, raps or other items you might wish to use in performance. we will be holding "auditions" for the upcoming performance this Saturday. We'll also be drumming!


SATURDAY SESSION - 12-1:15 at St. Stephens Church
we'll be watching videos of the performances from our previous year's troupes, and engaging in an important discussion about our final performances, scheduled for late August this year. In addition, we'll be going over logistics and details for our performance at THEARC.

1:15 - TRAVEL to THEARC for our performance! 1901 Mississippi Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020

2:15 - PERFORM at THEARC!

appx. 3:30 p.m. - ARRIVE BACK AT THE CHURCH - please tell your parents/guardians (if they are not travelling with us to the performance) to pick plan for a later ending time than usual this week.


SUNDAY at MALCOLM X PARK!!
The Malcolm X Park drum circle is a traditional Afro-Cuban style drum and dance circle that has been a staple of the park for more than 30 years. The circle is an inclusive, high-energy event celebrating African-style drumming and dance.

THIS SUNDAY we will meet at 5 p.m. at the park (LOCATION: the park is bordered on the West by 16th St; on the East by 15th St; on the North by Euclid St and on the South by Florida Ave. The actual address is 2330 15th St.) Find us by following the drum beats - we will be set up near the larger drum circle on the grass. Bring items to picnic if you wish!!
Note: the official name of the park is Meridian Hill Park


thanks so much,
Kristen
202-213-7810

We jammed out July 4th!

First I was so pleasantly surprised that when I showed up at the rendezvous point, at 8:45 a.m., there were already two young women there. ON TIME. many more arrived within the next 20 minutes making this a YWDEP record - all in all we had 11 girls come to pump up the July 4th Takoma Parade with their immense spirit - and almost every single one arrived ON TIME. I'm verclempt...really...it's extraordinatry.

We drove to our site in a caravan of 4 vehicles and somehow found parking slots right next to our HUGE TRUCK, sponsored by EDGE CONSTRUCTION and the wonderful man who volunteered to drive it for us. I'm not sure quite how big the truck actually was - but it held nearly 20 of us up there - girls, parents, henry and mark (my heroes, who basically lifted and carried stuff, and pounded out bass rhythms the entire time) and myself. And a big tub of ice sporting plenty of water, sponsored by the parade. There were around 15 chairs strapped with bungies to the sides of the truck. We began taking our seats around 9:45, after hanging our lovely shower curtain banners off the sides. We then waited for our turn in the line up to come - all were excited.

Only problem was that mark was standing up with his drums while everyone else was sitting, and the sides of the truck were pretty high. We were concerned no one would see us - that they would only see mark and therefore would think this was his harem, or something to that effect. So at mark's suggestion, we decided to stand, and lean our drums on the chairs, and face out to the crowd. The plan worked wonders - we started off, playing kuku of course, and got copious smiles and positive feedback the whole way. Of course there was some teenage craziness...but definitely no lack of spirit.
We weaved in and out of rhythms but always came back to go-go, which pleased the crowds especially since we implemented our chant, with 2007 embelishments: "Young women drummers got the go-go beat" (and embellishments...) "We Ballin!!!!"

I admit i couldn't resist the chanting myself.
Thank yous are in abundance -
to EDGE CONSTRUCTION and our wonderful driver...
to mary anne and mike who got us the truck and the chairs and set up this great opportunity up for us...
to the parents and guardians who brought the girls, picked them up, and some who stayed the whole time...
to henry and mark, for their diligence and commitment...
to staci, atolvise and shelia, who showed up late but were determined to find us, and did; and who helped us out so much by passing out fliers on the street...
and to the girls themselves, for really SHOWING UP, ON TIME, and for bringing such immense spirit to the day, even if their hands hurt (sorry ladies!! -- remember, ice 'em!)

Hope to do it again next year!!!
Who's with me?