Turtle Drum and Dance
How to Dance with Turtles
People come from many paths to share in this experience: African drummers, Shamanic practitioners, Pagan, Buddhist, earth people, sky people. artists, off the street folk…you name it. Because of this, people are coming to do different things:
- To open themselves to spirit through dance or drum
- To do shamanic journey through drum or dance
- To sit or lie and do shamanic journey
For tonight WE are the instruments of Great Spirit.
How Our Type of Drumming Works:
- Start from silence: Don’t drum ‘til you feel spirit go thru you. Don’t dance ‘til the drums go thru you.
- Keep the center of gravity in the middle of the circle. We are drumming about us. We are holding group prayer, group journey.
- Heartbeat drummers. Drum as quietly as you can but loud enough that everyone can hear the beat. Drum louder if the room is losing the beat, softer if they are holding it.
- No words. But noises and singing are very welcome!
- It’s okay to stop drumming or dancing and switch to doing something else. Please respect each other’s space and take care of your bodies.
- When the wave goes down, if the song just ends, let it end in silence. If the song wants to do a crazy drum hoot roll, do that, but don’t ‘send’ the energy until the very end of the night.
- Sometimes people are Taken With Spirit. This is what creates terrific solos and dances. They are gifts to the us and sacred prayers to/from spirit.
- If a dancer is taken with spirit, drum to support them! If a drummer is taken with spirit, give them room to go crazy!
- If you are taken with spirit, know that we love and support you. Ride the wave and then come back and fold into the blend of the tribe because we need all of us to be as potent as we can be.
Hints on spirit-driven drumming:
Everyone is hereby released from any obligation to trying to be a better drummer!
- If you know you are a strong drummer, be a strongly generous drummer.
- It’s easier for you to listen, so listen for gems in the soup.
- If you tend to get nervous in drum circles or are new to drumming, keep your rhythm as simple as it has to be to still feel joy. Love your drum.
- There are no musical rules here but to LISTEN and try to keep the beat.
- This is not a place to practice technique. We are exercising a different part of the brain, the intuitive part, in order to bring on the most spirited drumming.
- Act like your mistake notes were the perfect notes Spirit was trying to drum through you.
You are always welcome to place something on the altar or light a candle.
Gratitude+Love = cycle of life
Prayer = intent+being.
