YWDEP Launches Hip-Hop Summer Program

2010: Listen Up!
The young woman’s voice in Hip-Hop
from the ground up: African beats to DC streets
(A collaborative project between YWDEP and The Saartjie Project sponsored in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.)

Calling DC area young women and girls!

This summer, bring your creative juices to YWDEP to make original hip-hop theatre from the ground up with other young women and girls in the city.

· Explore hip-hop’s elements of Fashion, Breaking, Beatboxing, Rhyme/Rap and Knowledge of Culture & Self
· Investigate the roles of young women in hip-hop
· Learn performance techniques and ensemble creation
· Learn West African drumming, dancing and rhythms and how they have influenced hip-hop music and culture
· Create and perform an original play on a professional stage this Fall

This summer, we will create an original work driven by the interests of young people inside a supportive and nurturing environment that challenges young women to become self-actualized. Participants will engage in innovative training in physical acting and group creation, and have the opportunity and produce all aspects of their own show while learning how to drum, dance, beatbox, write poetry and lyrics, create art, sing, and act.

SCHEDULE
Summer Workshop Dates:
Saturdays 11am-3pm May 22 – August 28
Thursdays 6-8pm June 17 – August 26
@ St Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Columbia Heights DC

This summer, bring your creative juices to YWDEP to make original hip-hop theatre from the ground up with other young women and girls in the city.

·    Explore hip-hop’s elements of Fashion, Breaking, Beatboxing, Rhyme/Rap and Knowledge of Culture & Self
·    Investigate the roles of young women in hip-hop
·    Learn performance techniques and ensemble creation
·    Learn West African drumming, dancing and rhythms and how they have influenced hip-hop music and culture
·    Create and perform an original play on a professional stage this Fall

Rise and Shine

This summer program is going to be fun, empowering, and definitely out of the box as we celebrate young women’s voices and creativity. This unique summer experience will give you the chance to  “rise and shine” with our eclectic array of professional artists.

Workshops topics include:

·    Hip-hop Fundamentals and Knowledge of Culture
·    Theater 101
·    Image, Fashion and Knowledge of Self
·    Beatboxing
·    Breakdancing and Movement
·    Dissecting lyrics
·    Visual Art: Mixed Media and Graffiti
·    West African drumming, dancing and storytelling
·    Intersections: combining traditional African arts with hip-hop

Benefits

This summer, we will create an original work driven by the interests of young people inside a supportive and nurturing environment that challenges young women to become self-actualized. Participants will engage in innovative training in physical acting and group creation, and have the opportunity and produce all aspects of their own show while learning how to drum, dance, beatbox, write poetry and lyrics, create art, sing, and act.

GET A TASTE OF THE PROGRAM:
May 8, 12-3 – INFO SESSION
@ St Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Columbia Heights DC

SCHEDULE
Summer Workshop Dates:
Saturdays 11am-3pm May 22 – August 28
Thursdays 6-8pm June 17 – August 26
@ St Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Columbia Heights DC

Performances:
Debut: September 19th & 20th, 26th & 27th Location: TBD

STAFF
Jessica Solomon, The Saartjie Project, Co-Director
Kristen Arant, YWDEP, Co-Director
+ a tribe of amazing Guest Artists, YWDEP Mentors and Volunteers offering support, training, and workshops.

Guest Artists will facilitate 1-2 workshops (based on their expertise/workshop topic) on a Saturday this summer. Modest stipend included.

Volunteers will work with the girls on a consistent basis throughout the summer and or assist with the final production.

If you are interested email us for details.

WISHLIST
(please let us know if you can help us find any of the following)
Videographer
Photographer
A/V equipment
Art Supplies (Markers, paint, poster board, tape, magazines, scissors, construction paper)
Theater Space (for performances and rehearsals)
Graphic Designer

JOIN NOW!!!
young women and girls (ages 12-19) – ENROLL NOW!!
or contact us with questions!
volunteers (all ages!) – please contact us for more information!

CONTACT
kristen@youngwomendrum.org
www.youngwomendrum.org
202-213-7810

YWDEP GHANA PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Help YWDEP’s Founder and Director Kristen Arant travel to Ghana to work with young women and girls in the Gyenyame Street Children’s Project, founded by drummer Kweku Owusu, which uses drumming to uplift children out of poverty.

SATURDAY Jan 9
4-6 p.m.
Busboys & Poets Restaurant, 14th & V Sts NW, Langston Room – U St Cardozo metro

PERFORMANCES:
The Bele Bele Rhythm Collective all-women’s drumming group featuring women from DC and Baltimore, led by drum teachers Kristen Arant and Tammi Hessen
Opening by the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project
Singers, Poets and Dancers

Food, Great Percussion Instrument Raffle (Bells, Shakers, Drums from Kweku Owusu’s wares)

$10 door + opportunities to sign up for YWDEP’s ROOTS donor program.

RAFFLE
$2 for individual tickets
$10 buys 10 tickets
$20 buys 25 tickets

Please RSVP and Invite Friends!
kristen@youngwomendrum.org

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You may also make a tax-deductible donation online here.

YWDEP is beginning a new program called Second Saturday Safe Space, or “s4,” designed to gather young women once a month to drum, dance, journal, create art, go on groups outings, participate in round table discussions, receive homework tutoring, job/school application assistance and 1-on-1 mentoring.

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WE ARE INVITING DC AREA YOUNG WOMEN TO JOIN UP!!!
Young women who join S4 will also have opportunities to learn YWDEP’s West African drumming repertoire and perform at a variety of local events.

S4 is free and open to young women ages 13-19 and takes place:

EVERY SECOND SATURDAY
12-4 p.m.
December 12 2009 – June 12 2010
St Stephens Church
1525 Newton St NW
Washington, DC 20010
3 blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro station (Green Line)

FIRST SESSION : SAT DEC 12. TOPIC – HEALTHY SEXUALITY w/Sasha Bruce Sexual Health Coordinator, Margaux Delotte-Bennett + Drumming, Journaling, Social Time

To sign up, volunteer, or for any questions please contact YWDEP!

JOIN US at American University for an afternoon packed with percussive power. Members of DC’s own Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project will perform live followed by a screening of the recently-launched documentary RHYTHMIC UPRISING. The film shows how community leaders in Bahia, Brazil use Afro-Brazilian Cultural Arts to change lives. After the film, the filmmakers will join YWDEP members and director to lead a dialogue about the role of music in personal development.

www.rhythmicuprising.org

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart wrote in his excellent book, Drumming at the Edge of Magic, that “[w]ords are so inadequate at capturing the spirit of percussion.” One need only go to Malcolm X Park on any given Sunday to see the indescribable and spiritual effect drumming and rhythm can have on the receptive listener. Unfortunately, access to this experience is not universal. Any glance at a your average drum circle, high school marching band, or list of drummers at a music festival reveals a glaring absence: women.

Many still see female percussionists as a novelty, despite the trailblazing efforts of a few very well known players, and many more who are not so well known. Through some unfortunate combination of simple prejudice and deep rooted social mores, drumming remains “a man’s game.” But the problem is more than another example of gender inequity. The status quo means that women are denied the sense of self, and community, that drumming can instill more effectively than many other avocations.

“Drumming requires that one be completely present in that moment.,” said Kristen Arant, a local percussionist and performance artist. “In that way, it’s meditative, restorative, revitalizing and energizing.”

Click here to read the rest of the profile on DCist.

YWDEP Performs at the Smithsonian African Art Museum
WHO: Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP)
WHAT: Performance! Drum, Dance, Poetry, Song
WHEN: This Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2:30-3 p.m. on the Pavilion Stage
WHERE: Smithsonian African Art Museum’s Community Day Festival! 950 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20560
$ = FREE

YWDEP Final Performance Showcase
WHO: YWDEP Class of ‘09: The Sistas of the Shakedown Tribe!
WHAT: Final Showcase: Beats, Poems, Songs, Movement; Strength, Courage, Wisdom, Beauty, Power!!
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: St Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Columbia Heights
$ = PAY WHAT U CAN

YWDEP Performs at the Hyattsville International Festival!
WHO: YWDEP
WHAT: Hyattsville International Street Festival
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 26, 3-3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Downtown Hyattsville, corner of Hamilton and 31st Sts, West Hyattsville Metro station (green line)
$ = FREE

YWDEP Performs at D.C. Arts Center
WHO: YWDEP Class of ‘09: The Sistas of the Shakedown Tribe!
WHAT: Final Showcase: Beats, Poems, Songs, Movement; Strength, Courage, Wisdom, Beauty, Power!!
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: D.C. Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW (Adams Morgan)
$ = 10-20

Nestled into U Street’s expansive and ever-growing milieu of restaurants, many passersby might initially walk past Coppi’s, if not for the delicious wood stove aroma wafting into the street…and…wait a minute…are those girls…drumming…?

YWDEP held a super successful fundraising event on a beautiful Sunday Aug 23 at Coppi’s Organic Restaurant.  Owned by sister and brother team Nori and Carlos Amaya, Coppi’s knows the meaning of family and certainly treated YWDEP as such. They quickly (in a single bound) brought together their chef, wait staff and bartender team to cater to our guests’ every wish that day, serving up freshly baked organic pizzas like the Pancetta (lean Italian bacon, assorted greens, cremini mushroom, red onion, mozzarella), and the Funghi di Bosco (assorted Pennsylvania organic mushrooms, provolone, garlic, italian parsley), and delicious drink specials, named after YWDEP’s current rhythmic repertoire (the Mendiani, The Kuku, and the Yankadi), really blew guests away.

The young women drummed outside the restaurant to alert passers by and attracted around 40 guests that day to the charming, dimly lit hearth of Coppi’s, whose walls are plastered with photos of Italian bicyclers. Guests got acquainted and re-acquainted over delicacies, with periodic bursts of beauty by the Sistas of the Shakedown Tribe (YWDEP’s 2009 group), who gave pulse to the occasion accompanied by poems and songs.  In a Generally Exciting Moment, the Coppi’s staff turned up the volume on MJ’s “Billie Jean,” and we all got down!

Nori and Carlos offered such wonderful hospitality to us. We sincerely and vigorously want to thank ALL of Coppi’s – we were able to raise enough to fund two of our summer youth staff positions!!! You rocked our world so that we can keep on rockin’!

This is a Photo Gallery. Click here to open the post in your browser to see the gallery.

photos by Alexandra Silverthorne

This year’s YWDEP girls are really eager to get their hands on the djembe, kenkeni, sangban, and dununba drums! In each session that YWDEP 09 has had so far this summer, I’ve noticed that all the girls are intrigued and gravitate to all four of the ensemble drums. Having this diverse interest in all the types of drums we incorporate in YWDEP has become an essential part in playing as a unit. The girls get a chance to learn and practice technique on all these drums, which requires concentration and lots of patience, for example the rhythm Mendiani. With this particular rhythm they have demonstrated time and time again that they are motivated in learning all the different parts to each drum and take it to the stage. I know and believe that their knowledge and skill level will only grow throughout the program and I can’t wait to see the end result, which, will of course blow the audience away this coming September!

This is a Photo Gallery. Click here to open the post in your browser to see the gallery.

$20 entry fee entitles you to ALL YOU CAN EAT of Coppi’s delicious, organic pizzas!!
Also take advantage of $5 drink specials at the open bar!