The Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP) was founded in 2005 by Kristen Arant, a performing artist and percussionist focusing on West African style drumming. A DC activist since 2000, Kristen leads drumming workshops at a variety of DC middle and high schools, and also for women, girls, and mixed groups of youth, adults and elders throughout the DC metro area. She is also a co-founder of the activist drumming ensemble, the Rhythm Workers Union, and performs with musical ensembles throughout the DC area.

Kristen yearned to create a space for DC teenage girls where they could discover their inner selves through self-examination and team building; express their thoughts and feelings without fear of reprisal or ridicule; seek an alternative venue from societal pressures and challenges; and gain an appreciation, knowledge and understanding of the healing influence that the arts – specifically drumming, music, movement and poetry – can have in fostering an environment that nourishes their personal development, allowing for greater self-confidence, self-awareness and self-assuredness.

With funding received from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Young Artist Program, Kristen enrolled young women for a summer-long program of weekly workshops led by local female artists in team building, African hand drumming, poetry, song writing, rhythms, theater/movement, performance technique and staging. The young women used the material they crafted in these workshops to build their own set list for a performance that stunned audiences in four final performances that September. The performance featured six girls, all DC residents, drumming together and performing their own original pieces including individual and group poems, African rhythms, original songs complete with staging and skits, and choreographed dance.

Because of the magnitude of inspiration generated by the performances, along with their own commitment and shared belief of self and one another, the 2005 YWDEP members (who collectively call themselves the She Poets of the Rizing Moon) performed at more than a dozen venues proceeding the September 2005 shows.

YWDEP continued its summer programming in 2006, once again receiving funds from the DC Arts Commission. In order to create an even more welcoming environment, three returning She Poets participated in mentorship training sessions prior to the summer workshops and became mentors to the new recruits, continuing their own development within YWDEP. The summer workshops included performance participation in local community events, giving the young women added meaning to their quest for knowledge of self, the performing arts and the community at large.

The graduates of the 2006 summer workshops dubbed themselves the Goddesses of Rhythm and, using their own original material, brought the audience to its feet during their final performances. At the close of each performance, YWDEP’s members took questions from the audience. The perception and insight in their responses attested to the power of team building, open camaraderie, and an environment conducive to healthy development and the commitment of all participants in realizing the mission and vision of the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project.

YWDEP, now having completed its THIRD summer program, currently sustains itself through small grants, community donations, and performance stipends. In 2007, YWDEP saw 40 young women pass through its workshops, and continues to grow its base of artists, performances, and repertoire.

YWDEP has also held three successful fundraising events - two annual community fundraisers featuring fantastic female performing artists, along with a fundraiser in August 2006 for a She Poet who was shot by a gun-wielding stranger that June. In 2008, YWDEP became an official project of One Common Unity, Inc. (OCU), and currently shares an office space with OCU at St. Stephens Church in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.

| BLOG | UPCOMING EVENTS | CONTACT | HOME |