SIGN UP FOR THE DRUM CIRCLE FACITILATION WORKSHOP!
The Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC)—Drum Circle Facilitation Workshop is a five-hour workshop that provides facilitators at any level—beginner to advanced—with the opportunity to enhance their facilitation skills by learning from a world-renowned drum circle facilitator.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:
Robert Damm
Robert Damm is Professor of Music at Mississippi State University where he teaches classes about World Music, Music of Africa, Music of Latin America, Native American Music, African American Music, World Drumming, and Mississippi Blues. He studied music and culture in Cuba, Ghana, and Mali. He is a certified Orff-Schulwerk teacher and a Smithsonian Folkways certified teacher of world music. His teaching reflects his commitment to community engagement, best practices in interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential learning, and the African philosophy of human interconnectedness known as Ubuntu.
Damm has facilitated hundreds of drum circles for thousands of participants since 2009 when he hosted a “Drum-a-ganza Community Drum Circle” celebrating health and wellness sponsored by PAS and REMO. Because drum circles so effectively build a sense of community, he provided a recreational drum circle class for the First-Year Experience program at MSU from 2013-2021 (returning in 2025). Damm is co-chair of the PAS Interactive Drumming Committee which he joined in 2014. He published eight PAS articles about interactive drumming/drum circles including “A Brief History of the PAS Interactive Drumming Committee” (2013), “The State of the Arts of Interactive Drumming” (2023), “Foundational Rhythms for Drum Circles” (2021), “Exploring Meter in a Drum Circle” (2020), “African Drumming and Drum Circles” (2017), and “Recreational Drum Circles for University Students” (2015). He published 15 other articles on related world drumming topics including the Afro Roots music of Mongo Santamaria, the Pinkster African festival of New York, hand drum duets, fanga and bamboula rhythms, the jembe of Mali, and the udu clay-pot instrument of Nigeria. Damm studied percussion with Hugh Soebbing at Quincy University, Tome Siwe and Fred Fairchild at the University of Illinois, and Robert Schietroma, Ron Fink, and Ed Soph at the University of North Texas.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
When & Where
The PASIC Drum Circle Facilitation Workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 13, from 1 PM to 6 PM in Room 209 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.
Registration
The Drum Circle Facilitation Workshop has a $50 registration fee. No PASIC registration is required to register for the workshop. A limited number of spots will be available.
Sponsors
The PASIC Drum Circle Facilitation Workshop is sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society, the Interactive Drumming Committee, and Remo, Inc. Learn more about the committee and how you can get involved here.
