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Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2019 4:39 am
by drtom
Hey Steering Wheel Beaters and Coffee Table Abusers,

Just wanted to share something:

The deeper I've gotten into drumming the more I've come to love dance. Drumming and dancing are inseperable. Check out some video I recently shot: https://youtu.be/Ep8cEan8AIs

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:51 am
by Greensail
back in the day soon after I began drumming, I played a bougarabou and took lessons from and played with a group of people doing largely african rhythms. I was told that in Africa, the reason to drum is for dance. If the was no one dancing, there was no reason to drum.

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2020 7:23 pm
by drtom
Greensail wrote:back in the day soon after I began drumming, I played a bougarabou and took lessons from and played with a group of people doing largely african rhythms. I was told that in Africa, the reason to drum is for dance. If the was no one dancing, there was no reason to drum.


It's not the first time I've said it; it's like the chicken and the egg. I don't know which came first. but one leads to the other, which leads to the other . . .

Speaking of drumming and dancing; https://youtu.be/OIZd4WmT9IE

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2020 8:07 pm
by Chtimulato
Of course.
My first band was a Caribbean folklore group, with dance, songs and percussion, so I have to agree.

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:25 am
by CongaMan
if ou want to add directly the video click the button "youtube" and place the link between the two tags ... this is the result



Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:30 am
by CongaMan
if ou want to add directly the video click the button "youtube" and place the link between the two tags ... this is the result


Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:52 pm
by drtom
Thanks CM. Let me give that a try.

Here's one where the dancers do the drumming - with their hands and feet!


Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:38 pm
by Siete Leguas
Grazie, CongaMan! I want to try it too. [youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI4lxdexYEM[/youtube]

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:46 pm
by Siete Leguas
I give up... I just don't get it. :cry:

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:04 am
by drtom
Don't despair SL.

Use the video URL you'll get when you right click on the video (different than the URL you used). Alternatively, go to the video on Youtube (this is the page the URL you've used links to) and click on SHARE (right below the video), where you'll also find the URL to copy.

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:16 am
by Siete Leguas
Eureka! Thank you, Doc!


Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:33 pm
by drtom
More hand/foot drumming! Beautiful.

The cajon has really taken off, huh?

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 7:26 pm
by Thomas Altmann
My wife/partner is a tap dancer (Jazz Tap). Through her I became familiar with some more people than Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; starting with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and John Bubbles to Honi Coles and all of the Copasetics, Jimmy Slyde, Chuck Green, Baby Laurence, Sammy Davis Jr.(!) et alii, then Gregory Hines, and finally people like Savion Glover and Jason Samuels Smith. I could name many more, and you may want to stone me for not mentioning any white dancers, Europeans, or women. I swear, there are galore, and I am living together with one of them. Catalan Guillem Alonso in Barcelona is probably the best sand dancer worldwide today.

I'm also friends with tap dancer and body percussionist Max Pollak, who was born in Vienna and is now living in Harlem, NYC, for many years. He created Afro-Cuban Tap and taught tap dance to some members of the Muñequitos de Matanzas. In fact, he became a (honorary?) member of the group himself. I was fortunate to play a 20-minute set in a show with him and Arturo Martínez Cabrera (Clave y Guaguancó) at the Fabrik in Hamburg. That was one of the rare occasions in my professional career where I really felt at the right place, being allowed to play what I do best, with two of the top performers in the field.

The tapping on this one was supplied by Savion Glover:



Check those people out!

Thomas

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:53 pm
by Siete Leguas
@ Thomas: I just watched Max Pollak in action. Crazy stuff! :o

Sand dancing was also something new to me... it sounds like it would go well to old-school hip hop! 8)

@ drtom: yes, the Afro-Peruvian cajón has long become an essential instrument in Flamenco music, and it is also played in many different settings and music styles all over the world. It seems to fit well into almost everything.

I also agree on the close relationship between drums and dance. To me, the joy of drumming has come hand in hand with the joy of dancing. Although I was never particularly good at it, it has naturally become something that I need to do regularly.

A friend of mine who is into contemporary dance explained to me recently that you don't actually need music to dance. I think I'm not ready for such an abstraction yet though, I still need (some) music! :)

Re: Drumming and Dancing

PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 2:44 am
by drtom
Thomas Altmann wrote:Check those people out!


Great contribution to our thread TA! Thank you.

My tongue in cheek address to you all (Steering Wheel Beaters and Coffee Table Abusers) must apply to your buddy Max in spades. No drinking glass or dinner plate must be safe in his presence. :D