Entire Lower School Moves to the Beat of Borenya West African Drum & Dance

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Drummer Laura Rich of Borenya West African
Drum and Dance led the music portion of
the artistic residency.

It was one of the Lower School's most spectacular artists-in-residency.

Members of Borenya West African Drumming and Dance, based in Columbia, spent the week of February 10 - 14 in a special double residency jointly sponsored by the Music and Physical Education Departments. Drummer Laura Rich, who brought along 32 authentic handmade West African drums, worked with students, exposing them to the region's music and rhythm, and the songs that celebrate the rituals of daily life. Dancer Steven Ferguson from the troupe led the students in movement exercises during Physical Education classes, connecting students to an ancient cultural history that has had a long influence on American artistic expression.

With incredible grace and ease, dancer
Steven Ferguson, who worked with PE
classes during the residency, performed
a solo dance at the conclusion of the Lower
School exhibition on February 14.

The week concluded on February 14 with a spectacular presentation involving every student in the Lower School students in the gym. Students filled the gym with pounding rhythms and swaying movement. Parents, faculty and staff, and the children themselves were amazed at what they had accomplished in one week.

Last year the Lower School hosted American drummer Paul Riddle for its music residency. According to Music instructor Rita Hughes, "Borenya's residency extended students' appreciation of the cultural sources of rhythm and drumming."

In conjunction with the residency and in celebration of Black History Month, primers in Ms. Marilyn Woods' art classes created clay masks modelled after African art. Students in other classes made colorfully designed paper masks, which they donned during their dance exhibition.

The artist-in-residence program is funded by the CCES Arts Guild, which each year brings talented visual and musical artists into all classrooms for weeklong residency programs.