By Justin Fox, Staff Writer
Over the course of four days, Oct. 21 to 24, a series of events called “The Forbidden Drum” was held around campus. Guests performed and taught the community about traditional Ghanaian music. Their goal was to demonstrate their music as a language itself and allow students to get involved in this aspect of their lives through music, singing, and dancing. Two of the events included a workshop, where visiting students and staff could learn about and actively participate in Ghanaian music, and a community drum circle where a group of performers and members of the college community joined in open-air music-making.
The workshop component was held on Thursday, Oct. 22 in the CUB Ballroom. Drums, shakers and bells filled the room as students and faculty came to take part in making music. Ghanaian drum master Victor Nani Agbeli led the session. He began by warming up the group with exercises in clapping rhythms, which built up to a full rendition of the traditional greeting tune “Gahu,” roughly meaning “Money Drum.” The piece consisted of instrumentals, singing, and dancing all strung together. Participants were arranged in several circles, handling drums, bead shakers, or bells, and the individual parts played by each section came together in polyrhythm. Abgeli then brought in lyrics to be sung by the group along with the drumming, and lastly, he demonstrated dance moves to top off the piece.
This piece of music is just one of many that Abgeli says his people use to create feelings of happiness and community. “That’s the space that Ghana creates,” he said, “It doesn’t worry about what is happening around us right now. We have this time. We have this space. Let’s enjoy ourselves. Let’s share that love and that unity.” People trek together to play and hear this music, and the outcome is always uplifting for all, as they know they will benefit from being there.
Riley McSherry ’30 was part of the workshop and especially enjoyed the dancing aspect of the rendition. “It was really energetic and just good feelings all around,” said McSherry, “I’m not a big musically inclined person, so I just thought the dancing was really nice to have.” Such a feeling goes to show the power of music like this to build community and fun for all, no matter their background or experience.
Forbidden Drum Performance in front of Brau Hall (Photo: Justin Fox/The Gettysburgian)
The following evening, outside of Brua Hall, Agbeli was joined by other drummers and a large group of singers to perform a full set of Ghanaian music, with a market and food trucks accompanying the event. Some members of the college community joined in on the group’s dance circle, making for an evening of even more tight-knit, community fun.
The Forbidden Drum group interacted with the College’s community in several other events this past week. Performers made appearances in the town’s square on the Oct. 21, staged a full suite of African drumming, dance and song in the CUB Ballroom on the evening Oct. 22, and hosted a “Drums and Donuts” workout on the Wellness Gardens on Oct. 24. It was a time of great cultural immersion that not only brought the community together through music, but also gave an active way to learn about the Black Atlantic way of life.
