WORKSHOPS
CREATIVE ARTS
Liz and Devinder offer exciting and stimulating creative arts packages tailor made to your requirements. Whether you are a school, nursery, business or community organisation, we can offer you long or short term support throughout the year.
AFRICAN DRUMMING
African drumming is a great way to introduce students to African culture and music. It helps develop listening and coordination skills and is suitable for all ages and abilities. Our workshops are fun, engaging and inspiring and are ideal for team building, as participants learn how to work together to create authentic West African rhythms.
We use full size African djembe drums and we can cater for large numbers of participants. The workshops begin with simple hand exercises and build up to more complex rhythms.
African drumming is a great experience for all involved, leaving everyone with a smile, increased self confidence and a personal sense of achievement.
Bhangra is the exciting and energetic harvest celebration folk dance from the state of Punjab in India. Our workshops teach traditional Bhangra using live drumming on the Dhol and are suitable for all ages and abilities.
Bhangra is a great way to keep fit and help develop coordination. It is very energising and aerobic and is a fun way to introduce participants to Indian culture. It can also be used for multicultural celebrations, activity weeks and team building.
The workshops also allow the participants to see the traditional costumes and instruments that are used as part of the dance.
MULTICULTURAL ART
Whatever culture you are studying, we can offer interesting, engaging and informative workshops catering for all abilities.
Examples of our workshops include projects on African textiles, the Maasai of East Africa, Indian textiles and folk art, Aboriginal Australia and the Native Americans.
The visually stunning projects range from observational drawings to sculpture, from collage work to large installations which take pride of place in many settings.
Our workshops use authentic artefacts as a starting point to inspire the participants and also as a focus to help them understand the relevant culture.
Our storytelling workshops use traditional music, chants and songs to captivate and hold the listener’s attention, so that everyone can take something away from the experience. These stories with their morals, can be used to support PSHE, RE, and other cross curricular projects.
Our many traditional stories can also be used as a starting point for the development of exciting and enjoyable dance and drama productions, which can be shared with the rest of the school and the wider community.
African dance is energising and uplifting, and many of the dance moves mirror the everyday actions of life in Africa. In our workshops, participants also learn about the many different African cultures through the medium of dance. The movements can be choreographed for all ages and abilities and the dancing is performed to live drumming which never fails to inspire the participants into action. The dancers learn to respond to signals played on the drums when building up the choreography, which helps develop good listening skills, coordination and concentration.
The drumming or the dancing can help reinforce concentration, coordination and timing. By the end of the session, we aim for all participants to have improved their skills in working together as a team. During the workshops, participants will move from simple beginnings to more complex drum rhythms or dance movements.
Our workshops are enjoyable and engaging, and can act as a stress releasing escape for participants from their usual office environment, resulting in a stronger team spirit and a sense of achievement.
The technique of circular breathing is demonstrated and explained and the participants are encouraged to produce the basic drone sound on plastic didgeridoos which are provided. We also have many authentic and beautiful didgeridoos to show participants, which illustrate the variety of woods and art work used by Aboriginal people in the making of this instrument.
The sessions can incorporate Aboriginal song and dance to develop a better understanding of Aboriginal culture. The workshops are designed to engage and leave participants with a sense of achievement.
AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS
We offer fun workshops to enhance the after hours provision at your school, and in the past have also worked in schools supporting the Children’s University programme.
One of the most popular workshops we offer is Indian Bhangra dancing. Bhangra is a very aerobic harvest celebration folk dance from the state of Punjab in the north of India. The dance helps build stamina and fitness, promoting a healthy lifestyle, increasing concentration and performance in school.
Another workshop we offer is West African djembe drumming where the children will learn authentic rhythms whilst learning increased coordination, listening skills and teamwork. These sessions are great fun and have lead some school groups to perform in school or in the local community. We can provide drums for all participants if not available in school.
WEEKLY WORKSHOPS
We have an African drumming community group which meets every Saturday in Stratford-upon-Avon at the Sports Club from 11-12 noon. We actively encourage families to take part and we are always looking for new members to join our fun and friendly group. Contact us for more details if you want to come and learn a new skill. We provide the drums for all participants.
Bhangra Burn is a fun and energetic dance/keep fit class that takes place every Wednesday evening from 6-7pm at the Sydni Centre in Leamington Spa. Whether you want to learn traditional Bhangra or just keep fit, the class is aimed at all ages and abilities.
As your skills improve, you will have the opportunity to be part of our African drumming and Bhangra teams which perform regularly at local functions, community and charity events.
In2Cultures undertakes long or short term projects in schools and the community. These can be projects linked to the curriculum, after school clubs or community based groups.
Our projects have included dance/drama presentations using traditional folktales from different cultures, as well as the development of African drumming and Bhangra dance groups.
All projects are planned with the client in mind. Our work can enhance existing projects in schools, whether it relates to a particular country, continent, culture or simply the celebration of a multicultural festival. We also support and organise intercultural events for individual schools and cluster groups.
