Spiderflower
CENTRE FOR EARTH-ENGAGED PERFORMANCE RESEARCH
Tongues in the Flowering Tree
Research & Presentation Site
AFRA BELL
Percussive Director
My journey with the drum began when I was very young. Listening to my mothers eclectic taste in music, I often found myself transfixed to the rhythm of the drums in all their forms and whatever the style. I first remember consciously deciding that I wanted to play drums at the age of 5.
I am of mixed race origin, an interesting rhythmical mix of English / Irish (mother) and Grenadian / Cuban / Chinese (father) and the drums I have come to play are of West African origin. So although my father is from Grenada going back generations, he is (as I am) descended from African slaves. This being so, playing an African drum means something very special and is hugely significant for me.
In addition to my mothers influence, I moved into a second family, that of my step father who headed an Ghanian Afro-fusion band called Osibisa. Their music was transformative as it was an integration of cultures and styles (traditional music from the Asante people of Ghana mixed with Jazz, Rock and Latin music) which spoke to me deeply as a mixed race little girl. It was at this time that I decided I wanted to learn how to play the congas and the kplanlogos. But unfortunately, at that time, girls and women were not encouraged to play and certainly not taken seriously so my longing had to be buried for a time.
Many years later, after learning various other instruments, Djembe's had come to the UK and became very popular. They are from West Africa and played as a lead drum by the master drummer who will call the dance and prescribe to the other musicians like a conductor. So I borrowed a djembe and sought a teacher. My creativity and life purpose opened up in front of me.
After two years of practice, I began drumming for a women's storytelling group and met Kirby. We travelled the country teaching and performing where I played two kplanlogo's, as they lent themselves to the work. They are softer and sweeter and offer, for me, a steady anchor for the in-between. I felt more able to travel with these drums. They are the great grandmothers of the congas, travelling from West Africa to Latin America.
I continued to study through Ghanian teachers and also from Kirby, initially learning traditional pieces and sentences. Then started playing for traditional and contemporary dance workshops. We also started working for Rowan around this time. We played drums and percussion in an all female African / Latin drumming, singing and percussion band, Casscada. Kirby and I also brought the drum into the corporate world, offering team building and leadership workshops using rhythm.
My journey with the drum has taken me inside and out, it's taken me to extraordinary places and to meet the most amazing people. The drum has been my prayer, my blessing, my challenge and my connection to spirit. I have played the drum for therapeutic purposes, in forests within nature work, for various group work sessions with a multitude of themes, for voice and body work. It helps to put fragments back together somehow and can assist in moving people through trauma.
The drum is a conduit, an alter. Coming back to drum for Rowan and Tongues in the Flowering Tree has felt like coming home.