- 14 hours ago
Kai Knight leads a closing drum circle to send you off feeling connected and embodied.
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00:00Hi everybody. Welcome, welcome, welcome. This is the end for us right now. So really beautiful to
00:09close off. Oh no, no. End of our programming. You're closing us out. But is anyone in here
00:19for the first time inside of the Talking Circle? Welcome. So this is the Talking Circle brought to
00:26you by Unbothered. Unbothered is a sister brand to Essence. We exist to help make black women feel
00:33seen, feel celebrated, feel heard. My name is Erica Chitty. I joined the company in February
00:39and came fast and furious right into festival. My background is in women's health, about 15 years,
00:47women's health, technology, social impact. And I like to say I have spent my life and will continue
00:53to spend my life helping women tell the stories of their bodies to themselves and to others.
00:58And so my vision for Unbothered and what I was brought in to help do was to help evolve Unbothered
01:05from focusing more on entertainment and culture to focusing more on well-being and culture. So
01:11this circle is a part of that because when we were planning for festival, I felt very strongly,
01:16I was like, okay, I don't want to do any panels. I don't want to do a stage. I want
01:19to do something
01:20that's really going to be about each other and giving people space to talk. And there've been
01:24so many beautiful, please come inside, please. There's been so many beautiful conversations here
01:29over this weekend about everything from fibroids to healing to taking advocacy over your health.
01:37It's sex and intimacy. We've kind of done it all in here. And so I'm very excited to close the
01:44weekend
01:45out with sound, sound, moving, drumming through the body. It's, it's from our people. It's healing.
01:51Before we do that, though, oh, that's very bright. Is that too bright? Okay, let me know if so. We
01:58can
01:58ask them to turn the lights down. Before we begin, I would like to open up the circle with the
02:03clearing.
02:04It's very simple. We're going to rub our hands together and then I'm going to clap on a certain number.
02:10But the last thing I want to say too is while we're in the circle, there are no leaders. There
02:17is no hierarchy. We are all at the same level. We like to say in the circle, there are keepers
02:23and
02:23anchors. I will be your keeper to help keep things moving and in flow. This fabulous group here of
02:30drummers are going to be our anchors, drumming us, grounding us, rooting us. So with that,
02:36let's do our clearing. I will take you through that very quickly. And when we are done with that,
02:41I will hand it over to, to our drumming, our drumming family. Hold on.
03:08Tessie? Oh, great. Thank you for that. Hi, everybody. Hi. Now y'all in New Orleans,
03:16I'm going to try that one more time. Hi, everybody. Hi. I am Mama Kai and we are a Cultural
03:23Ties
03:23Dance and Drum Collective. We are going to lead you in a New Orleans style drum circle.
03:30In a drum circle, there is no audience. Therefore, we have the drums laced all around. We're going
03:35to do two different rhythms, the song and the dance. And then after we do the first one,
03:42we'll give other people a chance to experience a drum. I'm doing that for the people who have drums.
03:48You're going to have to give them up at some point. Talk to everybody. Talk to everybody. Yeah.
03:53So we're going to start in Congo Square. So being rooted here in New Orleans,
04:01we always give reference to Congo Square. It is the beginning. It's the seat of New Orleans' African
04:08diaspora culture, which is the beginning and it's the seat of New Orleans culture, period.
04:14All of the things that you like about New Orleans, the flavor, the food, the music,
04:21the party. Oh, that's African diaspora. So we celebrate that. And so we want to celebrate that
04:27today. We want you to get it. When we talk about healing, when we talk about body, being in your
04:32body,
04:32being present, here comes the drum, here comes the dance, here comes the song. There's no better place
04:38to be than to be with yourself in movement and being centered, right? And she told me not to stand
04:45in the center so I'm going to move up because the mic acts better. Let me go back over here.
04:50So we're
04:51going to start in Congo Square where they gather to remember. They gather to socialize. They gather to
05:00try and reconnect with the people around them. So just imagine being taken away from your land, your home,
05:08your people, everything you know and being seated somewhere and not having rights, right? Not having
05:17your own will to do whatever you want to do like you normally would do and only having one day
05:23to maybe
05:25recall that and bring that back up. That's a day of celebration. It's a day of connecting. It's a day
05:30of
05:30family. So we want to we want you to come in on this Sunday. We normally are in Congo Square
05:37with
05:37Congo Square Preservation Society but we're here at Essence and we're going to jamming up with us a
05:43little bit. So I have my dancers and singers. We're going to do start with a call and response. Then
05:49we're
05:49going to move to the rhythm and then we're going to do a little dance for you. Are you ready?
05:55So call and
05:57response is a way of bringing in community. Everybody participate. There's a caller and
06:04then everybody else responds. So we're going to demonstrate. I want you to imagine that you are
06:09Avi because Avi is going to say your words. Nandi is going to do the call. Avi is going to
06:14respond.
06:15You ready? Yes, ma'am. I'm going to give this to you for a second.
06:17Am I going to give this to you for a second?
06:42Epa.
06:44Ah-ha.
06:46Ah-ha.
06:47First one?
06:49Epa.
06:50Ah-ha.
06:55Balefeleko-e.
06:56Epa.
06:57Balefeleko-e.
06:59Balefeleko-e.
07:04Epa.
07:05Balefeleko-e.
07:06Ah-ha.
07:07Balefeleko-e.
07:09Balefeleko-e.
07:12Balefeleko-e.
07:20Let's get into the rhythm really quick.
07:26Baba, you want to go ahead and...
07:27So this is Baba Jawara.
07:29He's our resident master drummer for Culture Tides.
07:32And he's going to go ahead and show you how to play the different rhythm on the different drums.
07:37So we have two sets of drums here today.
07:40And then we're going to also give you some...
07:41Matter of fact, go ahead and hand out two claves.
07:44And claves are just going to keep the rhythm for us.
07:46Right?
07:47So can you tell them...
07:49Let's start with yours.
07:50Can y'all hear me?
07:52Good.
07:53How y'all doing?
07:54Once again, I'm New Orleans Island.
07:56Uh, born raised here in New Orleans, Louisiana.
07:59Uh, so, the drums that you see here are the drums that they tried to take away from us when
08:04they brought us over.
08:05Right?
08:06Uh, these drums are from West Africa.
08:08The drums that you see before you are here are called Doo Doo drums.
08:11Um, and the drums that I'm sitting behind and my three people right here are sitting behind are called Jinbe
08:18or Le Jinbe.
08:19Uh, these drums are from five countries in West Africa, which most of us are from.
08:25Our ancestors are from.
08:26Uh, the five countries are Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Avoie, which we like here in the
08:37West to call the Irish folk.
08:39Alright?
08:40Uh, put a little rundown on the Jinbe.
08:42Even though the Jinbe is the main instrument, it is the baby of the orchestra.
08:47Right?
08:48Uh, there are three different distinct sounds that we have to master to play this drum.
08:54As well as three different distinct sounds that the Doo Doo Doo has.
08:58Right?
08:58The first sound for the Jinbe is the slap.
09:00The higher pitched sound is the drum.
09:02Alright?
09:03Um, the second sound is Côte, which everybody can do.
09:08If you're not a drummer or not, you can place your hand on the drum and you can do it.
09:11Alright?
09:13And then the third sound is bass.
09:15Alright?
09:16So, wait, I can do it.
09:19So, wait, can I borrow the sticks?
09:25With the Doo Doo Doo drum, same three basic sounds.
09:28Open, press, and drum shot.
09:35Alright?
09:36We're not going to get into it today because we don't have that much time.
09:39But, I'm going to make resistance out of y'all, yeah.
09:42Alright, so, with any music, you have to start with the bass, the bottom, right?
09:46Alright?
09:46So, I need everybody to have the Doo Doo Doo drum, grab your sticks.
09:50I'm just kidding.
09:51It's alright.
09:52Grab your sticks.
09:53Alright?
09:54So, the first rhythm we're learning is salsa name.
09:57Alright?
09:57So, I am a band director and I like to teach my kids in numbers.
10:03If you can count to ten, you can play an instrument.
10:05Alright?
10:06We all adults in here.
10:08Plus my baby right there.
10:09We can all count to ten.
10:11Alright?
10:11So, with salsa name, you're going to go one, two, three, grab shot.
10:17Let's try that.
10:18One, two, three.
10:19One, two, three, play.
10:21Ba, ba, ba.
10:23Let's try it again.
10:24Don't be scared to hit the drum.
10:25It's alright.
10:26It's alright.
10:27One, two, three.
10:28Ba, ba, ba.
10:29What?
10:29It does wrong.
10:31One, two, three.
10:33Ba, ba, ba.
10:33So, you must play snare or something.
10:36You don't have to play snare or something.
10:38There you go.
10:39There you go.
10:40There you go.
10:41There you go.
10:42Pick the drum.
10:43I promise you, if y'all buzz it, I'm not going to make a picture of it.
10:49One, two, three.
10:50Ba, ba, ba.
10:51Ah, if you don't have it, please clap it.
10:53Yes, thank you.
10:54One, two, three.
10:55Ba, ba, ba.
10:56Alright, we have that?
10:57So, let's add two more beats to it.
11:00Can I see this one?
11:01I'm going to take this one over here, alright?
11:03So, we're going to go.
11:06One, two.
11:09One, two.
11:12One, two.
11:14One, two.
11:15So, we'll try that together just one time.
11:17There's one sequence.
11:19Ba, ba, ba.
11:19One, two.
11:21One, and two.
11:23And one, two.
11:25Ready, play.
11:26Ba, ba, ba.
11:27Ba, ba.
11:27One, two.
11:30Let's do it again.
11:31Let's do it again.
11:32Let's do it again.
11:32Let's play it twice.
11:32Let's play it twice.
11:34One, two.
11:36Ready, and play, and go.
11:38Ba, ba, ba.
11:39One, two.
11:41Ba, ba, ba.
11:42One, two.
11:45Alright, can we keep it going?
11:46Because it seems like y'all got it.
11:48Y'all ready?
11:49One, and two.
11:51And one, two.
11:53Ready, play.
11:54Ba, ba, ba.
11:55Stop.
11:56Stop.
11:57Ba, ba, ba.
11:57Stop.
11:58Good.
11:59Ba, ba, ba.
12:00Ba, ba, ba.
12:03Ba, ba, ba.
12:04Ba, ba, ba.
12:05Ba, ba, ba.
12:06Ba, ba, ba.
12:06Ba, ba, ba.
12:07Ba, ba, ba.
12:07Ba, ba, ba.
12:07Ba, ba, ba.
12:08Ba, ba, ba.
12:08Ba, ba, ba.
12:09Ba, ba, ba.
12:09Ba, ba, ba.
12:09Ba, ba, ba.
12:10Ba, ba, ba.
12:11Ba, ba, ba.
12:12Ba, ba, ba.
12:14Ba, ba, ba, ba.
12:24Got it? Got it?
12:27Alright, go. Hold tight.
12:29Jim day drummers, are we ready?
12:30Simple. 1, 2, 3.
12:331, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.
12:351, 2, 3.
12:36We're going to go.
12:421, 2.
12:441, 2.
12:45Play with me.
12:51Keep going.
12:561, 2, 3.
12:591, 2, 3.
12:591, 2, 3.
13:001, 2, 3.
13:061, 2, 3.
13:49So what he just did was he played the call to make you stop.
13:52Well, we, on a fast track, we're going to play the call for you to start,
13:56and then he's going to play the call for you to stop.
13:58One time, one cycle, maybe two cycles, and that's it.
14:03Boom, ba-dum.
14:06Boom, ba-dum.
14:08Boom, ba-dum.
14:11What are y'all playing?
14:15Come on.
14:20All right, play that call and we ain't going to stop.
14:35Stop.
14:38And you will stop at the end of that.
14:41So we're going to do it one more time.
14:42I need them to go a little faster because when we bust a move, I know.
14:47Can we speed it up?
14:49We need to bust a move.
14:50We need to bust a move.
14:53We need to bust a move.
14:55We need to bust a move.
14:57We need to bust a move.
14:59We need to bust a move.
15:02We need to bust a move.
15:04We need to bust a move.
15:06We need to bust a move.
15:07We need to bust a move.
15:08We need to bust a move.
15:09We need to bust a move.
15:09We need to bust a move.
15:09We need to bust a move.
15:10We need to bust a move.
15:10We need to bust a move.
15:10We need to bust a move.
15:11We need to bust a move.
15:11We need to bust a move.
15:11We need to bust a move.
15:12We need to bust a move.
15:12We need to bust a move.
15:16We need to bust a move.
15:18We need to bust a move.
15:29All right, take them out.
15:35Good.
15:36All right, all right.
15:36All right, now y'all ready?
15:39Oh, did you just say born ready?
15:44Born ready.
15:45Yes, we ready.
15:45Born ready.
15:46So this is what we're going to do.
15:48We're going to start with the song.
15:51Bring in the rhythm.
15:53But y'all got to keep that rhythm going because my baby's going to dance.
15:56Come on in here and find a seat.
15:58Come on in here.
15:58Why you going to call?
16:00Here we go.
16:01Let's try it.
16:02Here we go.
16:02You ready?
16:04Here we go.
16:06Ready?
16:08Bala felekoe.
16:09Bala felekoa.
16:12I'm going to hear y'all.
16:13We're family.
16:14We're going to respond.
16:15Say the call, the words again.
16:16Epa.
16:17Epa.
16:18Epa.
16:19Epa.
16:20Uh-huh.
16:21Remember?
16:21All right, here we go.
16:22We're bringing it back in.
16:23Claquette it out for me.
16:25Bala felekoe.
16:26Bala felekoa.
16:28Bala felekoa.
16:30Na yu na.
16:31Bala felekoe.
16:32Bala felekoe.
16:35Bala felekoa.
16:37Bala felekoa.
16:38Na yu na.
16:39Bala felekoe.
16:40Bala felekoe.
16:42Get ready to drum.
16:43Bala felekoa.
16:44Bala felekoa.
16:46Na yu na.
16:47Bala felekoe.
16:55We'll see you next time.
17:25We'll see you next time.
18:57All right, good.
19:01We can take a couple more people in this quick change that we're doing.
19:05All right, so now I need y'all to give up the drums and give it to somebody else.
19:09You can just pass it to someone next to you.
19:11Now we're going to go, so we started with a traditional West African rhythm, right?
19:16Now we're going to go more into the covering of the migration, of the forced migration era.
19:23So now we're doing the Caribbean, the Haitian, the, hey, this is where we're going, right here.
19:32We're going to Congo Square, but we're going to pay homage to the beautiful Congo.
19:36So the call and response, here we go with the call and response.
19:41Bell Congo Congo La Belle.
19:43Your response is La Belle La Belle.
19:46La Belle La Belle.
19:48Say it.
19:49La Belle La Belle.
19:50La Belle La Belle.
19:55La Belle La Belle.
20:07So, all right, you ready?
20:08Y'all ready to try it?
20:09Let's give me a little time.
20:11Give me a little time.
20:15Bell Congo.
20:21Bell Congo La Belle.
20:24La Belle La Belle.
20:26Bell Congo.
20:34Go ahead and sing it for me.
20:59Now, because we're trying to go fast, make sure we get our timing right, the next thing
21:03we want to do is give you the pieces of the rhythm really quick, because I got to, because
21:07I got to, I got to, I got to, I got to teach them how to dance.
21:11Yeah.
21:11We got to get it in.
21:12We got to teach them how to dance.
21:30you're gonna look
21:31see what you could have
21:33yeah
21:35come on baby
21:37are you good
21:45now you're done for good
21:59boom boom
21:59boom boom
22:02hold on Bible
22:04hold on one second
22:06y'all hitting the drums like y'all scared
22:09I don't need you to be scared
22:11yeah
22:15see the dancers like to feel it
22:17so if you gonna give it here we can't feel it up here
22:20so go ahead and hit it like you mean it
22:23yes
22:25yes
22:26come on
22:29get it
22:30hey
22:31yeah hit it like you mean it
22:47go ahead and speed it up for us
22:51keep up with it
22:52hey
22:55give me a couple of dancers keep that going
22:57speed it up a little bit
22:59i need a couple of dancers i need a couple of hip shakers
23:02come on come on
23:03design you up right here i need some hip shakers
23:10we're gonna go ahead and back up some
23:12y'all wait y'all wait there's no room
23:13but back up some
23:14yeah
23:22let's back up a little bit more
23:23behind the line
23:24so we just go right
23:25left
23:26right
23:27left
23:28right
23:28left
23:30it's not just the feet
23:32hey move the hips
23:39left
23:40now i'm gonna make it work a little bit
23:41let's move to the right
23:42and right
23:45three
23:46four move to the left
23:48and left
23:52do it again
23:54right
23:58right
23:59left
24:02new move
24:03right foot
24:05and front
24:06back
24:07front
24:08y'all gotta get funky with it now
24:11hey
24:14right
24:15here we go
24:15and
24:16all right we're gonna add a little turn ready
24:38and one
24:39two
24:39three bring it back
24:41two
24:41two
24:42three bring it back
24:47all right back up to the top
24:53bring it back
24:59again
25:05back
25:08arm front and back
25:13come on
25:14come on
25:15come on
25:15come on
25:16come on
25:17come on
25:17come on now
25:18get it
25:20get ready for that turn
25:20here we go
25:21back
25:22back
25:23back
25:23back
25:23bring it back
25:32one more
25:34clap
25:35back
25:36back
25:37back
25:37back
25:38sunny
25:38ráp
25:38pop
25:40hop
25:41hop
25:41bow
25:51and送
25:59hai
25:59high
26:00all right from the top
26:01here we go
26:01hips
26:02Two, three, four, left.
26:08Big hips, big hips.
26:12Come on.
26:17Last one.
26:21Front and back.
26:23Front, back.
26:25Big arm.
26:31Turn it out.
26:35Hey.
26:41High forward.
26:47Big guys.
26:49Right here.
26:54All right.
26:56All right.
26:57Keep going.
26:59Y'all go ahead and sit down.
27:01I need you to take that up.
27:36I need you to take that up.
27:55I need you to take that up.
28:41I need you to take that up.
29:00I need you to take that up.
29:25I need you to take that up.
29:55I need you to take that up.
30:19I need you to take that up.
30:52I need you to take that up.
30:54I need you to take that up.
31:00I need you to take that up.
31:21I need you to take that up.
31:41I need you to take that up.
31:44I need you to take that up.
32:21I need you to take that up.
32:25I need you to take that up.
32:27I need you to take that up.
32:41I need you to take that up.
32:43I need you to take that up.
32:45I need you to take that up.
32:48I need you to take that up.
32:49I need you to take that up.
33:18so we have to close we normally would spend an hour to hour and 30 minutes in a drum circle
33:23we
33:24had to get it in in 30 minutes so we did the best we could but i want you to
33:29just know about
33:30culturalized dance festival that we are kicking it off here at essence um we run the whole week
33:35we are always the week after essence we celebrate african diaspora dance um and and culture and
33:41drumming and it's led by our local artists here in the city one of our artists is in
33:46now sitting out here cutting up right now lala she'll be teaching west african we'll have our
33:51master drum i'll have a couple of classes i teach afro-modern and um haitian fusion but all week
33:57go to culturaltiesdancefestival.com and there's a list of all the classes and even if you you're
34:04leaving town today that's fine because i'm this is my eighth year i'm not going nowhere and you know
34:08next year when you come back that hey i need to be in the place so this is who we
34:14are thank you very
34:15much we are cultural ties dance and drum collective thank you very much for having us we appreciate
34:22you so we about to just have a dance off because when we leave a party here in new orleans
34:28we don't
34:29walk out the door we dance we dance out the door let's go thank you so much everyone let's i
34:35mean let's
34:35do it let's do it let's move thank you for joining us
34:45i do need to collect those little sticks which they need the sticks don't leave the room
35:28oh
35:44Thank you, everyone.
35:46Please get home safe.
35:48Flash flood and warning in effect.
35:50Please get home safe.
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