A drum circle leads to interactive rhythms

The first Tri-State Drum & Dance Circle meeting was held on June 14, at UpFront Exhibition Space in Port Jervis, NY. This is the brain child of Stu Kessler and his wife, Nancy Davis Kessler. They have been involved in many drum circles, but didn’t find any around here, so they decided to start one. People came from all over the tri-state area (Milford, Matamoras, Shohola , Glen Spey, Barryville, and Montague, New Jersey.) This community event was a first for many of the people, but there were experienced drummers there as well.

Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead drummer) defines a drum circle this way: “A drum circle offers equality because there is no head or tail. It includes people of all ages, religions, and backgrounds. The main objective is for people to share rhythm and get in tune with each other and themselves. To form a group consciousness...[so that ] a new voice, a collective voice emerges from the group as they drum together. ‘

This was the experience that emerged in this drum circle. There was a trance-like quality to the circle. People lost themselves in the rhythms, and at times it was so intense, you could feel it in your toes. The Kesslers brought a number of drums and other percussion instruments for people to use. And everyone participated whether drumming or dancing to the rhythms. Stu Kessler has been drumming for 23 years. In fact, Nancy and Stu had one of their first dates at a drumming circle, though she really enjoys the dancing a bit more than the drumming.

Stu acted as a facilitator for the group. He would start with very simple 4/4 rhythm and then people would join in and expand or extrapolate the beat from there.

“I don’t want to make this a teaching thing,” Stu said. “I just want to start people off so they can develop their own playing.”

“It’s really about a communal feeling of listening to each other and becoming one in the present moment,” Nancy said,

People tried various drums in addition to the ones they brought. Todd Anderson, an experienced drummer, played the Handpan drum, a convex steel drum played with the hands and tuned with multiple notes to various scales.

He let people in the circle have a turn at it. Todd’s Handpan is tuned to the D Minor scale and it has a deep, sonorous almost eerie quality. Todd has been hooked on drums for most of his life.

“I’m hooked on the energy and the healing power of the tone and its resonance,” he said.

The Handpan drum was designed by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Bern, Switzerland. They made it convex instead of concave. There’s a hole in the bottom of the drum and as you hit it, the sound resonates through the drum and out the bottom. Todd is an artist who loves working with natural elements, and the sound of the Handpan complements that.

Stu and Nancy invited everyone to the next drum circle, which will be on Tuesday, July 19, 7-8:30 p.m. at the UpFront Exhibition Space, 31 Jersey Ave, in Port Jervis. A $5 minimum donation is suggested to thank Gordon Graff (owner and curator) for his offering of this space. A drumming circle will meet on the third Tuesday of every month. If you go, bring a drum or other percussion instrument. Maybe Todd will let you try his Handpan.