This class is not currently being offered in our catalog.
This class is not currently being offered in our catalog.
Au Nigarawoun Bie, Nigarawoun Au. I am my drum and my drum is me.
Explore the Garifuna Culture through the primero (masculine) and the segunda (feminine) drums. Denmark Flores and Joshua Arana will be exploring Garifuna History; who we are, where we came from as a people, our struggles, survival and triumphs. Learn Garifuna drumming techniques that will be used to produce different beats to then produce the Punta and Paranda rhythms; the two rhythms that will be explored in this workshop.
One does not have to have a Garifuna Drum to learn how to play.
Denmark Flores
Originally from Dangriga, Denmark “Fashion” Flores is a cultural musical icon for the Garifuna community in Belize. A master drummer with over 27 years of performance experience, Denmark has performed and toured with the Ugandani Dance Company, Sound City Band, Belize National Dance Company, Punta Rebels Band, the Garifuna All Star band, and the Garifuna Collective founded by the great Andy Palacio. These tours have taken him to Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Australia. In 2001 he was chosen to represent Belize to the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent in a month long residency to reinforce the Garifuna culture there.
Joshua Arana
Joshua Arana is also from Dangriga, which was the first Garifuna community established in Belize. He is an experienced drummer of both the primero and segundo drums of the Garifuna culture. He began performing at age five and eventually came to international attention as a member of the Garifuna Collective touring with them from 1998 through 2015 with the late Andy Palacio. At that point Joshua pursued a degree in Anthropology at Galen University, after which he became the coordinator at the Stann Creek House of Culture, part of Belize’s National Institute of Culture and Heritage (NICH). In 2018 Joshua was invited to speak at the TedX Belmopan where he talked about how Garifuna drumming made him a feminist. You can check out his Ted Talk here.
