St. Thomas the Apostle, Ottawa hosted an African drumming and dance workshop on Feb. 15.
The workshop was led by Carleton music professor Kathy Armstrong and Stacey Cam-Tamakloe, who came to Canada as a graduate student from Ghana in 2021 and just completed her Master’s degree in music and culture. She is an artist-in-residence with Carleton Music’s West African Rhythm Ensemble. Armstrong was an orchestra percussionist when she first travelled to Ghana to study music there in 1990 and has been working on projects between Ghana and North America ever since.
They passed out drums to people who attended the workshop and began teaching some of the simpler rhythms from traditional Ghanaian music.
Once the crowd of about 30 people attending had warmed up their senses of rhythm and fun, Cam-Tamakloe invited them over the other side of the hall to teach them some traditional Ghanaian dance moves while Armstrong led the rest of the attendees on drums and other instruments to keep the beat going. It was definitely a challenge to keep up with Cam-Tamakloe’s graceful and athletic move, but it was so much fun!
Saint John, Innisville — Deanery of the Southwest