HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2016

Warmest wishes for a New Year overflowing with dreams fulfilled and new dreams visioned of a world at peace...peace within, peace with one another, peace with the natural world and peace with all beings. A world guided by compassion and deep wisdom....wisdom quietly understood through listening and learning with all of our senses to the natural rhythms of the world around us and trusting the innate intelligence of nature to teach us how to live more harmoniously and sustainably within the sacred circle of life.  May we find and honor our place in the continuum of life...believing wholeheartedly in the possibility that this billion year dance called life on Earth can continue and thrive and provide a beautiful space for all of our children to call HOME. Let us together bring forth the necessary creative force to birth the changes and solutions to the multiple and potent challenges we face on Earth and let us enliven the Universal bonds that make us one family/one organism with heartfelt trust and hope and commitment...with art and music, and dance, and song, and an unfailing faith in love and possibility.
Still believing that even here....even now...a miracle can happen....
Much gratitude,
Sherry


DRUMZ 2016 HAND DRUMMING SCHEDULE
Drums are provided if needed in the Beginner Level Classes. All classes are in six week sessions for$100 per session at DRUMZ, 3700 1/2 Kerbey Lane in the Purple Cottage behind the Purple House of "Pilates on Kerbey". Private lessons are available by appointment. Gift Certificates for Classes are available! Semi-private classes for two or small group classes for you and your friends are also available, as are Drum Facilitations at your office , workplace,church, school, party, or other special organizational events!
If you have a heartbeat, you have rhythm! Reclaiming your own natural rhythm is a very healing and transformative experience! Life is a dance and it is pulsing with rhythm in every moment....and we are all just lookin' for the groove! Come join our circle, be a part of our song and expand your personal experience of community, compassion, listening, celebration, and creativity! Relax as you energize every cell in your body! Learn a new language with which to speak! REGISTER BY PHONE AT: 512-453-9090 pr email Sherry at : sdrumz@austin.rr.com. MC/VISA accepted. You may call and reserve a space and pay at the first class meeting if that works best for you! THANK-YOU for your interest! I hope to share a rhythm with you soon!
Peace & Gratitude, Sherry

SATURDAY MORNING- 10-11am- Beginner/Beyond Beginner Level Hand Drumming African-Style Class! DISCOVERING THE MAGIC of HAND DRUMMING ( please see Wed. Evening from 8-9pm below  for a more complete description of the class material) Begins Jan. 9th. Cost: $100 per six week session or $17.50 per class drop-in.

SATURDAY MORNING from 11:15am-12:15pm. Beginner Level Balafon Class. The balafon is a beautiful melodic wooden xylophone-style instrument from Guinea in West Africa. Played with special mallets , the melodies produced by this instrument are mesmerizing and incomparably beautiful! The music and vibrations of the balafon go straight into the heart. Balafons are availabe for sale at DRUMZ and we have two student balafons available for use in class. It is difficult to learn the material in these classes without your own balafon at home to practice on but you are welcome to try the class out with the in-clas use of one of our balafons to see whether or not your commitment is strong enough to choose to have one of your own! Several melodic phrases are layered together to create the complet composition with a sloist playing over the whole. Begins January 9th.

  MONDAY AFTERNOON- 3-4pm...A Women's Beginning HAND DRUM CLASS meets at Sherry's home in the Texas Hill Country near Lake Travis and Spicewood, Texas. Great fun in a lovely setting on a beautiful pond and surrounded by nature and beautiful flowers, and trees, and grasses and birds and bees and lizards and frogs and koi fish...a great getaway from the busy streets of Austin!$100 per 6 weeks session. This is a Beginner and All-Level Class. Begins Jan. 11th. Please call Sherry at 512-453-9090 for directions.

TUESDAY evening- KRIN CLASS- the African Log Drum! 6:30pm-7:30pm This is a hugely fun and dynamic instrument to play! Join us if you can. Krins are available at DRUMZ and can be purchased for this class. It is required that evreyone have their own log drum to participate in this class. We often have djun accompaniment with these rhythms and songs! So fun!!

TUESDAY evening - DRUMSISTA PERFORMANCE CLASS begins January 19th from 7:45pm-9:15pm. This is a twelve week session of 1 1/2 hour classes and culminates in a huge and amazing and very magical Public Performance at a Benefit Concert! This is an All- Level Class with some drum experience and your own personal drum necessary for participation. $225 per 12 week session. There will be extra rehearsals towards the end of this session and the concert will be held the evening of April 9th, a Saturday night, at Unity Church of the Hills on Anderson Mill Road. MORE INFORMATION FORTHCOMING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE MOST UPDATED INFORMATION AS IT IS DISTRIBUTED! Email:sdrumz@austin.rr.com or cal DRUMZ at 512-453-9090. This is truly an amazing experience. Visit the DRUMSISTAS FACEBOOK PAGE!


WEDNESDAY Evenings 6:45pm-7:45pm- DJUNDUN DIVAS....this is a great class for those folks wanting to focus on the big powerful African base drums played with sticks that guide and accompany the Djembes in the West African-style ensemble. This is a great class and men and women are both welcome! Some bass drum experience recommended. $100 per six weeks session or $17.50 per drop-in class. Begins Jan. 13th, 2016.

WEDNESDAY evenings 8-9pm, DISCOVERING THE MAGIC- The FUN-damentals of Hand drumming for Beginners, those just starting out on the drummer's path, and Beyond Beginner level students, too!! This is always a fun and enthusiastic class of eager, passionate, ready to groove students! If you have been called to the drum, whether you understand that calling or not at this point, this class is for you! A very supportive and open group of drummers on the path awaits you! This class covers the very basics- the Babatunde Drum Language, hand technique, exercises to develop that technique, warm up exercises, practice tips and incentives, drum circle etiquette,
the selection, care, and tuning of hand drums, learning a West African-style rhythm with multiple parts, as well as creating in-the=moment music each class time as a closing rhythm with a global intention! A great way to meet other friends to drum with! Come join us starting Jan.13th at DRUMZ. Six week session, $100class or $17.50 drop-in .


THURSDAY EVENINGS 6:45-7:45pmThis is the intermediate level SERIOUS DRUMMIN' DRUMMERS and requires experience in group drumming, intermediate level skills in hand technique and West African-style drum ensemble playing, djun/bell combination playing, a basic understanding of rhythm structure, and a desire to move to the next level with your playing! Moving to the edge, as it were! Must have your own drum and a commitment to practice. Six week session begins Thursday , Jan. 14th at 7:45 pm at DRUMZ

BIO of Teacher, Sherry Gingras

A Native Austinite, Sherry has enjoyed a number of business experiences in her home town including owning EARTHSEA, a Gem and Mineral/ Collector Shell Gallery/Shop on Kerbey Lane for nine years in the mid 70's-mid 80's. Sherry also Owned The Ausitin Collection, a Folkart and Handmade Southwestern Furniture Store on Kerby Lane in the early 90's Sherry was the Designer and CEO of S.H.E. Apparel, A Sophisticated Women's high end Western /Southwestern Suede and Leather Clothing Line for nine years in the 90's, and owner of Cowgirl's Are Forever, a retail Women's Clothing Boutique in the Lakeway/Bee Cave area in the late 90's-2004. Sherry began teaching NIA and Hand Drumming Classes in the late 90's and she created and opened her store, DRUMZ, in December of 2003 on Kerbey Lane. Sherry is also the founder and director of The Djembabes, a popular All Women's Drumsong Performance Ensemble, and a large All Women's  student performance group, The Drumsistas.  Sherry has been studying hand drumming for the past 19 plus years, studied in Africa with Mamady Keita in 2007 and 2010 and has been teaching in Austin for 17 years! Sherry is also a Drum Circle facilitator and has led  monthly Community Drum Circle off and on for many years in Austin. Currrently Sherry holds a MeetUp Drumz Community Drum Circle at her store on Kerbey Lane every second Saturday of the month at 7pm. Sherry taught the children at the Texas StateSchool for the Blind and Visually Impaired for five years, as well as other special needs classes and groups, including adults in recovery programs through the Journey Program of MHMR. Sherry graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA degree with a  major in Psychology and a minor in Social Welfare Studies. Sherry believes that music and the magic of the drum is a powerful healing force that is our birthright and our key to unity, harmony, balance, and peaceful co-existence on our planet,reminding us that we are all valuable and beautiful parts of the whole intricate and delicate web of life. In addition to her extensive teaching schedule at the Studio at Drumz, Sherry is available for workshops, Corporate and Private Drum Circle Facilitation/Team Building events, private parties, school performances, and private lessons by appointment. You may contact her at : DRUMZ, 512-453-9090, or email her at sdrumz@austin.rr.com.