Yesterday Unbeatable Energy were drumming with the GlaxoSmithKline conference delegates at the London Marriott Hotel in Twickenham. What a fantastic group! There was a fabulous atmosphere in the final drum circle and it was a pleasure to work with such enthusiastic participants. In the final part of the session, the group sang the African Djole song and it was wonderful to hear the harmonies work together – when the song was accompanied with the beat if the drums, the sound was magical!
Our new London team assisted Unbeatable Energy with this event – Justine Hart and Barry Neilson. They were the essential musicians who provided the driving beat to the session -
Barry and Justine, if you are reading this, the delegates were very impressed with how you both kept those rhythms going non stop for a full hour!Well done!
We would like to thank Mairi Millar from GlaxoSmithKline who was an excellent client representative, and was really helpful and supportive throughout the day.
We would also like to thank all the staff at the Marriott Twickenham who were brilliant hosts. The Marriott Twickenham staff were brilliant with their communication and support. Special thanks to Camille and Jess from their team. What came across was that it really mattered to them that the event for all parties went smoothly during the day.
Last week we delivered one of our largest corporate drumming sessions for 357 delegates at the Moneysupermarket conference. The event involved 213 drums; 144 items of percussion, 7 days of planning, and a fantastic team of 8 musicians which included a guest performance by the amazing African drumming soloist -Maitre Samsou.
Samsou was an absolute pleasure to work with and we were so proud to be sharing the stage with him. He creates a sensational sound on his djembe drum!
This was the first drumming event I have facilitated without without saying a word. As the delegates were seated on cabaret tables, we needed something for them to focus on – it has become more and more apparent that the moment I open my mouth, people switch off. Perhaps I was cheating a bit using PowerPoint in the first two minutes, though this was only to cover health and safety. All in all the plan worked – the audience appeared to understand what to do and once the complete rhythm was put together the sound was breath taking. We are looking forward to viewing the rushes of the video!
Here are some new pictures of our African drumming group ‘Kassa!’ performing at the University of Nottingham International Students Welcome Evening.
For the fourth time running we have had the enormous pleasure of providing a big open drumming workshop for their students, followed by a high energy evening performance. Each year both events just seem to get better and better!
The drumcircle workshop was amazing! University of Nottingham certainly appear to host the cream of talent from around the world. Some of those students are brilliant drummers!
This year the performance was one of those gigs where everything seemed to work – the accoustics were perfect, the atmosphere was joyous and, what’s more, the audience were up for dancing!
Next year we will be headlining the event and we can’t wait!
Wow! A school drumming workshop for 260 secondary pupils! We haven’t done that before! What an amazing way to finish the old year and bring in the new one. We have worked with Ormiston Ilkeston Academy (FKA Ilkeston Academy) on many occasions but this year, to celebrate their new status as an academy, they wanted to do something on a grander scale. So instead of a standard workshop for 30-40 pupils, this years event brought together the entire 260 Year 8s to create a giant sound to celebrate the end of term!
The drumming team building session for Airbus took place at the Success Factory venue in Cheshire. Here is the footage from the finale session where the group learnt to integrate rhythms they created in small teams with the main beat of the whole group!
If you would like to find out how Unbeatable Energy can inspire and motivate your team at your next away day event, please contact us or find out more by clicking the following links:
Need a big lift for your corporate event? This is the band you need! Unbeatable Energy are proud to be collaborating with the new sound of the north – ‘Maitre Samsou and the Beat Artistes!’ Watch the video of our recent performance in November.
The inspiration and vision for this 8 piece band comes from master drummer – Maitre Samsou. Samsou is one of the original musicians from the world famous dance troup – Les Ballets Africanes from Guinea, West Africa. His vast wealth of knowledge, experience and passion has resulted in the creation of a truly unique drumming performance which fuses a spectacular display of traditional West African rhythms with amazing choreography and synchronised break beats. The end result – a performance sensation!
Create a beat sensation for your event! Contact us now to find out more about The Beat Artistes!
The African Drumming workshops at Cookridge Primary School in Leeds stood out as a day to remember last Summer. The wonderful sessions with each of the classes culminated in an amazing interractive performance for the children’s parents at the end of the day. The turn out by the parents to see their children perform was amazing! Once again they got a little bit more than they bargained for when thewy were asked to join in with an Afrcian song called Kassa. By the end of the afternoon the school hall was filled with the sound and spirit of a local community belting out the song with the drums , while children jumped in and out of the circle to dance to the African beats!
Is your school planning a topic on Africa? If so, an African drumming workshop can provide your pupils with an amazing educational experience they will never forget! Contact us for further information or find out more at our African Music Experience page.
We’ve provided African Drumming workshops at Aston on Trent Primary on several occasions. One summer we visited them during their parent’s Open Evening. That time the drums joined in with the thunder of a huge electrical storm outside! Another year we delivered our Boomwhacker Workshop and the whole school was filled with the beautiful sound of harmonious ‘Pentatonic’ music.
This year we were back again with the African Drums and worked with their Key Stage 1 classes. We never have any problem with motivating infants – they love drumming and their energy and spirit is wonderful. Normally, the main challenge is giving them the opportunity to appreciate the difference in quality between a complete ‘free for all’ rumble and the sound of a steady ‘in time’ beat. However this was less of a challenge for the Aston on Trent children. They were brilliant at listening and they really understood that they were all working together in the music and not just in isolation.
The final performance by the classes to their parents was wonderful and the afternoon finished with a really nice unexpected twist. We finished a little earlier than expected and there was still a few minutes before home time. We asked the parents if they wanted to have a go and (refreshingly) they said ‘yes please’. So the final ten minutes of the day we ran a mini drumming workshop just for the parents – I’m sure that the drumming gave them some therapeutic sense of release and as they left the hall, there were big smiles on their faces!
Is your school planning a topic on Africa? If so, an African drumming workshop can provide your pupils with an amazing educational experience they will never forget! Contact us for further information or find out more at our African Music Experience page.
It was a pleasure to provide the Drum Circle entertainment for the Energy Costs Advisors thirty year aniversary party at Wirlowbrook Hall in Sheffield. The particiapnts were in wonderful high spirits. The two drumming sessions were an absolute pleasure to deliver and the sound, rhythm and grooves that each group produced sounded amazing!
Here is an account of the event by ECA’s representative – Martin Needham
Just a quick note to thank you and your colleague at Unbeatable Energy for a fantastic night of African drumming. I have to admit I was concerned that some of our staff wouldn’t enter into the spirit of the event but the way that you brought them out of their shells and really got them interacting with each other was a joy to see. The African drumming was the talk of the night, with everyone agreeing that it had been great fun. Once again, many thanks and we’ll certainly be coming back for more.
Looking for something fun, all inclusive and refreshingly different for your staff Christmas Team Building Event? Find out more about our events by viewing our Corporate Page or Contact us now to discuss ideas and make a booking.
This month we ran a Black History Month drumming workshop with the children from Wycliffe Primary School in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. This was a particlulalry wonderful workshop which culminated in a final performance for the parents at the school.
There was an huge turn out for the performance, so we couldn’t let miss such a great opportunity! The parents joined in with an African song the children had learnt during the day! What is so amazing about a big group singing session? Well no one feels exposed – it doesn’t matter how bad one’s voice is, when a whole group sings together it sounds beautiful. ”I should know” says Steve Rivers ”my voice is more gravelly than a graden path!” As the group sang away, the Y1 class beat a driving rhythm called Djole and the other children jumped into the circle to dance in their own special way! The whole experience of the community coming together was a truly special one!
Is your school planning a topic on Africa? If so, an African drumming workshop can provide your pupils with an amazing educational experience they will never forget! Contact us for further information or find out more at our African Music Experience page.
“Wentworth Consultants is a company that specialize in helping teams perform better, so we were looking for a different and exciting event to help our own team bond, and we wanted to include our partners in the event. The afternoon … Continue reading →
Drum Circle Team Building Event at the London Marriott Twickenham – GlaxoSmithKline Delegates make a giant sound on African Drums!
Yesterday Unbeatable Energy were drumming with the GlaxoSmithKline conference delegates at the London Marriott Hotel in Twickenham. What a fantastic group! There was a fabulous atmosphere in the final drum circle and it was a pleasure to work with such … Continue reading →
