Here is our Corporate Drum Circle all set up for the Higher Education Academy team building session at the Park Inn, York.
Just add people!
Our drum circle team building events nearly always involve an element of surprise and this sometimes create a fun ‘cat and mouse’ game when we are setting up for the event. The game is called ‘Getting 50 drums into the room next door to a company conference without any of the delegates noticing you!’ The drum circle was set up in a room with a very thin partition dividing us from the clients conference next door. This meant we had to be really quiet – no easy feat with a 10 kilo drum! Despite this, we managed to remain highly proffessional – not one cheeky drum beat escaped the room before the session started! When the partitions opened, the delegates were amazed that they hadn’t heard us! They couldn’t believe their eyes – so many drums. They wasted no time in taking part in the session – it was a great way for them to unwind from the conference.
The Drumming Team Building session for MyJobGroup just proved how good a drumming session can be even when the facilities are a bit on the..er..squashed side! . Last Friday this enthusiastic 35 strong team crammed into a small oblong room and really went for it on the drums! If the mood is right, the space is right! The energy was fabulous!
Just before Christmas, we had the pleasure of drumming with a fantastic team from an Oxford based training and consulting company at the Hilton Hotel in Liecester.
This was an event that particularly stood out for us, because there was such a strong transformation in the group during the session. Their reservations at the beginning could certainly be forgiven – after all it was a bit of a shock for some of them to be greeted first thing in the morning by three very loud enthusiastic drummers! But as soon as the main session started everything changed. They understood that they all had to create the rhythm and beats together as a team, and they very quickly embraced the whole excitement and energy if the session. The final Boomwhacker session was absolutely amazing – everybody seemed to understand that they were connected with the rest of the team in creating the success of the music. As a result the rhythms became more complex by the minute – we certainly raised the musical skills bar for this group! What a great way to finish 2011!
Creat a beat sensation at your next conference or large gathering. Contact us now or find out more in our corporate events page.
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.
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:
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:
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.
Unbeatable Energy have been to us a few times over the last couple of years. On the 9th December we wanted to do something creative that involved every student within our establishment. As we had recently converted to an academy … Continue reading →
Drumming Workshops at William Farr Secondary School, Lincoln, Lincolnshire – drumming in the moment!
Every year Unbeatable Energy visit William Farr Secondary School to deliver African drumming workshops to support their Cultural Diversity Day. This year was particularly special. The reason? Spontaneity – there was lots of it! Drumming is brilliant for creating ‘music … Continue reading →
