Facilitators & Workshops

Drumming & Percussion

Workshop Facilitator Bios

Shara Claire

Shara Claire has been studying music for 24 years, and hand-drumming and percussion for nine. She has studied extensively with Chris Bertin of Moonrise Music in Duncan, B.C., and other teachers include Arthur Hull of Village Music Circles, Ubaka Hill, Famoudou Konate, Afia Walking Tree, and members of the late Babatunde Olatunji's ensemble. In addition she has played with numerous performance groups on the West Coast.

Having moved east in 2002 to train as an expressive arts therapist at ISIS-Canada, Shara now offers regular classes, workshops and private lessons in the Toronto area and is a regular percussionist for local dance and yoga classes. Her music exhibits influences from West African, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and Congolese culture. As a teacher, Shara balances tradition and experimentation, and aspires to build rhythm-based community.

Shara has taught rhythm to toddlers, elders, and everyone in between. She is a gently directive facilitator who believes in everyone's rhythmic capabilities. Shara's textured artistic background in dance, writing, improv theatre, piano and arts-based psychotherapy all influence her work with rhythm and people. She also has a nine-year background in yoga and meditation and is a certified massage practitioner.

Lori Fithian

Lori Fithian has been facilitating drum circles and leading workshops since 1998.  She grew up in a musical family, starting out early banging on Tupperware as a toddler, tapping on 7-up bottles and  an old set of bongos in family porch jams as a kid, playing the french horn in school - all before discovering the world of hand drumming and drum circling, around 1989.

A "folk" student of many different drum traditions: West African, Brazilian, Japanese, Cuban, Middle Eastern and more, she travels around Michigan with a van-load of all kinds of drums and percussion sharing her love for the universal groove that touches hearts and brings folks together in rhythm.  She'll try any musical instrument, and encourages others to get spontaneous, creative, silly and connected through music and all kinds of rhythmic expressions - drum, dance, voice, etc.

Zahra Haddad

Middle Eastern drummer, doumbek player, Zahra Haddad, (aka Rosemary Corfield) of Ottawa, has been playing Arabic-style percussion and working as a professional bellydancer & instructor since the mid-seventies. Zahra gained first-hand knowledge & practice while working with Egyptian, Lebanese, Iraqi drummers & musicians over many years & regularly upgrades her skills at workshops throughout Canada & the US with teachers such as Ibrahim Maalouf, MaryEllen Donald, Hossam Ramzy, Suleiman Warwar & Raquy Danziger. A member of the women’s world music ensemble, Mirage, music without borders, she performed at the last Women’s Voices Festival in 2005 & plays regularly at numerous other events in Ottawa, Kingston & Cornwall. With her unique insights into both bellydance & drumming Zahra has much to share with dancers & drummers of all traditions. Zahra currently teaches her "Fun with the Doumbek" middle eastern drumming classes & workshops for dancers, drummers & children in Eastern Ontario.

Ubaka Hill

An authentic, energetic performer, composer, songwriter, recording artist, motivational speaker, conference weaver, teacher and facilitator of hand drumming workshops for  more than 25 years throughout the United States.  Her soul-vision and intention is to facilitate and inspire personal transformation, empowerment, healing and joy with music that moves you.

Ubaka’s music is intentional and indefinable, inspired by her appreciation of celtic, jazz, latin, frican, shamanic, folkloric, aboriginal and contemporary music, including the art of creative improvisation.

This workshop, Drumsong the Art and Spirit of Drumming, is presented to people of all ages, various skill levels and physical abilities including deaf and hard of hearing throughout the US, including Hawaii, Alaska, and internationally in Canada, Australia and Japan; at local, national and international music festivals, community centers, healthcare facilities, holistic retreat centers, coffeehouses, conferences and concert halls.

An innovative drummer, teacher and performer, Ubaka Hill leads this celebration of women’s drumming through the traditions of various cultures, both ancient and contemporary.

Jessie Steinberg

An educator for 10 years, Jessie specializes in drumming and rhythm, outdoor education, group development and experiential workshops. Jessie enjoys sharing her experiences and passion for the didgeridoo with others...so come on out and discover these mystical sounds for yourself!

The didgeridoo is an Australian Aboriginal musical instrument. It embraces a distinctive sound with a rich variety of overtones, harmonics and voicings that make the didgeridoo very unique.

The beginner’s workshop - Didgeridoo I - will introduce you to the blowing technique and increase your awareness of rhythms. Didgeridoo II is about being both musician and instrument while exploring the rich tapestry found within thoughts, emotions, images and physical sensations.

Jean Brereton

Jean got her first drum in 1989. Living in rural Renfrew County, with no one to teach her how to play, Jean says:  “I felt I didn’t have much rhythm and was afraid of the drum.  But I loved its sound and spirit, so I asked the drum to teach me.”  Jean has facilitated many drum circles and workshops throughout the Upper Ottawa Valley and passionately believes that we all have rhythm.  She’s drummed with children in area schools and seniors in residences.  She also teaches an introductory course on drumming and percussion at Algonquin College in Pembroke, Ontario. 

Afia Walking Tree

Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Afia Walking Tree is a masterful percussionist, facilitator, and performer who builds’ bridges across multi-ethnic intergenerational communities for the goal of Drumming Our Souls Free.™  Her passion for creating deep personal connections and encouraging empowerment for all people through African Diasporic drumming, dance/movement, creative expressive arts, storytelling, and holistic healing arts has been life-saving for many!  She offers intensive study for individuals at all levels of musicianship to bring their love of drumming into a fully integrated practice. 

Afia is a world-class Drum Amazon who has collaborated with:  Alice Walker, Vicki Randle of the Tonight Show, Jennifer Berezan, Edwina Lee Tyler, Ubaka Hill, Arthur Hull, Rhiannon, Joanna Macy, and is currently touring with internationally acclaimed Les Amazones Women Master Drummers of Guinea, West Africa.  Afia Walking Tree founded Spirit Drumz™ in 1996, a national performing arts company that prioritizes drumming of the African Diaspora to liberate, educate, and unify all people. Walking Tree’s first CD, Soul Affirmationz, is available online at www.spiritdrumz.org and is available at camp.  Look for Afia’s first full-length book on drumming to be published in 2009.

JT Productions is dedicated to producing events that are uplifting to womyn’s spirits.

Contact: info@drumcamps.ca or call 613.599.4274 or 252.521.4755

Carole Anne Burris

Carole Anne Burris has been teaching hand-drumming to women for over eight years. She has been studying and playing music since she was four and has had a previous solo career as a pianist and composer.

She is the founder and musical director of the former women's drumming group, WombBOOM.

This year Carole Anne will be teaching wonderful parts for junjun, bells, claves, djembe and even some xylophone.  She'll also continue her love with 6/8 and rhythms inspired by women.

Queen

Queen is a visionary and holds sacred ancestral traditions while channeling Nu and tangible ways to apply these birth rites to our daily lives. She is creatress of ancestor's daughters and ongoing young women's rite of passage community empowerment movement, since 1999, located in Long Beach, California. This community movement encourages awareness of our oneness with all that is, self-empowerment and an inner knowing that we are infinite possibilities.

Queen teaches Nu Traditional Afrikan Dance Movement. She is visionary to a combination of ancient ancestral movements and modern concepts that fill each movement with intentions of physical, emotional balance and well being whereby self-empowerment via self expression unfolds harmony and the desired state of being.

Caroll Halford

I have been Sacred Circle Dancing for many years, both as a participant and as a facilitator. My love of these simple dances and the beautiful music keeps me connected to my spiritual being as I celebrate the sacred within myself and with each other.

We dance for community for joy, for healing and for centeredness as we honour the sacred both in ourselves and in each, other. Most dances are done in a circle (where we are all equal) but some are in a line or in a spiral.

Susan Crowe

Susan Crowe, drummer, singer, ceremonialist, water pourer, pipe carrier, healer and intuitive, has been moved by spirit to take her gifts "to the people". Twenty-three years of study with native elders from both North and South America have honed her natural talents.

Personal work and experience have sensitized her to the needs of other women. She now celebrates life by drumming and singing songs of spirit, love and compassion. Through these she honors the life of each woman she meets by celebrating their connection to the goddess within.

Pat Hutchinson

Pat Hutchinson has taught relaxation and visualization since 1995, while holding a full time position as a civil servant and studying at night for her Bachelor of Applied Science in Nutrition. She ran relaxation classes for people who were referred by therapists, doctors and friends, also at night. She’s taught modified workshops to students at the University of Guelph Ontario and to students attending a high school co-op program in Ajax Ontario.

Pat knows from experience that learning how to reduce stress levels to take control of her life needs to be perceived as easy and quick.

Three years ago Pat took the early retirement option from the provincial government. She professionally recorded the content of her workshops in order to provide more people with the opportunity to teach themselves the techniques.

Dancing, Singing & Wellness

Caru Thompson

Caru Thompson, Shekere Master, teaches and instructs Shekere/Bell/Performance workshops in Ontario, Quebec, the USA, and abroad (including England, Trinidad, and Barbados). She is a member of ASE (Ah-Shay) and Women Of The Calabash, and performs solo and with other internationally known musicians/entertainers. Recording credits include ASE, Ubaka Hill, and Motown artists. Film credits include academy award winning Black Is…Black Ain’t, Marlon Riggs, Prod/Dir., A Litany For Survival: The Life & Work of Audre Lorde.

A percussionist with a versatile ear, Caru has co-composed for Liturgical Dance at the NY Theological Seminary and established and directed a folkoric performance group of Senior Women (The Shekerettes).

Known as Shekere Queen of the Top Hand, Caru writes and performs poetry and storytelling and is the Keeper of Traditions through the Word. Caru sees Music as the universal language and uses it as a healing and empowerment tool. She facilitates workshops for Pre-school through Senior adults. Caru is writing “The Gourd Stories”.

As a social worker, her clients are people in Harlem, New York with HIV and AIDS, who have been chronically homeless.

Karen Egoff

Karen has been involved with Hands on Healing for 8 years. She has worked with Hands on Healing, Reiki and Cranio-Sacral Therapies, taught and practiced Yoga and Meditation for over 15 years. She is a Reiki Master teacher and creates a warm, secure and peaceful environment where clients are treated with the utmost respect and caring.  I am open, cheerful, positive, and non-judgmental.

"Rely on what you feel, & meditate upon this. Don't rely on others opinions!"
- by Karen Egoff

Terri Segal

Terri is an Expressive Arts Therapist, Facilitator, and Educator who is dedicated to sharing the therapeutic value of creative expression through Group Drumming and Expressive Arts workshops.  For the past 10 years, Terri has studied and taught West African Drumming and World Percussion. Terri recently completed a three week West African Drum and Dance Immersion with Company Fore-Fote in Guinea, Africa. She is a trained Expressive Arts Therapist and Drum Circle Facilitator.

Terri participated in HealthRhythm's Group Empowerment Drumming Facilitator Training Program, Village Music Facilitator Training Program, holds a BA Honors in English from McMaster University, and is a graduate of Expressive Arts Therapy at ISIS-Canada.

Through her business Rhythmic by Nature, Terri facilitates Group Drumming Programs at schools, social service agencies, and for small and large businesses for the purpose of teambuilding, wellness, recreation, and education.

Chantal

As soon as Chantal could press the keys, her fingers were flying over the piano hammering out her own unique rhythms. Her piano career came to a halt when her wandering ways began shortly after University. Unable to carry a piano on her back she soon found herself among her peers in spontaneous drum circles.  Her love of movement, music and nature was woven together with the cultural Maori performance of poi. Spinning fire (a style of poi) while dancing to hand percussion became a creative expression and means to create musical scales through movement. 

Chantal is a self-studied naturalist, she creates and facilitates programs engaging youth in the natural world.

Catherine Veilleux

Catherine Veilleux is passionate about West-African drumming. Her love of this art brought her many times to it's birthplace in Guinea-Conakry where she studied with different masters. In the Ottawa valley, she has been involved in many projects to help develop West-African drum and dance. She is currently a djembe soloist in the Cobra du Mandingue company. Catherine holds a bachelor's degree in education and taught school for twelve years. As a djembe teacher, she has communicated her passion to hundreds of people and hopes to share this wonderfull culture far and wide.

She describes the spirit of her workshops as fun and energetic!

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