Drum circle history

2013 map

Historical recollections from a drummer

Drum circles have taken place at the Whole Earth Festival for more than 20 years. I attended the circles regularly from the early 90's to around 2015 or so. After that I continued to attend the circles, but less regularly.

From my recollection, the circles have always been to the west of the quad on the lawn next to Hart Hall. This location provided some distance from the musicians and performers on the stages. For most of the years starting in the 90's the WEF organizers provided several straw bales on the Hart Hall lawn that were arranged in a circle for people to sit on and play.

There have been self-appointed facilitators off and on throughout the years 1995-2010. They were there on both Saturday and Sunday and they seemed to be committed to keeping a coherent rhythm or groove going during the sessions. Some of these facilitators I knew and some I didn't know. In either case I did what I could to help them keep stability to the groove.

I never knew if the WEF organizers hired any of these committed facilitators or not. Arthur Hull, world recognized leader and teacher from the Santa Cruz area, facilitated for a couple of years in the late 90's. He would be there for a couple of hours each day.

During this time I never saw anyone from the Campus do anything to regulate the drumming activities. There were many regular faces who showed up from outside the area, and we often formed kinship for that one time each year.

The circles I witnessed were sometimes passionate and excited but always very orderly and respectful. They averaged 10 to 30 participants in the better sessions and occasionally reached 50 or more. Sometimes spectators would gather and form circles around the core drummers.

When the grooves were particularly good and stable, it attracted many dancers of all ages and cultural orientations. Some of these circles were the best I have ever attended. The best circles attracted drummers with really good skills, both in musicianship as well as the art of respectful freeform co-creation with others. (Good drumming requires an omnipresent musical attentiveness during freeform jamming. Good players must also be good listeners.)

The better sessions were exciting for everyone. I remember many stories... but that's for another time!

-- Steve Bash, Sacramento, April 27, 2023

Letter from Brian Dahmen (Davis Enterprise)

April 21, 2022

From my youth till now, working to understand other people's culture and viewpoints has been a core value of mine. The Whole Earth Festival directors have recently announced the free-for-all drum circle will not be tolerated at WEF this year because it represents offensive cultural appropriation, "or the use of iconography, art, music, ritual, or other cultural practices by persons outside of said culture."

I'm not sure if you've ever really seen or participated in a WEF drum circle, but if you did you'd find musical instruments from every continent, and people from all walks of life and backgrounds in attendance.

It was a joy to perform Bollywood dance on the WEF dance stage 2010, and I'm grateful my dance instructor didn't question whether I should be allowed to participate because my skin was not the same shade as hers. Our troop had Chinese, Mexican, White, Punjabi, Jewish and Canadian people in it. United Nations of Bollywood.

The Beatles sold records featuring sitar and tabla. Through the Beatles' influence, classical Indian musicians like Ravi Shankar were able to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival during the Summer of Love. Did you also know The Beatles were personally responsible for the de-segregation of many stadiums and large concert halls in the early sixties in the American deep south? The Beatles refused to perform in any venue requiring separate sections for Black Americans. Once these venues were forced to remove their segregated seating in order to book The Beatles, these venues remained integrated thereafter.

Your limited view, that a white person shouldn't teach yoga, that a Chinese woman shouldn't play the conga drum, that a Latin man shouldn't hold a tea ceremony, is of the same mindset that banned interracial marriage in parts of the U.S. right up into the 20th century.

The real world is a cultural exchange, a place for synthesis and celebration. That's what the WEF festival has always been about, and your censorship will be a short-lived blip on the radar of WEF history.

Vive la difference!

Brian Dahmen
Davis

https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/letters/letter-whole-earth-drum-circle/ byLetters to the Editor