A breezy and sun-filled summer evening at Edgewater Beach made a perfect setting for the Cleveland Metroparks’ West African Drum Circle on a recent Friday.
Around 40 people from all over Greater Cleveland attended the circle, some who planned to be there and some who were just visiting the beach and decided to grab a drum and take a seat with the group.
Olugbala Manns, leader and facilitator of the drum circle, set the tone for the event by calling for guests to feel unity, spirituality and stress relief. “This is a man-made beach, and we’re here having enjoyment like it’s a natural beach,” he told participants. “So that means that we make our world what we want it to be. We control what the narrative is.”
Being ‘on the one’
The drum circle is designed for drummers of all ages and skill levels. Manns leads participants through what and when to play, and the rhythms are simple and easy to follow.
“[We have] all different kinds of people from all different walks of life,” Manns told the group, “and nobody is worrying about anything but not being offbeat in the drum circle.” The crowd laughed in agreement.
The goal of the West African Drum Circle is to experience unity in both music and spirit. Manns calls it being “on the one.”
“It’s a musical term that refers to being in sync and being on time with each other,” he said later. “Not only that, but just being connected as a group of people who mostly have never met each other before.”
Manns asks participants in the drum circle to look at the people to their left and their right and say hello to them, something he said many of us don’t do as much in the era of social media and increased personal isolation.
After that time together, he said, “People are very surprised and get a kick out of how much they were able to accomplish in that short hour without practice.”
Testimonials from drum circle participants
Clevelander Mark Frazier is a regular participant of the West African Drum Circle. He finds the sense of community to be the most important takeaway from the event. “It is a community thing,” he said. “People leave out of here feeling totally different. They feel happy. They feel like they did something, feel like they contributed.”
East Clevelander Martha Brennan is a competitive swimmer who happened to be at the beach to practice with a friend. They stumbled upon the drum circle by accident.
“The kids seemed to really enjoy dancing, and it was fun to watch the kids,” said Brennan. “It was just a really good vibe. And the leader of the group really had a way to get everybody excited and teach us new rhythms quickly.”
“I think that’s why a lot of people come back,” Manns said. “That bill or whatever stress may be in your life, or that problem or that schedule … for that hour … having a specific and unique drum circle gives them the opportunity to get into something and have that moment of relief from stress, from responsibility, or just to get away and be free for a minute.”
The Cleveland Metroparks’ West African Drum Circle is free to attend and open to the public. It continues this Friday, Aug. 28, at Euclid Beach Park and Friday, Sept. 4, at Garfield Park Nature Preschool starting at 6:30 p.m.
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Listen in as Gennifer visits the Cleveland Metroparks’ West African Drum Circle and talks to participants about the experience.
