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Drumming circles provide release THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The lights are dimmed and the can dles lit. All is quiet. Slowly, the rhythm of the drum begins and builds, swirling in a circle from drummer to drummer. The beat grows faster and faster until it seems to flow effortlessly. For two hours or more - every week or once a month - groups of drummers gather in circles in and around Ann Arbor to make music. Drums in hand, they come from as far away as Toledo and Kalamazoo to find Hke souls interested in creating ihe drumming magic. "From the drumming can come dancing, singing and med itating. The music calls people,"' says Paul Militello, Ann Arbor drum maker and drumming teacher. ' ^ Lori Fithian, who runs a women's drum circle, agrees. "Drums draw you instinc tively," she says. "It draws us back to our own selves." Barry McKay says he isn't a great drummer. But every Fri day night, he opens a small meeting room at Gallup Park, whete a gathering of drummers fills the dark, silent night out side with the loud and constant heartbeat of music. "I haven't cultivated my drumming," says McKay. "I'm qiore into the group thing, the people." Drumming in the 1990s has become what guitar playing was in the 1960s, "The medicine of the drum is , the calling of people together," says Militello. "It's the calling of people to express themselves." It's only been in the last two or three years that drum circles have caught real fire, he says. Drum circles are a growing phenomenon McKay agrees, not just in Ann Arbor or the United States but around the world. There's a void in life that drum ming fills, says McKay. "It's one thing I miss about my hippie days. Middle class people don't jam at parties" It's not just a guy thing either. Women of all ages and walks of life have stepped into the Womyn's Drum and Song Circle, says ShuNahSii Rose, one of the facilitators of the group, which meets at Zion Lutheran Church. "It's not necessarily for women with musical training," she says. "It's for people inter ested in community." ' One of the reasons Gary Brown decided to live in Ann Arbor was because of the prolif ic number of drum circles in the area. Brown is often found play ing drums solo in his basement - sometimes for eight hours at a stretch. But he also likes to play in a circle. He's a regular at the Ann Arbor Drum Circle that meets in Gallup Park. Drumming, says McKay, is a way to communicate. "But it's without language; it's without having metaphors clashing." It's also freeing, he says. "You can't be self-centered and egotistical or the circle won't work," says McKay. "You need to pay attention to what the community is doing." Still, drumming has changed from the days when McKay and his hippie friends created a beat on old tofu drums. "Now, people pay $300 for their drum," said McKay. And drum types go in and out of favor. For now, the pow erful West African drum, the djembe, is the most popular, said Militeilo. Made from goat skin, it yields a deep and power ful sound. The bongos and con gos, popular a few years ago and made of cow skin, have a softer tone. The djembe has created more powerful drum circles, says Militeilo. "The djembe can be over powering," he says. "If you don't have a djembe, you may not have a voice in the circle." While circles mix accom plished drummers with novices, each circle has its own personal ity. The Ann Arbor Drum Circle that meets inside a small build ing adjacent to the boat livery at Gallup Park is one of the oldest circles open to the public. It's been meeting just about every Friday night since 1991. That it meets far and away from homes of crowds of people is no mis take. Years ago, the drum circle was asked to leave Performance Network near downtown because of the noise level. ' . "There's no one really to bother at Gallup," says McKay. There's no leader of the cir cle, but McKay is in charge of renting and operating the facili ty. Only women are allowed at the Womyn's Drum Circle, which, meets monthly in the liv ing room-like lounge inside Zion Lutheran Church. "Women come in here at the end of the week tired," says Rose. "The drum circles wash them clean of all the frenetic energy." The women's circle, which has been meeting for three years, is also known for its inventive percussion. Pots and pans, chocolate tins, garbage cans and the bottoms of yogurt contain ers are used for drumming, and women spontaneously break from the circle to dance and chant. Small bells and tam bourines, louder cow bells and pounding sticks on plastic bowls create a collection of sounds. Women can offer a different approach to drumming than men, says Rose. While some men practice thunder drumming - beating their drum hard with hands that become calloused and bruised - women in the cir cle usually drum more gently. Women can be shy about joihing in the thunder drum ming, says Ms. Fithian, who leads the women's circle. "We're creating a safe space to express yourself," She says. "A lot of our work is about empowering women. We need our own separate space some times. When you make that pos sible, women express themselves freely. It's a circle of safety, of sharing and of expressiveness." ?? ? ? ? (tin ( I Judge dismisses rap foe's lawsuit " Ci jn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHILADELPHIA - A judge has dismissed a defamation law suit filed by a rap music critic against two news magazines for their reports on her earlier law suit against the estate of slain rapper Tupac Shakur. U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter threw out G. DeLores Tucker's lawsuit against Time, Newsweek, writ ers for those publications, and Shakur estate lawyer Richard Fischbein. Buckwalter ruled that Mrs. pucker, a former Pennsylvania secretary of state, was a public Figure in the eyes of the law. That means she had to prove that Time and Newsweek wrote the stories with "actual malice," knew they were inaccurate and A would "embarrass and humili ate" her* and her husband, William. The Tuckers did not meet that burden of proof, Buckwal ter ruled. "There is a vast difference between being annoyed and/or embarrassed on the one hand, and being disgraced and ridiculed to the extent that one's reputation is harmed in the esti mation of the community, on the other," the judge wrote in a ruling issued Tuesday. The Tuckers' $10 million lawsuit against Shakur's estate said the rapper's lyrics, in which" he rhymed Tucker's name with an obscenity, caused emotional distress that led to "a loss of consortium." A subsequent article in Time referred to "claims that lewd remarks made about her ... caused her so much distress that she and her husband have not been able to have sex." A Newsweek article' referred to claims that the lyrics "iced their sex life." Tucker said the "consor tium" complaint had nothing to do with sex. The Tuckers' lawsuits are still pending against dozens of news outlets, including The Associat ed Press, that carried stories on the initial lawsuit. "? Buckwalter last month threw out the lawsuit against Shakur's estate, ruling that the references to Tucker on Shakur's "All Eyes on Me" album were "unpleasant at best and vulgar at worst" but not libelous. Shakur was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996. Robeson . from page C6 actors Ossie Davis and Harry Belafonte, the difficulties of being a black actor; in the first half of the 20th century are revealed. The documentary also features interviews with Uta Hagen, the German actress who play "Desdemona'vto Rdbeson's "Othello" both on the stage and off. The documentary also fea tures the intimate diaries of his wife, anthropologist and author Eslanda Goode - who suffered through years of betrayals by tier husband. * Robeson's rise and fall are legendary. The son of an ascaped slave who became a respected minister, Robeson spent much of his life deeply involved in African American causes. It was his awareness of his blackness that led him on a spiritual quest for equality throughout Eastern Europe and Asia. At the height of {his popular ity, he was a symbol and a cul tural leader in the war against fascism abroad and racism at home. In the end, it was his goal of equality that lead to his downfall. During the McCarthy era, every effort was made to discredit him because of his lib eral political views and dedica tion to civil rights for blacks. The persecution reached a cli max in the SOs when his passport was revoked. The FBI and State Department effectively ended his career: no more concerts recordings, theater or travel abroad where he had made a name as one of the century's greatest Shakespearean actors. "Paul Robeson was the most persecuted, the most ostracized, the most condemned black made <in America - then or ever," said his biographer and longtime friend Lloyd Brown. His passport was finally rein stated in M)58 and Robeson toured England and Australia. But the government's harass ment took its toll. After several bouts with depression, Robeson was admitted to The Priory hos pital in London, were he received dozens of shock treat ments. A weary Robeson finally made it home in 1963 and was treated for a dizzying array of illnesses. Realizing he was no longer the powerful orator and singer of his prime, he stepped out of the public eye, dying in relative obscurity 1976. "Paul Robeson's life is a huge story, a very important story," Lacy said. "The scale of this film is an attempt to com pensate for the fact that he had, for so long, been written out of history." KARAMU Karamu is a family-friendly cel ebration which transforms the Greensboro Cultural Center into an African marketplace complete with the sounds, smells and sights that have entranced travelers, writers and intellectuals for centuries. Call 379-2974 for tickets. y . , ? ?? ? V ? IIS I ft H ^1 ^1ft 1 | | ? J II For additional KARAMll information please call 336-373-7 52 3 I hjgg?jd gnnmn^^^j r I ? i I * I .*. t> Oh, for the love of leather.., . a j ? * ? ' s1699Sofa A. This 89" leather sofa is. right at home in a variety of decors, offering a cathedral back, flared rolled arms and nailhead accents. Loveseat $1649. Chair $1399. Ottoman $599. Full sleeper $ 1899. $999 Sofa ' B. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Feb. 18, 1999, edition 1
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