Dancing Drum's mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire people of all ages through facilitating inclusive, interactive drumming experiences. We work in a wide variety of settings, from education to the corporate world, including all ages from 2 to 102. Dancing Drum's unique, high-energy approach includes hands-on participation and drumming instruction, exciting performances, a depth of curriculum connections, and a flexible presentation format for groups of all sizes, ages, and abilities.

Why drumming? Music is a universal language, and drumming is one of the most accessible ways for diverse groups of people to make music together. Drumming encourages teamwork and builds skills in listening, participating, and leadership. Our goal is to help people build stronger communities through making music together in the classroom, at team-building events, and at community happenings in California and throughout the world.

DANCING DRUM News & Updates

09/01/10 Dancing Drum releases "Drumming Up World Music: West Africa"! This is our 3rd curriculum program for schools. 04/18/10 DrumBREAK Community Ensemble performance at the Houston International Festival, with Dancing Drum. 04/12/10 New Community Drum Ensemble session starts at the Percussion Center in Houston, TX. For more details and to pre-register, call 713-468-9100. 04/01/10 Dancing Drum's Spring Tour begins in Arizona. We'll be on the road until the end of May, visiting schools, drum shops, and special events in Arizona, Houston, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey. 03/27/10 - SANTA BARBARA DRUM DAY!!! 1:00-3:00pm at the Chase Palm Park Pavilion, across from the beach. 03/26/10 - Drum Day for Youth at The Granada Theater in downtown Santa Barbara. 03/04/10 - It's the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization's First Thursday celebration! Join Dancing Drum in a free community drum jam in front of Borders, 5:30-7:30pm. 01/29-30 - Dancing Drum presents "Community Drum Ensemble" and "Drumming Up Character" at the Illinois Music Educator's Conference in Peoria, IL. Visit us at the West Music booth! 01/14-16 - Visit us at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, at Tycoon Percussion's booth. 01/08/10 - Dancing Drum presents "Drumming Up Character" at the Arizona Music Educator's Conference in Mesa, AZ. 11/19/09 - Dancing Drum presents "Drumming Up Character" and "Community Drum Ensemble" at the Iowa Music Educator's Conference in Ames, Iowa. 11/12/09 - Dancing Drum presents "Community Drum Ensemble" at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. 11/01/09 - Help break the Guiness Book of World Records for largest number of drummers playing at one time! Texas Big Beat, sponsored by the Houston Percussion Center. 10/04/09 - Dancing Drum Community Ensemble performs at AvoFest in Carpinteria. 11-11:45am. Don't miss it!!! 09/22/09 - Dancing Drum Community Ensemble practice resumes, preparing for performance at AvoFest '09! All levels of drumming experience are welcome to participate. 09/19/09 - Dancing Drum @ United Way's Day of Caring 09/11/09 - Dancing Drum performs at the Santa Barbara Zoo-B-Que! Bring the whole family!! 08/20/09 - Just released!! Dancing Drum's newest publication, "Community Drum Ensemble: Volume 1" book, CD & DVD 08/09 - August/Sept issue of Percussive Notes features article by Dancing Drum, titled "Community Drum Ensemble: Drumming Outreach for All" 07/17/09 - The World Drummers Jam Band and Dancing Drum Community Ensemble perform at SOhO Santa Barbara! Featuring Luis Conte, Dramane Kone, Steve Campbell, and special guests... Show starts at 9:00pm. Make your dinner reservations by calling SOhO at (805) 962-7776. 07/09 - July issue of Percussive Notes features an article about Dancing Drum's program at G.W. Carver School in New Orleans, sponsored by Zildjian and the Percussive Arts Society. 06/30/09 - New Dancing Drum Community Ensemble class session begins today! All levels are welcome to attend. 05/19-5/21 - Dancing Drum will be at the Percussion Center in Houston, TX, for Community Ensemble workshops. Call (713) 789-2484 to reserve your spot! 05/11/09 - Dancing Drum's tour through Georgia Schools begins! 05/09 - The United Way of Santa Barbara County awards Dancing Drum "Outstanding Fun in the Sun Partner"...THANK YOU UNITED WAY! Congresswoman Lois Capps says, "I would like to express my sense of gratitude for Dancing Drum's outstanding committment and dedication to our local community." 04/27/09 - Dancing Drum Artist-in-Residency program begins at G.W. Carver Elementary in New Orleans, sponsored by Zildjian & PAS. 04/19/09 Sunday - Santa Barbara Earth Day Mainstage, Alameda Park, 12:15-12:45pm 04/17/09 Friday - Santa Barbara County Arts Commission's Annual Symposium for the Arts. 03/21/09 Saturday - Santa Barbara Drum Day! 12:30-2:30pm @ The Carrillo Rec Center Ballroom, 100 E. Carrillo St. FREE! 03/20/09 Friday - Santa Barbara Drum Day for Youth @ the Carrillo Rec Center Ballroom. FREE! 03/08/09 Sunday - Community Drum Jam @ Carrillo Street Gym, 1:00-2:30pm. FREE! 02/08/09 Sunday - Free Community Drum Jam 1-2:30pm at the Carrillo St. Gym - 102 East Carrillo Downtown Santa Barbara 01/30/09 Dancing Drum presents "Drumming Up Character" and "Rhythm Phonics" at the Georgia Music Educator's Conference in Savannah, GA. 01/16/09 Visit Dancing Drum at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, at Tycoon Percussion's booth! 01/11/09 Community Drum Jam at the Carrillo Rec Center Gym in Santa Barbara, 1:00-2:30pm. This is a FREE event for the community! All ages and abilities are welcome to attend. A limited number of drums and percussion instruments will be provided. 01/08/09 Teacher Trainings begin at the Dancing Drum Rhythm & Art Center, sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission. Space is limited to 20 Santa Barbara School District teachers. Please contact Dancing Drum for details. 12/12/08 Dancing Drum leads the Franklin School Drum Ensemble in the Milpas Street Holiday Parade! 11/07/08 PASIC Drum Circle with Dancing Drum in Austin, TX! 10/07/08 "Drumming Up Character" at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center's Armstrong Theatre. 10/04/08 Dancing Drum @ Reyes Adobe Days in Agoura Hills, CA. 10/01/08 Dancing Drum receives a grant award from the Zildjian Family Opportunity Fund for Artist-in-Residency program in New Orleans public school. 08/09/08 Luis Conte & Cuba LA at SOHO, with special guests Dancing Drum Community Ensemble! 08/04/08 New Dancing Drum Community Ensemble session starts, 7:30-9:00pm. 06/21/08 Santa Barbara Solstice Parade! Downtown SB, State & Cota to Alameda Park. noon - ? 06.03.08 Drum Practice for the Summer Solstice Parade starts at the Dancing Drum Rhythm & Art Center! 7:30-9:00pm 05.17.08 Dancing Drum plays at the UCSB Multi-Cultural Center, 2-3pm, Isla Vista. 05.16.08 Dancing Drum plays with Zach Gill (of Jack Johnson) and The Ride at SOHO! 05.25.08 Dancing Drum's new curriculum book, CD & DVD called "Drumming Up Character" be released! Learn more about our multi-disciplinary character education curriculum for grades 2-6 at Dancing Drum's online store. 06.13.08 The United Way of Santa Barbara County nominates Dancing Drum as "Outstanding Partner." 04.20.08 Come on down to Earth Day at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse! Dancing Drum will have a booth with lots of drums to play and some beautiful new drums for sale! 03.19.08 Dancing Drum will facilitate an interactive drumming experience at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, called Over Rainbows & Down Rabbit Holes, 5:30-7:30pm. Visit www.sbmuseart.org for more info. 03.12.08 Dancing Drum will attend MusikMesse in Frankfurt, Germany. Stop by the Tycoon Percussion booth to say hi! 03.02.08 Dancing Drum performs at BORDERS Books & Music in downtown Santa Barbara. 2:00pm. Bring the whole family! 02.13.08 Online magazine, DaBelly, publishes interview with Dancing Drum talking about their new drums. Read it at http://www.dabelly.com/features/feature246StuffG.htm 02.08.08 The Dancing Drum Community Ensemble performs at SOHO's Mardi Gras Celebration, with Afro-Funk band Delta Nove. 01.17.08 Come visit Dancing Drum at The NAMM Show in Anaheim! We will be sharing a booth with Tycoon Percussion, through January 20th. 01.15.08 Dancing Drum's 5th Grade Drum Ensemble from Harding School will open the show for Luis Conte and friends at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. 7:30pm showtime. 01.12.08 Dancing Drum Community Ensemble, with special guests, will perform at Casa de La Guerra for the grand opening of the Percussion Festival. Starts at 3:00pm. This is a FREE event, and free shaker instruments will be distributed to the first 300 attendees! 01.07.08 The Dancing Drum Community Ensemble will resume practice at the Dancing Drum Rhythm & Art Center, 7:00-8:30pm. We will be preparing for our performance at the Santa Barbara Symphony International Festival of Percussion. Everyone is welcome to join this adult-level ensemble. 01.01.08 HAPPY NEW YEAR! May all your dreams come true. To help start your year out on the right beat, we have a great sale on all Dancing Drum djembes and djun-djuns, through Jan 15th. 12.01.07 Our HOLIDAY SALE starts today! Through December 20th, get special low prices on all Dancing Drum Signature Series Djembes and Djun-Djun drums. Online sales only. 11.19.07 Announcing the winners of our AOSA prize drawing...1st Prize: Colleen Smith, 2nd Prize: Helen Tormey, 3rd Prize: BJ Leggett. All AOSA attendees receive 10% off Dancing Drum orders through Dec. 7th! Congrats! 11.14.07 DANCING DRUM will exhibit at the AOSA National Conference in San Jose, Nov 14-18. Visit us at Booth #222! 11.09.07 A new shipment of DANCING DRUM SIGNATURE SERIES Djembes & Djun Djuns arrived at the studio. Call or email us to make an appointment to try out our best drums yet! 10.31.07 DANCING DRUM will attend PASIC with Tycoon Percussion, through November 3rd. Columbus, OH 10.05.07 Sonoma County Harvest Fair features DANCING DRUM Friday through Sunday, 3 shows per day 09.19.07 The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission awards Dancing Drum a grant for "Drumming Up World Music" residency programs in Santa Barbara schools. 09.14.07 DANCING DRUM will play at the Santa Barbara Zoo's annual ZOO-B-QUE 09.08.07 DANCING DRUM plays at the OPRAH-OBAMA fundraiser at Oprah's Montecito estate 08.27.07 COMING SOON! Dancing Drum's New Website Store will go live September 1st. Stay tuned for details... 08.22.07 Dancing Drum becomes official Education & Recreational Outreach director for Tycoon Percussion 08.04.07 The Dancing Drum Rhythm & Art Center is currently closed to the public through January. Please call (805) 729.0243 to make an appointment. 07.04.07 The Santa Barbara Symphony announces a collaboration with Dancing Drum for the first annual International Festival of Percussion, to feature great drummers like Luis Conte, Roy Haynes, and San Jose Taiko.