OLIVIA HOUSE: CELEBRATING RECOVERY
Thanks to: Amber Underwood, Barry Johnson, and Sahi On Ko Djony Drummers
The month of September was National Recovery Month. The recognition of a Recovery month serves to educate that with substance use treatment and mental health services people struggling with substance abuse and/or mental disorders can live a healthy life. Olivia House in Birmingham, Alabama is a holistic care facility for chemically dependent women and their children. DRUM the Program was asked to provide a service of Art that would create an experience of celebration to include drumming, dance, a fashion show, and poetry. Through an assessment tool we identified the goals of the client. Our objective was to 1. Entertain 2. Wake up the physical and spiritual nature of our Residents.
We chose an Intention of the spiritual energy of Bravery. What is bravery? Why is the concept of bravery important for the residents at Olivia House? How will we get there? Bravery is defined as brave spirit or conduct or courage. We reasoned that for the residents of Olivia House to be able to meet with success in their journey of sobriety a brave spirit would be essential to cultivate for continued success. We chose the music and dance of a rhythm from the Malinke Ethnic tribe from Guinea Conakry, West Africa called DunDunBa. This music is a family of rhythms that are in some instances traditionally played to resolve conflicts or disagreements. The historical context of a DunDunBa is that the dancer must show “Bravery” in order to enter the circle of the rhythm and display their courage and power. Our focus was further centralized by choosing dance movements that connected the dancers to the repetitive sound of the base drum called the doun doun. This provided a deep grounding effect for participants. The central focus of this family of rhythms is a counterclockwise movement in which all the dancers join in at the same time. The DunDunBa family of rhythms are the only set of rhythms that I have experienced in which the counterclockwise group movement takes place and a deep sense of community and power is produced at the same time.
Other aspects of our services included a rotational drumming participation for the residents. This was interesting to see how the women were able to find synergy with each other musically and within minutes of basic instruction they were able to create music. Being present and witnessing the joy and happiness of the residents was affirmation of the importance of this work and the power of the impact that West African drum and dance has upon the human spirit.
I recognize that the music and dances from my ancestors come from meeting the needs of the community and the individual. Think about it. You live in a village in Africa. Your ancestry has evolved tools and techniques to address and support the evolution of the human spirit. The spirit of joy, unity, celebration, mourning, honoring, resolution and on… comes from necessity. The instrument of implementation: drums made from hollowed out trees and the skin of a goat play the music that has been created by the clapping of human hands, the dance that is married to the drum rhythm is grounded in the repetitive sound of the melody. Music is healing. West African drum and dance taps into the cellular network of our connective tissues unlocking the holding patterns of past trauma and identities that no longer serve creating a cipher for release and restructuring of the concept of who we are and why we are here.
The following are comments from Olivia House Residents when asked; Did you enjoy the presentation?
“Hands down y’all were Amazing!”
“I felt it in my Soul! My whole mind and body feel great!”
“I kinda felt like it was part of me.”
“Yes, I feel so good and much more positive.”
