Dinah deSpenza's blog entry on Stick & Pound and Melanie DeMore is so articulate that I decided to post it here on my blog. When you get a chance, check out her writings on "
MacDIVA In The House."
[Stick And Pound] features Melanie DeMore, Singer, Composer, Songwriter, and Master Stick Pounder.
What is Stick Pounding? Creating rhythmic sounds with sticks of course. Its origins are from the Gullah tradition.
What is Gullah? The Gullah people are the different African tribes brought to the Georgia Sea Islands during slavery. These different tribes created an entire culture and language for the purpose of communicating with each other. Out of this culture, comes stick pounding. When the drums were taken away, stick pounding became the rhythmic language of the Gullah people.
As an Oakland, CA resident, Melanie DeMore performs with "The Linda Tillery Cultural Heritage Choir. She also teaches stick pounding in the bay area. Her energy is HUGE, the Director of the Oakland Children's Choir, and the voice coach of several young bay area popular singers that have gone on to big careers. Some of her students were "American Idol" contestants and popular Bay Area R&B singers.
I'd seen her Christmas Eve show at Yoshi's where she performed with Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir. The show was sold out. Fate had me run into her at the laundry mat on Park Blvd in Oakland a few days later. Where I introduced myself, told her I'm a filmmaker and the rest is history.
In March I interviewed her and set up a shoot where she was choreographing stick pounding at a rehearsal with a well known Dance Company in San Francisco during International Women's Week. I was so honored to set up the shoot and indeed it was a tremendous success for myself as well as the crew.
No comments:
Post a Comment