By Steven S. Klotz, Executive Director, Embrace Music Foundation

The musical journey known as Rhythms of Africa / Music Around the World has found its way back to Miramar, where 50 children from Somerset Academy, all musical novices, embrace the intricacies of African-based rhythms and the varying cultures, customs, and languages of pre-Diaspora populations that developed them.

Rhythms of Africa describes the movement of ancient rhythms sprung from the souls of vibrant cultures and carried by hand and heart from Africa to the Caribbean, South America, and the New World. It is truly the rhythms of the Diaspora, seasoned by time, cultivated and rooted by generations of pilgrims. With the participation by Somerset Academy’s teenagers, another generation embarks on this historic journey.

Guiding the journey is “Reggae Ambassador” Willie Stewart, former lead percussionist and co-director of the international group Third World, who has enlisted the participation of singers, dancers, and other professional musicians to create a multi-faceted arts experience for both the students and audiences next January 11, when the show is presented at Miramar Culture Center Arts/Park.

“The children discover that these rhythms developed for a reason,” Stewart explains. “They were communication, rituals, an entire way of life that infused daily existence. And by linking them with contemporary movement and dance, showing how they’ve become absorbed into today’s styles and cultures, it makes the lesson more personal, easier to internalize, as well as a lot of great fun.”

In this brief video from a recent workshop session, a lesson from dancer extraordinaire Nicholas Pairman became a contest — one that ends Win-Win!