My Training

About My Training

I have been studying Middle Eastern and non Western drumming and rhythm since 1993. My teachers and studies have included | Ilias Ellis | an introduction to hand drumming, including Middle Eastern, African, Latin American 1993-1996 | Hazan Baracut in Middle Eastern drum (Lebanese style) 1997-1998 | Jaimal Zraica | Middle Eastern drum (Lebanese style) 1998- 2000 | Nikki Shepherd | Indian Kuchipudi dance and mouth rhythms 1995-1998 | Epizo Bangoura | African drum and dance 1996-97 and Helen Way | Egyptian dance 1992- 1995. In 1999 I attended a workshop at the International Workshop Festival in Melbourne with Egyptian drum master Ibrihim el Minyawi. I was so amazed by the intricacy and beauty of his technique that I applied for funding to go to London and study further with him which I accomplished in 2001. I received an Ian Potter Foundation travel grant for one on one classes over a period of a month, which I documented and have been working on ever since. This experience totally changed and deepened the way I think about musical structure, performance and improvisation.

Ibrahim el Minyawi has an ongoing creative relationship with Suraya Hilal who is an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer based in London. Her work has taken from the essence of traditional Egyptian dance and developed “ a modern and universal theatrical language”: Hilal Dance. I am currently training in the dance with Sarah Hamilton who is an accredited teacher of Hilal Dance in Sydney.

I have been collaborating with Sarah Hamilton through drumming for her dance workshops and developing performance material. In 2007 we performed Mizmar at the Sidetrack Theatre in Marrickville as The Mozaic Dance Co. We continue to develop our creative collaboration.