Carol LaLiberte shares the story of facilitating drum circles as a catalyst to bring together community-students, faculty, and local residents.

Carol LaLiberte, a professor at CT State Asnuntuck in Connecticut, was searching for ways to slowly re-establish connections, ways to establish a new normal after the isolation of the pandemic. The idea of facilitating a drum circle as a catalyst to bring together community-students, faculty, community providers’ clients, and local residents to create music in the moment seemed like an idea that could work. Using funds provided by The Circle Way, Carol purchased drums and spent the last year introducing drum circles in Connecticut, Massachusetts and beyond. Her stories sharing highlights of many drum circles tell us how ‘beyond’ they have gone!

Since August 2023 more than 300 individuals have drummed on our campus or with us in community organizations, and here are some examples of what happened as a result. An Art professor brought her class, and she emailed after to say “Thank you for sharing your heartbeat with us. The drum circle was a perfect extension of our lesson as well as a true way to connect, and loosen up.” Students in a required first semester course began interacting with one another after drumming together. Their teacher said prior to drum circle “they wouldn’t talk!” A group of touring prospective students joined students majoring in manufacturing at the student center on campus in a spontaneous drum circle. The group was so large it spilled over into the hallway and those who did not have a drum clapped and stomped!!

There is something magical or joyful, for lack of better descriptors, that happens at almost every drum circle. I ask students to notice these unexpected things, in other words, to be the joy spotters. By asking students to be the joy spotters or to notice moments of connection means they begin to see life differently. They begin to notice that there is something every day in their own lives to take note of and appreciate that they might not have paid attention to before. It changes perspective.

Several times students who were not born in the U.S. have joined the circle, telling me how much drumming reminds them of their home country. Drumming has deep roots in every culture, spanning back over 70,000 years. The first sound we ever heard was our mother’s heartbeat. Is it any wonder we are drawn to drumbeats?

Our drumming has gone beyond the borders of our campus.

An Early Childhood Education student and drum club member has incorporated drumming into her classroom at Stowe Early Learning Center. She emailed, “I just wanted to let you know that I did a drum circle during quiet time today and our kids loved it. They did so good and it was super helpful for practicing using directions while having fun. Thanks for everything!”

Allied Community Services, which serves individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, invited us to drum at their site. After our first session the Community Outreach Coordinator emailed: “They LOVED IT!!! OMG, nothing but positive things, about you guys and about how well our folks took to it. I was told something new like that would usually take our individuals a few times at it to accept it. They embraced your offering like no other. Did I tell you, they LOVE IT?” In one drum circle at Allied, a woman who did not speak, spontaneously moved her tubano drum* into the center of the circle and began leading the group, much to the astonishment of the staff. I stepped aside and watched her facilitate as she had just watched me do. This has played out repeatedly in different settings; drum circle participants who are nonverbal use the drums as their voice, interacting with the group by adding to the beat.

The drum club went to Rick’s Place in a neighboring state (Massachusetts) to drum with children who are grieving the loss of a parent or sibling. Girls between the ages of 4 and 9 and their adult caregivers were enthusiastically participating so I decided to take a risk and introduce sculpting where I motion with my hands to carve out a section of the group to play loudly or softly following my arm motions. Sometimes the shakers and bells are loud and the drums are so quiet you can barely hear them. Other times it is the reverse. I asked if the girls would like to facilitate and lead us in sculpting. They were very excited to have a group of drummers follow their arm signals! I watched them transition from drum circle participants to leaders and facilitators and realized that encouraging children to have agency, particularly young children who have little control over the things that happen in their lives, gives them a feeling of power and belonging. At the end, one of the youngest of the bunch felt safe enough to share her wish for the group. “I wish no one’s mommy and daddy died.” The feeling that followed was one of collective relief, not sadness, as she expressed what all of the older girls were clearly holding inside.

One couple has come often to our campus and community circles. They and others have noticed they feel physically different after drumming. Many report feeling calmer and less shaky. This is also a benefit; those with tremors find their hands are steadier during drumming because of the release of dopamine. This same couple made friends with a high spirited, young student who comes to the student center to study but instead drums with us. I asked the group one day how they wanted to close out the circle and this student said, “let’s all play one drum together.” It was a small circle that day, so this intergenerational group moved their chairs around a tubano drum and closed out the session smiling and laughing together. We often close out the circle by asking each participant to share a wish that they have for the group. Our circles change and morph into whatever each group needs and I take their lead into making it whatever they need it to be.

Facilitation techniques, understanding of differences, adaptability of teaching approaches so everyone can participate, acceptance of all are some of the skills our students and our community members learn in drum circles. In the past year, we have transitioned from the Asnuntuck Drum Club to a name that better reflects who we are: Resounding Community Rhythms and a tag line: drumming in community, drumming for community, drumming with community. We have a following: people who have signed onto our mailing list and several who come regularly. We have a connection-to each other and to Asnuntuck that is hard to describe but is felt. After the pandemic our community was isolated and disconnected and our college did what we do best, invited them in, went to them, and let the rest unfold.

The beats made together with drums free up some people’s inhibitions. They spontaneously dance, chant, or share. They often appear somewhat surprised by this but no one in the drum club is. We have seen it so often and it is all welcome.

At Parkway Pavilion, a rehabilitational facility, a man in a wheelchair started chanting in a way that beautifully accompanied our drumming melody. When the drawing class came to drum, a student who appeared to have some behaviors of autism went from stoically sitting and staring ahead to standing up, playing one drum on his chair and a tambourine against his back at the same time. I was concerned the other students might laugh or he might feel uncomfortable but neither happened. As I glanced around the room, the faces were joyful.

 What happens during a drum circle is scientific, evidence-based, and metaphysical. It provides a voice for shy students, outgoing individuals, nonverbal folks. I don’t fully understand what happens during a drum circle and it is difficult to describe to people who are not part of it. I am just honored to be a witness to the transformation that occurs in some way in every circle. It is not the drums. They are a catalyst. It is the community coming together that results in people feeling safe to express themselves.

* The tubano drum, introduced by Remo in the late 20th century, is inspired by traditional African and Latin American drum designs. Unlike congas or djembes, tubano drums feature a cylindrical shape with a fixed head, making them unique in appearance and sound. This innovative design caters to various musical applications, emphasizing accessibility and functionality.

A middle school boy facilitates the drum circle by sculpting.

Shakers or drums…we all play together!

Carol LaLiberte is a Department Chair, Human Services and Early Childhood Education Coordinator at CT State Asnuntuck where she has taught for over 25 years. She is a freelance writer and the author of the textbook The Developing Teacher: Guiding Students from Practicum to Profession, published this year by Goodheart-Willcox. Carol is an English language coach for a student and her family who migrated from Afghanistan. She is a reader for Valley Eye Radio, a station for visually impaired individuals. She is the founder of Resounding Rhthyms Drum Circle which is a college supported club drumming in, for, and with community. Carol has been a long time follower of the The Circle Way using this format in the classes and groups she facilitates.