First through third grade Montessori students at Smith Elementary School were entranced by the ryhthms of Seffarine’s music last Thursday.
The workshop experience began with Lamaie offering a brief explanation of her background and the inspiration for the group’s sound, combining elements from classical Arabic and Andalusian music with classical Persian, Spanish flamenco and American jazz . She then showed the students her drum, and led a call and response rhythm exploration.
Manuel then got the students up on their feet for an introduction to flamenco dance. He encouraged all of us to sing along with him (which was difficult, but fun!). Students were extremely focused and excited to learn some basic steps and adopted his intensity as they danced.
When Nat showed the students his oud and his guitar, they were full of questions about the shape and design details of the instruments.
Thank you to Katy Wright at Smith School for partnering with us on this experience!
