Daphne Sashin

Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

April 11, 2009 Saturday

Daphne Sashin, Sentinel Staff Writer

SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; FLORIDA; Pg. B3

Just a block from the noise of Colonial Drive, Drake Seiler straddled the box drum he received for his 10th birthday and found his rhythm.

With his mom and younger brother, Drake has been a regular at the semi-monthly African drum circles on North Thornton Avenue for about a year. His mom, Ann-Marie Seiler, sat beside him with a djembe, the most popular drum in the circle.

By 8:30 p.m., about 150 artists, college students and 9-to-5ers had joined the circle of percussionists pounding out beats in the Shine On Yoga parking lot.

Some pounded on $300 African drums, while others tapped coffee cans or the ground, or simply swayed to the beat with their eyes closed. Inside the circle, children twirled with lighted hula hoops. Somehow, without a leader, the participants stayed in synchronicity.

“I usually just listen to the rhythm a little bit, and I just jump in,” said Drake, who lives in Deltona and planned to stay until his 9 p.m. bedtime. “Sometimes it feels like I’m on a floating circle. Seriously.”

The next two drum circles will be the last in the current location. The yoga studio has told the organizers it can no longer provide the space because of class conflicts and other concerns.

Starting with the new moon May 23, the event leaders will continue to host lunar gatherings across the street at the Dandelion Communitea Cafe with meditation and quieter musical instruments, but the African drum circles must find a new home.

When Florida School of Holistic Living directors Emily Ruff and Michael Tiner started the drum circles on the University of Central Florida campus to help people reconnect to nature’s rhythms, it was considered a good night if a dozen people showed up.

Three years ago, they moved the gatherings to Thornton Avenue, a district of holistic and spiritually minded businesses, and changed the schedule to coincide with the new and full moons. Gatherings now draw up to 500 people.

The experience is not for everyone.

Last year, when the drum circles were held outside Dandelion, neighbors complained to police that they couldn’t hear their television or enjoy a quiet dinner.

“It’s a cute idea, it gets people together, but not in my backyard,” said Amy Donie, 51, who lives with her husband on Hyer Avenue.

The organizers curtailed the drumming hours to 7 to 10 p.m. — it used to start earlier and end later — and in January moved across the street. That has made the noise “much, much better,” Donie said. But the yoga studio said the circles can no longer continue there.

So, for now, Ruff and Tiner are looking for a new space to keep the beat.