Drum circles have been a social and cultural form of communication and expression almost since the beginning of humankind. It can be theorized that the beating of the human heart once discovered by homosapiens inspired them to replicate that rhythmic sound. We’ll never know for sure when, where, or how drums and their verb ‘drumming’ first began. What we do know is that drumming is a universal language.

            It won’t be surprising then to learn that drum circles are alive and well today. In modern cities and towns around the globe, in villages deep inside a jungle, or in yurts on isolated windswept plains, drum circles can be found.

            In Mattapoisett, one resident has found a way to bring together her background as a professional musician, a trained dancer, and a fitness trainer – to become a drum circle facilitator.

            Ellie Mae Higgins, well known in the Tri-Town area and beyond for her many years as an instructor of movement classes for senior women, classes that incorporate Higgins’ training as a fitness instructor as well as a dancer. Those classes employ music that naturally aids in movement, especially for women who are taking exercise classes for the first time. Higgins’ knowledge of the body and the impact of aging, illness, and injury on the body has been instrumental in the healing process many have sought and found in her classes. With drumming she brings another realm of healing and human connection to the fore. By combining all those elements and exploring how drumming can be used to help senior citizens awaken from within, as well as engaging children to express themselves, Higgins embarked on her latest journey.

            “I’ve always been drawn more to the rhythm than the melody,” Higgins says of music in general, “… my ear hears it more.” Over the years, one form of dance and the music associated with it excited Higgins’ imagination. Traditional Middle Eastern dance, “please don’t call it belly dancing,” she pleads, is a form of physical expression Higgins has studied for a long time, “That’s my biggest passion. … I had to learn the various rhythms associated with Middle Eastern dance, so yes, I’m drawn to dance through the various rhythms.”

            Another aspect of drumming that fascinates her is that historically drumming is not an exclusively male activity; in fact, in some cultures women were the drummers. That further strengthened Higgins resolve to study the art of the science of drum circles.

            Call it an evolutionary arc from those tribal musical elements that caused Higgins to consider exploring drum circles not only as a way to express herself and learn more drumming techniques, but as a way to explore her spiritual connections with the universe. “It relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, lessens pain, aids the immune system …” continuing in this vein Higgins added, “it alters states of consciousness; it releases what’s locked up.” She has learned that drumming can help manage and decrease anxiety and negative habits of thought “… better than pills and alcohol.”

            Currently Higgins has been contracted to work with seniors who live in residential assisted living facilities as well as with local counsels on aging who hold Memory Cafes. In spite of the care and attention received, seniors may slowly wilt away when no longer living in their own homes. They may begin to demonstrate a loss of mental agility. Higgins has found a way to bring them back to the here and now, if only for brief periods of time.

            Arriving at a facility, Higgins, dressed in colorful flowing skirts and vibrant blouses, stimulates  visual abilities the seniors still possess. Then she plays music from the 40’s or 50’s, “songs they will remember.” The residents are given the opportunity to shake a tambourine or tap a small drum in time to the music. “They all want to play along!” She said she has witnessed non-verbal seniors singing again, while others who usually won’t engage hold an instrument and make sounds. “It’s magical,” she shared. “People who have shut-down from the outside world awaken; it’s the most rewarding work I’ve ever done in my life,” she said.

            Children are fully unabashed when it comes to having fun, but even more so on the days when Higgins arrives at their daycare center with her instruments of mass entertainment – drums. “I’ve worked with children on and off for years,” she said. At one time she produced a CD of children songs. Today she gets to share her esprit de corps with small children showing them how different sounds can be made from different things, like pencils drumming on a box. “It’s a universal language that creates spontaneous outbursts of joy.” Of course, the use of a small hand puppet named “Fred” after the esteemed master of children’s television programing Fred Rogers, helps Higgins connect with the children while demonstrating how to produce sounds from a drum.

            As for the drum circles, Higgins is studying methods and techniques to develop her own style of facilitating. No small task given that drumming and drum circles are as diverse as the humans holding the instrument. But complicated, multi-layered practices have never deterred Higgins from pursuing something once she has her heart set to try.

            Her dance and exercise classes allowed women to move and be more accepting of their bodies. Now with drum circles the same thing can be accomplished through drumming for both men and women. As she continues to increase her skills in leading drum circles, Higgins is also sharing what she knows through a program she calls Rhythm Express Drumming. “It’s drumming for wellness,” she explained. She says that drumming links people together in a synchronized flow that also connects both hemispheres of the brain. She explained it this way, “When the facilitator stops guiding the circle the group may achieve entrainment, the external rhythms synchronize their brains, they self-facilitate. … That’s when the real magic happens. … The circle is about connection and entrainment.”

            To learn more about Higgins’ program you may visit www.rhythmexpressdrumming.com or connect your local COA to learn when she’ll be offering the program.

By Marilou Newell