ACDarts is a World Music and Dance group that specialises in both Traditioinal and Contemporary African Music and Arts. Dance, Drumming, Dancing, Storytelling, Textiles Making, Crafts Making, Costume Making and Bead Making  especially from East Africa. An Entertainment and Education Organisation.

We provide entertainment and performance for schools accompanied with a creative blend of live African and Western instruments. Performance and Workshops for Schools

Our music, energetic dancing and colourful costumes will get both young and old dancing and clapping to a fusion of African rhythms, Soca, Khalimba, Lingala, Soukous, Zomba and drumming or storytelling acts. All acts are exclusively delivered in African Languages. We aim to educate and entertain your pupils in style.

WORKSHOPS

We provide workshops in African Creative Music,Singing Dancing, Drumming, Storytelling and African Talks, We also provide workshops in African Creative Visual Arts Workshops such as Textiles Making, Crafts Making, Costume Making and Bead Making especially from East Africa. 

General social inclusion and access for all are keystones of our work. Whether students are mainstream, special needs or specialist, our work is suited within the national curriculum to bring interactive, culturally diverse workshops to your school and classroom. We work in such a way that we encourage the development education issues that are integral to both us as facilitators and pupils’ approach during the workshop. On top of students learning to use their creative energy, play drums, dance, sing or acting out a story, we will also raise their awareness by alerting them about the importance of not stealing or fighting around with friends regardless of age, gender and race. Our facilitators are CRB checked and experienced to ensure workshops are professionally delivered.

African Drumming

Every single child in a class room has their own drum and they will learn some African rhythms with unusual but rather amazing grooves. At the end of the session they all demonstrate what they would have learnt by performing for each other going around in a circle.

We can also do whole school demonstrations, normally at the end of the day on a school assembly where the sound of the African drums will be heard exhilaratingly by all the pupils.

African Dance

As professionals with vast experience, the African dance workshops sessions will be beneficial to the children as they are uplifting and act as a motivation to enhance activity and participation. Therefore these definitive and generally high –intensity movements around the waist, shoulders, chest and foot that correspond to the sounds of African drums or music are unusual but are exhilarating especially for story telling and ceremonies. Furthermore this team-working of pupils as a group, means they take part in a dance routine incorporating elements of traditional African dance and movement.

African Storytelling

Through our rhyming stories, the pupils learn how African greetings and songs help keep traditional disciplines with in their society. They may try out any foreign language they might know, be it Swahilli, French or Chinese.

They will learn about aspects of town and village life as we will show photos, dvds and dress to stimulate questions. Our emotional and engaging sessions, which are sensory plans, can cater for special needs students, with a range of traditional instruments which they get a chance to see, touch, hear, and dance to.

Our workshops are also facilitated in such a way that they are structured around the traditional beats. Therefore our ultimate aim is to educate the children but entertain them in joyful atmosphere. So we aim to bring out excellence in personal and social achievement through the best of culturally diverse drum and dance teaching.

Costume Design/Making

Costume making is exciting. The students get a chance to make some of African costumes that are used for dances. It gives an opportunity for children to have a hands-on experience of the process of producing these artistic costumes.

Making a costume will provide an excellent insight into the history and purpose of why these costumes are made the way they are made and cause students to ask questions that will cause deeper insights into the traditional life of the tribes where the costumes come from.

More importantly children will learn more about materials used and perhaps be able to make some of their own costumes at school or at home. An awareness of making costumes from material that will protect the environment.

Our ultimate aim is to provide fun African workshops for schools for an African experience. We would take your school on a journey through Africa. We will introduce you to its people, its countries and to wonderful music, dance, art and cultures.

Textiles Making

Two workshops are offered – Tie and Dye or Block Printing. In each we examine our collection of African textiles and then each child decorates their own fabric, either based on a traditional design or by producing their own. Older pupils can design and make their own printing blocks.

Beads and Jewellery Making

We examine our collection of beads and jewellery from around Africa, looking at the materials used, patterns and colours. Each pupil then designs and makes their own string of beads.

Mask Making

We have a large collection of masks from around Africa, using these as inspiration each pupil makes and decorates their own mask.

Capoeira

We can also have artists and tutors to provide Capoeira a Brazilian Martial Arts initially developed by African slaves. It combines elements of gymnastics with music and dance. This fun and exciting workshop will develop pupil’s co-ordination, rhythm and musicality.