Akoma Arts

Akoma Arts

Akoma Arts formed in 2011 is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization under the fiscal sponsorship of The San Jose Multicultural Artist Guild (SJMAG), provides a wide array of Musical and Artist services in the South Bay related to African Drumming and community service is at the core of our mission and vision.

Akoma Arts sponsors two African (Afro-Fitness) Dance Classes per week, Thursday evenings at the Alma Community Center and Saturday mornings at the Hoover Community Center. We have also been very active in the schools, supporting cultural school assemblies, events and fairs of all kinds and for all grade levels with African drumming, dance and storytelling, African American Folksongs, Spirituals as well as Storytelling.Lastly and most important in our hearts, we have been working with several doctors at El Camino Hospital to provide Drum therapy for stroke and other patients regaining coordination and full usage of the limbs and brain function. Our services there include, teaching drumming, dance, sing-a-longs, and storytelling. We have also provided drumming and drum making services at the Morgan Autism Institute for both the children and adult classes. Akoma Arts currently has Artist in Residence contracts with College Track of East Palo Alto and Montgomery Elementary School (San Jose) and provides weekly drum instruction at both locations.

EDUCATOR CONTACT INFO

akomaarts2011@yahoo.com

http://www.akomaarts.org

 https://www.facebook.com/akoma.drumandperformance

  1677 Park Ave, San Jose, CA 95126

Santa Clara

408.506.6988

Hand Drumming, Song and Dance for Students

Program description

We work with children or adolescents and have devised programs that cater to clients with different ethnic backgrounds. We focus on connecting people though the medium of drumming and getting them to work harmoniously together. It’s all about integration and connection. We have had success in San Jose’s Grade – High Schools and the Juvenile Corrections Facility.

We break up a group of 30 for example into three groups, Drumming, Dancing or movement and singing. We supply up to 10 drums, and the program includes drum rhythms broken into several patterns and having those patterns assigned to the different groups of students participating, we then include singing in Native African dialects and the related dance. We given cultural meaning and background on of drum rhythm, when and why it’s being played, the meaning of the dialect and respect of different cultures.

Program detail
Artistic discipline: Dance, Multi-discipline, Music, Storytelling
Cultural Origin: African, Multicultural
Program type: Performance, Professional Development, Residency (including camps), Student Showcase Opportunities, Workshops & Classes
Population served: Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Subject: Fine Arts, Social Studies
Bilingual: No

Qualifications

Conducts educational programming for 2 or more years: Yes
Performs criminal background checks on staff with youth contact: Yes
Maintains general liability insurance: Yes
Three letters of recommendation / references available: Yes
Provides study guides for teachers and or students: Yes
Provides tools to assess student learning (workshops and residencies): Yes
Provides scholarship and reduced fees: Yes
Conducts ongoing assessments of program quality: Yes

Educator Qualifications

Conducts educational programming for 2 or more years: Yes
Performs criminal background checks on staff with youth contact: Yes
Maintains general liability insurance: Yes
Three letters of recommendation / references available: Yes
Provides study guides for teachers and or students: Yes
Provides tools to assess student learning (workshops and residencies): Yes
Provides scholarship and reduced fees: Yes
Conducts ongoing assessments of program quality: Yes