Kaleidoscope: Hands Drumming Festival

Hands Percussion Team came together in 1997 over a shared love for Chinese drums. Founder and artistic director Bernard Goh and his troupe have come a long way in the last 12 years, putting on critically acclaimed shows like Chaos In Unison and 10: Entwined Calling and pushing Chinese percussion into the mainstream consciousness.

In June, the Hands Percussion Team will chalk up yet another achievement with Kaleidoscope—HANDS Drumming Festival 2009, a first—not just for the troupe but for the country. Way to go! The festival has various facets but all will showcase a love for percussion and skilled drumming, of course.

One of the programme highlights of the festival is the student drum performance, entitled Drum Slices. Drum Slices is Hands’ annual student production now into its fourth year in 2009. It’s your chance to check out the fresh talent in the circle.

The anchor of the festival is the performance by Hands Percussion and a variety of other percussion troupes. Thanks to their experience at festivals like the 16th ASSITEJ World Congress & Performing Arts Festival for Young People in Adelaide, Australia; the Cosmopolis International Festival in Kavala, Greece; and the Hsin Kang International Community Arts Festival in Taiwan; the troupe have put together a very special show. Some of the percussion troupes performing with Hands are Wadaiko Syo (Japanese drumming troupe), Mokaba Entertainment (specialises in Malay drums), Deafbeat YMCA (local deaf drumming group) and Dhol Federation. It’s going to be one banging show of music and culture, no doubt.

Also, there are workshops for those keen to try their, ahem, hand at drumming and more. More information can be found at Hands’s website.

Text Sarah Chan