This has made me so F'ing angry. The boldness and disrespect as to label this as "West African Drummers: Spirit Beat Drummers" - No soul, no rhythm, no feeling - That' s what happens when you try to appropriate other culture's heritage without understanding it's true meaning, spirituality and nature. Anyone can hit a drum, but only through the ancestors can a Djembe by understood and played.
So only people of African descent can dare to play instruments from that culture? Perhaps they are not so good, but perhaps you could think of it as trying to honor the heritage rather than trying to dismantle it or disrespect it. I seriously doubt anyone taking up African drumming or dancing wishes to disrespect those traditions.
Yes, they are trying to disrespect those traditions the way they have done so for centuries and continue to do so while they steal everything and kill off all the heirs.
Sometimes White Americans need to stop arguing with people of color and LISTEN for a while. Yes, there are white experts in djembe who studied directly with the African djembe masters. But they are not doing TED Talks speaking FOR the culture, tradition, art, community. Unless these people are here to talk about their ADMIRATION of not only these traditions but also THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED AND BREATHED it, they have no business being labeled as West African Drummers.
Why not spend that effort n investment to get visas or change the visa shituation so those that do this beautiful drumming might be able to represent themselves n teach other Africans their own heritage which we were brutally denied. These children have never heard the true drumming. Shame if this is their intro.
Ohhh weija, da schlafen einem ja die die Füße ein. Zum Glück haben sich die Trommel Techniken die letzte Jahre weiterentwickelt und weiße Frauen wurden bei solchen Veranstaltungen verboten. ;-)