Feeling the beat: Drummers and dancers gather at A.D. Harris Learning Center

PANAMA CITY – Drummers beat a steady rhythm Saturday as dancers in long, colorful skirts moved to the beat at a West African drum and dance workshop.

“It’s a form of community-building,” Wilbur “Babahamza” Davis, a professor of music at Florida State University and Florida A&M University, said of the tradition, “If you learn the traditional rhythms, you can be in New York, you can be in California, you can be in Africa and if you call the name of a particular rhythm it’s the same in all of those places.”

The Global Arts Society hosted Davis and other instructors at their new headquarters at A.D. Harris Learning Center.

“Our mission is under-served communities, under-served causes — to bring arts to the community, to make them accessible to all people regardless of their financial situation,” said Daveron Rosier-Critten, executive director of the Global Arts Society.

Rosier-Critten founded the society in 2006 with her friend, Destiny Young. Together they have worked to bring classes, workshops and other artistic events to Bay County.

Davis started a drum and dance group in Tallahassee that has grown into several groups. He hopes to foster the same growth in Bay County.

“We didn’t think there’d be a whole lot of participation because in the early days back in Tallahassee we didn’t have a whole lot of cooperation, but it grew,” he said, “In five years time, when I come back, I want to see a small troupe that has developed and sprung from today’s efforts.”

While Saturday’s group was small, the participants were enthusiastic and Davis already plans to come back and lead another workshop this fall. He believes the practice of drumming and dancing together builds camaraderie as participants develop their skills together.

The dancers were led by Bianca Fleurant, a third-year student at African Caribbean Dance Theatre in Tallahassee.

“It’s a fun thing. It keeps me on beat. It keeps me stress-free. I love to dance. If I’m having a bad day, then I’ll go to dance class and I dance and then I feel better,” Fleurant said.

Alesha Hilliard has participated in some of the Global Arts Society’s other dance programs, but decided to check out Saturday’s workshop as well.

“I love dancing. I thought it’d be a fun opportunity,” Hilliard said.