Zaghareet! Magazine, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Published: September/October 2000 issue

I had never been to a Unity with a Beat Retreat before, and I was tempted not to bother arriving until Friday night. But the friend with whom I carpooled, Roy Mueller, had done the drum camp before and said "oh, no, you'll want to do the 'intensives.' " So off we went, me thinking there was enough drumming without the 'intensives' and hating to get up Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. to be out of the house and on the road by 5:30.

Roy was right. I'm glad that I did the 'intensives' ; it made a difference for the whole weekend. I noticed this while immersed at drum camp, and it still holds true in retrospect. But I don't think that just any intensive would've accomplished what Tahya's did. She's exceptional in my book, and I'm used to some pretty high quality teachers.

Tahya's "Recreating Ritual" program was perfect for starting the weekend. She gently yet powerfully combined movement and voice and drum. Her dance/movement exercises isolated the various muscles of the body, helping stretch and awaken them all (and boy, did we need this after being in a small, drum-packed car for three hours). Also, I'm a dancer as well as a drummer, and I was amazed at how her belly dancing instruction expanded my dance moves, not just in belly dancing, but in incorporating some of the moves into my other dance styles to enrich them. Her meditation was a great enhancement. I also love to sing, so I pay attention to and automatically notice people's voices; I found her voice delightful.

I'm not sure how to explain how she did the rest of it (other than simply chalking it off to "Tahya magic"), so I can only report the results. Her program got me fully present to the camp and the moment, got me fully checked in with my own energy and into a good, strong space, and then helped get us all flowing together as a group. I don't think I was the only one aware of this, because groups don't flow together like that without consciousness. Who'd have thought we'd be dancing and drumming as a synchronized group in such a short time. Wow. I've been to lots of workshops over the years (I'm 47 years old), and I can tell you that Tahya is something special. I refer to her class as "program" instead of a "workshop" because that's my way of saying it felt wonderfully coherent, like more than just a "workshop."

And, okay, I might as well admit it -- her program was just plain fun too.

Tahya will be among the facilitators at the next Unity with a Beat Retreat September 15 - 17, 2000, at Camp Mariah, Fishkill, NY, co-sponsored by Crafton Percussion Works. Contact Information: Randy Crafton 201-653-0986/E-mail: Crafton@Earthdrum.com

Mary Rooker, also known as "Tyrtle", is a drummer/dancer/singer from Takoma Park, MD, encouraging all she meets to get on their feet and "dance like nobody's watching." She also loves and finds healing through shamanic journeying and "stone baths." ("Stone baths" is the old Anglo-Saxon term many folks may commonly translate to the 'generic' native American "sweat lodges.") Email: tyrtle2@gateway.net .