Art unites

They were all there, standing on the Warehouse stage, schoolboys and girls with voices greater than their own bodies, delivering riveting performances.From the outside, one can easily be fooled into believing that the Hit the Beat show is just a drum and tambourine festival but it is actually a kaleidoscope of beautiful song and dance. 'The Hit the Beat – In Rhythm we meet', was indeed an extraordinary performing arts project, presented by 80 learners from the Waldorf School Windhoek, with musicians, artists and teachers from Germany and Namibia. Namibia's own songbird and star performer, Patricia Ochurus, literally carried the school choir on her hands. It is only when you have seen Ochurus in her heyday that you would know that this choir performance is not a church choir one.Hit the Beat incorporates dance, drums, choir, solo singing, poetry, garbage music, film making and visual arts and its preparation for the final show spans over three weeks, including choir rehearsals for high school learners from grades 10 to 12. In addition there is an additional choice of one of three workshops for each learner on dance, drumming, solo singing, film making, visual arts or improvisational theatre. During Hit the Beat 2018, organisers tried to approach the subject of how can we counter the exploitation of the earth, from an artistic perspective, by employing the arts, music, dance, percussion, improvisation, visual art and poetry.About Hit the Beat The project Hit the Beat originated in 1998 – inspired by a student's idea. Simone de Picciotto was then working at a Waldorf school for disadvantaged adolescents in Germany. One of her students chose 'drums' as his project topic for the 12th grade. While working on this project with her student, Simone began attending drum workshops. Soon the first drums were bought and the first drumming group founded. Since then Simone has been regularly drumming and singing with learners at schools and various projects. Seven years later Simone started teaching at the Waldorf School Windhoek and introduced the project. She worked in the high school for a further eight years, teaching music and other subjects. In summer 2012, she returned to Germany and has continued with Hit the Beat workshops at a number of schools, academies and free projects, working with adolescents of all backgrounds. One of the main aims of Hit the Beat is to unite young people worldwide. In November, a group from the Hit the Beat project Namibia will travel to Germany with Simone de Picciotto and perform together with German learners in different cities.JEMIMA BEUKES

Art unites

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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Art unites

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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