Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival presents Back To Our Roots, live at the Mary D. Fisher Theater on December 9 at 7 p.m. This interactive event features drummer and percussionist Sabina Sandoval and flute player Sananda and will be both participatory and educational.
The rhythm of the drum is the heartbeat. The melody of the flute is the breath of life. This event will take participants on a journey using the drum, one of the most powerful instruments in the world, accompanied by the flute in a musical, cultural, and educational experience. Drums from different indigenous cultures will be expressed and played.
Sabina Sandoval is a renowned drummer, percussionist, facilitator, teacher and speaker. She is a Native American of Mayan descent and has been facilitating educational, crowd participation drumming events for 30 years. Sabina’s background as a professional drummer features performances with well-known artists including Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Wonder. This makes her ideally suited to lead others in attuning to the heartbeat of life through the rhythms of the drum.
For 23 years, Sabina has operated her non-profit Free To Be Me Drum Circle. Through this organization, she has offered programs in prisons, convalescence homes, and K-12 schools. She has worked with at-risk and mentally challenged teens to help them gain confidence and enrich their lives. From the wealthy to the poor, her crowd participation programs are therapeutic and life-changing for all who join.
Her style of teaching includes educating participants in the rhythmic concept of “the pocket,” a jazz term that means holding the beat. Sabina guides participants in interactive rhythm games, movement, and play so even those brand new to drumming are able to get in “the pocket” together.
Sabina creates and facilitates academic and rhythmic enrichment after-school programs in her community in Cottonwood and surrounding areas through her Free To Be Me Drum Circle organization. Sabina facilitates drumming events for private occasions such as weddings and birthdays and public events such as community drum circles. She is also available for professional speaking engagements and has for the University of Southern California, El Camino Community College, and Toyota.
After moving from California to Arizona, Sabina met Sananda. They have hosted many drumming events together. When they perform together it becomes a truly spiritual experience.
Native American musician and flutist Sananda is of Cherokee lineage and specializes in playing meditation and Native American style music. He plays bamboo, wooden, clay and silver flutes. He has produced three CDs of his music and performs regularly. Recent musical venues include Unity of Sedona, Tlaquepaque, Fojols in Cottonwood as well as other concerts, outdoor venues and coffeehouses in Flagstaff and the Verde Valley.
This event will be an energizing, creative and interactive celebration of the heart and breath. Sabina will guide even the most inhibited person to join the music and dance in a safe, supported space. Together, we will experience the magic of individuals uniting rhythmically together. Back To Our Roots will be an extraordinary event of authentic native healing and experience of the sacred.
Back To Our Roots is live at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Friday, December 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Visit SedonaFilmFestival.org for tickets and performance information or call 928-282-1177. The Sedona International Film Festival Office and the Mary D. Fisher Theatre are located at 2030 W. SR 89A in West Sedona.