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Sewa Beats management workshop participants - Photo courtesy Sewabeats

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – What do you get when you combine African drumming with learning programs that use rhythm and music to enhance listening and communication skills? You get a fun workshop that fosters the values of tolerance, respect, discipline and integrity, amongst individuals, and within organizations, says Doug Manuel, Sewa Beats founder and director.

“Differences in organizational and ethnic culture are made transparent and approachable through creating music together. When you are making music together, there needs to be a sense for input from others, otherwise there is dissonance, some are thumping out a rhythm while others are more passive. There is an inherent sense of understanding and tolerance in order for music to happen and be sweet,” notes Manuel.

Manuel, who has “always had a passion for drumming,” says the seed for Sewa Beats was planted when he followed his bliss and left his longtime job as a production manager for the BBC to study drumming in Côte d’Ivoire. When he returned home, he began providing drumming workshops for refugee kids and in prisons in Britain. The organization draws its name from the West African Malinke language - Sewa means joy in Malinke - where the drumming techniques originate from.

Sewa Beat workshop

“The objective of going into companies to provide workshops was not something I initially thought about,” Manuel says. He envisioned Sewa Beats more as a tool to bring the joy of drumming to individuals. The mission of Sewa Beats, which is now a worldwide organization, has evolved, however, over the past nine years.

The original slogan, “The Joy of Drumming”, has been changed to “Drumming Heartbeats”, reflecting the broadened mission of impacting audiences and communities through  musical performances and workshops.

Sewa Beats’ extensive and diverse list of clients worldwide is a testament to the interest from the business community. Ten years ago promoting the concept of Sewa Beats “was more difficult,” Manuel says. “Now it is easier, we have clients who have tried the workshops and are satisfied, the concept speaks for itself.”

Manuel sees an emerging view that companies “need to take a broader approach to management, that a purely academic approach of leading from the head doesn’t work. Increasingly, including emotion in what we do and how we communicate, is seen by business leaders as a value.”

The Sewa Beats and the Lyon Orchestra ensemble

“Do you speak Djembe” is the collaborative fruit of Sewa Beats and the Lyon Symphony National Orchestra. This unique ensemble was envisaged when the orchestra’s director Phillipe Fournier and Manuel met at a workshop with a mutual corporate client and “got together” after seeing the synergy between their respective work.

Consequently, Manuel brought together an ensemble of renowned African artists to perform alongside the Lyon Orchestra. However, “the orchestra and the African artists needed to find a common way to work together, which comes back to tolerance and respect.”

The performance is unique according to Manuel, in that djembe drums are distributed among the audience, and the public participates in the performance.

“Do you speak Djembe” has been performed numerous times in France, for mostly French-speaking audiences. Manuel notes that they chose to stage the performance in Geneva partly due to the city’s multiculturalism and the chance to invite a wider audience. “Rhythm is an international language. It doesn’t matter where you are from.”

The performance is scheduled for 6 Novembre at the Batiment de Forces Motrices. Details: the GenevaLunch events page.