CBD flash mob

April 2023

Melbourne Djembe drum and dance students mobbed the city! Or did we…

Rosalina – Sweet mamas

September 2021

Thursday Zoom class decided to make a video clip while we’re in lockdown.

Project Connect – dundun dance worldwide

June 2021

Dundun dancers from Guinea, Melbourne, Perth, Alice Springs, China, Chile, USA, Canada, Greece, New Zealand and Korea.

Jerusalema challenge

October 2020

Melbourne Djembe accepts the challenge that’s gone viral across the globe this year. ‘Jerusalema’ by Master KG.

Thursday dance class ladies – Party in Iso!

August 2020

This is the dance we have been working on during class at 11am on Thursdays via Zoom. Big thanks to all the ladies who participated.

Zoom flash mob

April 2020

Melbourne Djembe changing with the times! Covid 19 has forced us into the online world of teaching via Zoom. Students took part from WA, SA, NSW, ACT, Victoria and New Zealand.

Southern Cross flash mob

March 2019

All dance students flash mobbed Southern Cross station in Melbourne’s CBD. Huge thank you to video editor Yael Codron and her assistant Rick Plumridge.

‘Foloko’ with Babara Bangoura

December 2018

Wonderful memories of a visit from the great man himself.
Video by Rick Plumridge.

Luna Park flash mob

March 2018

We created this clip from a flash mob outside Luna Park in St Kilda. It involves all our dance, dundun dance and djembe students coming together to play in the sunshine!

Our video editor Leva Kwestany had 5 cameras, including a drone, and spent countless hours editing this clip together. Huge thank you to Leva and also our main characters Amelie Petit and Luca Romani (clowns) and our Ghanaian dancers Kwame Tosuma and Fred Kpakpo Addo.

Camp Samatou

November 2017

Featuring guest artists Naby Bangoura, Mohamed Bangoura, Bassidi Koné, Lam Lakiz, Iglay Arnaud, Emily Cooper, Clair Okamoto, Fred Nii Addo, Kwame Tosuma, Emmanuel Areyeetey, Ruth Kennedy, Shabba Eshun, Simon Lewis and Mitzi McRae. Our annual 3-day drum and dance camp just outside Melbourne. This one had participants coming from all over Australia, New Zealand and 6 people from China!

Namo-Alé collaborative performance

June 2017

Namo-Alé means ‘who knows what the future will bring?’ in the language of the Ga people. Melbourne Djembe created a show based around this theme in collaboration with Ghanaian artists Kwame Tosuma, Emmanuel Aryeetey, Dan Hammond and Ronald Mensah. This was performed at the Penola College performing arts centre.

Zumba fitness ® – African style!

August 2016

Melbourne Djembe and Party with Latinas teamed up to make a Zumba choreography with African influence. You can dance along at home to keep fit!

Flash mob Flinders st

June 2016

All our dance students (plus some extras) perform a 30 second show in the middle of the Flinders st/Elizabeth st intersection in Melbourne CBD during the Walk signal.

Huge thank you to our video editor Yael Codron.

Camp Samatou

November 2015

This camp featured Naby Bangoura and Mohamed Bangoura – two Guinean artists of the highest calibre. We had classes in African dance, djembe, dundun, dundun dance, balafon, singing, Acro-yoga, capoeira, djembe tuning and maintenance. An AWESOME camp!

Buddha’s Day & Multicultural Festival

May 2016

This is a short compilation of the Melbourne Djembe student performances at the annual Buddha’s Day festival at Federation Square.

Marabou at Djembe en Ville

June 2015

Edited by Santha Press. Featuring Simon Lewis, Bortier Okoe, Nii Kpakpo Addo, Kofi Kunkpe, Matt Rodd, Matt Baulch, Roland Cox, Tom Williams, Chris Toronyi and Nick Adams

STUDENTS: If you are looking for reference videos for the classes, you need to go to our Resources for Students page

Dundun Dance Flashmob

March 2015

This is our first attempt at a dundun dance flash mob! What do you think? After a single term of this class, all the students came together in the city to perform our Kuku choreography. You can see that we performed our piece twice – once at the amphitheatre at Federation Square, and again outside the Arts Centre (footage spliced together). Video editing by the talented Yael Codron.

Wassawumba @ Federation Square

New Years Eve 2014/2015

On new year’s eve, Federation Square went fluro! Wassawumba was lit up by UV lights on the main stage and it was one wild show. Needless to say, there was a huge crowd here in the centre of Melbourne. Thanks to all our students and friends who baounced around in the front row!

Wassawumba & Bangouraké

Djembe en Ville, September 2014

We were honoured to have Mohamed Bangoura perform with us at Kindred Studios for our end-of term show. Simon Lewis plays kora for the first piece. Main rhythms seen in this video are Soli and Soko.

Flash mob 2014

June, 2014

Here are all Mitzi’s dance students (Wassawumba girls, beginner and intermediate classes) combined into one epic show in front of the National Gallery of Victoria. It was meant as a surprise, but lo and behold everyone’s mum dad and great aunt turned up to watch! We had a wonderful time and were very relieved not to be shut down by NGV security guards.

Flash mob 2013

July, 2013

For this – our first flash mob ever – we had Bassidi Koné (Malian balafonist and djembe fola) perform with us. What a treat that was! This one takes place in City Square on Swanston st, Melbourne CBD.

What makes a quality djembe?

Simon Lewis runs you through the ins-and-outs of choosing the right drum. He discusses size, shape, types of timber, skin (which animal? processing and its effects on sound) and where and how the shells are made. This video will give you some excellent information on which to base your choice of djembe.