About

About

Beginnings and beyond.

Beginnings

After gaining a BA (Hons) in Drama and working in community theatre Carol heard the call of the drum and life was never going to be the same. In London she met inspirational teachers such as South African educator and musician/poet Eugene Skeef then went on to study the full Community Music course with pioneering jazz drummer John Stevens (`Search and Reflect`) These were and remain strong influences on her work and life. She has studied in Senegal with master drummers including Seckou Keita and taken the Afro Cuban Percussion Studies course with Ravin (Raz) Jayasuriya of One Voice Music. In 2018 she qualified to mentor level in Drum Circle Facilitation with Arthur Hull of Village Music Circles.

In Birmingham she worked in storytelling theatre and puppet theatre, touring hundreds of schools, whilst continuing to play percussion in bands such as a jazz trio with pianist Gerry Smith and bass player/singer Pete Williams, as well as punk folk /punk jazz bands and a variety of creative arts organisations.

Moving to Moray in the mid-90s, now answering the call of the child, to be born near horses, she worked for Out of The Darkness Theatre Company as actor/storyteller and percussionist under the directorship of, first Sue Mitchell, then Tina MacGeever, before moving on to work Elgin Museum as Community Development Officer where she created storytelling projects that led to further oral history storytelling projects in Moray and Speyside.

Beyond

Always searching and reflecting, Carol is still exploring the power of the spoken word and rhythm, the democracy of folk tales, the power of myth, the everyday stories we all tell and what these may mean to us today. In danger of being lost in a sea of commodification these are more precious than gold. Our imagination a as deep as the ocean as wide as the stars and as ancient as the land.

In 2024. there will be new collaborations and travels, a gathering of stories, rhythms, songs, and a continued search for creative and engaging ways of telling.

“You were given gold, I was given story “
Welsh poet, Ceri Wyn Jones

Carol has worked with:

Artiquins (Staff Training)
ArtsPlay Highland
Building Bridges Youth Empowerment Programme
Charioteers Theatre Co
Conservation Volunteers, Inverness
Cornerstone (Learning Disability Group)
Cromarty Arts
Eden Court Theatre
Elgin Museum
Elgin Youth Cafe
Falcon Club (Adults with Learning Disabilities)
Findhorn Bay Arts
Findhorn Coastal Rowing Club
Hands On Puppet Theatre
Highland Council
Highland Multi Cultural Friends
Hillcrest House, Nairn (Mental Health Care)
Inverness College, UHI
Inverness Storytelling Festival
Moray College UHI
Moray Council
Moray Mental Health Arts
NHS Highland
Open Eye Theatre Co
Out of The Darkness Theatre Company
Quarriers Carers
Street level Theatre Company
WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society)
Wild Things Environmental Educational Charity
WOMAD (World of Music and Drama) festival
Women of Moray Project
Schools and Nurseries throughout Moray and The Highlands

New Drum Classes & Storytelling Events and more

Upcoming

New Drum Classes & Storytelling Events and more

Upcoming

In The Rhythm