Build Something Important
Provide youth in marginalized communities with accessible arts education, leadership training workshops, mentorship opportunities and meaningful employment.
Double your Investment
If we can raise $5000, the Halsall Family Foundation will match each donation dollar for dollar! That’s $10,000 to celebrate 10 years of incredible Samba Kidz programming!
Drum Artz Canada And The Samba School Model
Samba schools were born in Brazil and use Samba music, dancing and art as an instrument for social change and a way to build community. Drum Artz Canada uses the Samba School model and Samba drumming to empower youth and teach the value of community.
Samba represents a way of life; a culture based on celebration of community that includes the participation of each individual regardless of race, class, age, ability or gender. Drum Artz applies the core values of Samba by using music and artistic expression as ‘equalizers’ that break down barriers of race and class, fostering channels of meaningful communication among diverse groups in our society. Drum Artz creates a social space where youth are encouraged to collaborate and perform, and where the success of the individual is critically dependent on the success of the group.
The Samba Kidz & Samba Youth Program
The Samba Kidz and Samba Program provide youth with meaningful learning experiences, leadership development opportunities, job skills training, meaningful employment and, of course, the joy of Samba music!
Our Samba Kidz receive training in Samba music, steel pan, visual arts, stilt walking and more, from some of Toronto’s most exciting professional artists. Within this structure of arts-based learning, our youth receive an experiential education in team building and collaboration through the collective creation of music and art, expanding their cultural outlook through an appreciation of world music, and the power of peer-to-peer mentorship as the older, more experienced players help teach novice musicians. Through performance opportunities at various events and major festivals around the city, Samba Kidz are also able to build self-confidence, experience positive civic engagement, and develop a broader sense of community.
Our Samba Youth participate in additional leadership training workshops and work on special skill-building projects. As youth continue to progress through the program, they have the opportunity to be paired with a professional mentor and explore potential career paths in a field of their interest. The Samba Youth program also offers youth meaningful employment opportunities as Interns or Youth Staff in our summer program. In addition to gaining practical job-skills training and experience, our Samba Youth take part in leadership workshops focusing on personal development (e.g. Goal Setting, Overcoming Obstacles, Mental Health, etc.) and participate in a self-evaluation process.
Accessibility
Our Samba Kidz and Samba Youth Program is a high quality arts and youth leadership program led by professional artists and passionate youth workers. While the costs associated with running a program of this caliber are quite significant, it is central to our organizational mandate to make this program accessible to all families.
As such, Samba Kidz is a highly subsidized program with 95% of our families receiving a financial subsidy of up to 90% or more of the total fee for our summer program, and our after school programs are offered for free. In order to support this model of funding, we rely heavily on the support of corporate sponsors, private foundations, government funders and individual donors like you!
Highlights
Since its inception in 2004, DAC has offered subsidized arts education programs for hundreds of kids and families in Toronto’s marginalized communities. The Samba Kidz Performing Troupe has performed at high profile events such as The Beaches Jazz Festival, WE Day, Kensington Festival of Lights, Muhtadi International Drum Festival, Easter Seals Telethon on CBC, and at Dundas Square with Brazilian megastar Carlinhos Brown. In 2010, DAC was named Royal Bank of Canada’s charity of choice and in 2011, Executive Director Gili Zemer, was given the Community Cultural Champion Award by the city of Toronto. In 2013, Samba Youth Jade Shortte, received an honorable mention in the national competition for the Urban Leadership Awards for her work with Drum Artz and “her commitment, dedication and leadership in her community, serving as a role model to children and aspiring musicians”. In 2014, Samba Youth Joshua Witter-Lucas won a Student Leadership Award from the Durham Black Educators Network.
