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- Initiate change
- Foster growth
- Enrich learning
- Build community
- Celebrate diversity
…All through Group Drumming and Expressive Arts
Terri Segal
Owner/Director, Rhythmic by Nature
terri@rhythmicbynature.com
Terri is an Expressive Arts Therapist, Facilitator, and Educator who is dedicated to sharing the therapeutic value of creative expression through Group Drumming and Expressive Arts workshops. For the past 10 years, Terri has studied and taught West African Drumming and World Percussion. She is a trained Expressive Arts Therapist and Drum Circle Facilitator. Terri participated in HealthRhythm's Group Empowerment Drumming Facilitator Training Program, Village Music Facilitator Training Program, completed a three week West African Drum and Dance Intensive with Company Fore-Fote in Guinea, West Africa, holds a BA Honors in English from McMaster University, and is a graduate of Expressive Arts Therapy at ISIS-Canada.
Through her business Rhythmic by Nature, Terri facilitates Group Drumming Programs at schools, social service agencies, and for small and large businesses for the purpose of teambuilding, wellness, recreation, and education.
In her innovative, fun, and memorable workshops, Terri focuses on how the process of music-making can enlighten her clients in areas of communication, stress management, and inter-personal dynamics.
Depending on the needs of her clients, she can also effectively facilitate workshops that combine drumming with other artistic modalities such as writing, visual art, movement and voice.
Terri brings her gentle and affirming leadership skills to her empowering, resourceful, and community building workshops. She honors each participant’s unique gifts, is an empathetic role model, a good listener and intuitive guide.
Gillian Thomas
Associate/Lead Facilitator
gillian@rhythmicbynature.com
Gillian is a musician and facilitator, with a background in adult education and training and a passion for rhythm. She discovered the powerful bonding experience of group music-making while studying African drumming and sound-work therapy in Toronto, specifically with Rhythmic by Nature. In addition to completing Terri Segal’s Internship & Associate Program, she has trained with Arthur Hull and Gary Diggins.
Gillian is an enthusiastic member of the Rhythmic by Nature team, lending her facilitation and sound-work skills to many different events around the GTA and Southern Ontario. Those in beautiful Muskoka also get to engage in a monthly Community Drum Circle she hosts!
Gillian is committed to providing a safe, supportive environment in which participants feel free to experiment with rhythms, practice deep listening and above all Have Fun... regardless of age, ability or musical experience.
Hazel Newton
Associate/Lead Facilitator
hazel@rhythmicbynature.com
Hazel has been making music all her life, starting from picking out tunes on the family piano at age four, to playing oboe professionally in groups such as the Chicago Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Bach Consort, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. In addition to symphonic work, she has appeared in the orchestras for musical theatre in a variety of styles: Cats, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Showboat, and the Sound of Music, and in back-up bands for artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Rita MacNeil, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp.
Hazel completed the Health Rhythms training in 2007, and also attended Arthur Hull's Facilitator Trainings and Rhythmic Alchemy Playshops in 2007 and 2008. Following these studies in 2009, she went on to complete her internship with Terri Segal of Rhythmic by Nature, and is now an Associate and Lead Facilitator for RbN.
Hazel has always striven to bring music to people, whether through her performing, teaching, or through musical co-creation in a drum circle. She has a special interest in bringing out people's inherent musicality, whether working with special needs adults, the well elderly, family groups, or corporate functions, and she truly believes the RbN motto, "we are all rhythmic by nature!"
Sara MacMillan
Associate/Lead Facilitato
sara@rhythmicbynature.com
Sara MacMillan is a facilitator and educator, with a Masters degree in Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies.
Since 2004, Sara has been studying Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian & Congolese drumming, individually and in groups and continues to lead a weekly therapeutic drumming class, which she started in 2008.
Sara has benefited personally from the therapeutic qualities of group drumming and is excited to share this gift through Rhythmic by Nature.
In addition to completing Rhythmic by Nature’s Internship and Associate training program, Sara has also studied Group Arts Facilitation for one year with Cheryl Zinyk of Sol Express theatre group.
Debbie Ingham
Associate/Lead Facilitator
debbie@rhythmicbynature.com
Debbie has expressed herself through music, rhythm and dance since the age of 4 when she performed lead roles in musical productions. She discovered drums by age 12 when she started taking lessons and playing her father's drum kit. She then joined a drum corp, and by age 16 was running her own drum corp for a trophy winning marching BAton company in Toronto.
Debbie discovered hand drumming while completing her Holistic studies at the Transformational Arts College and was hooked! She went on to complete Gary Diggins Sound-Work as Soul-Work program, and started taking lessons in African rhythms and Djembe technique.
This direction lead her to Terri Segal and Rhythmic by Nature where she completed Terri's Internship and Associate program.
Debbie incorporates her knowledge of Healing through Sound into her practice and experiences great joy from witnessing the positive changes that occur in people as a result of drumming and playing rhythm togetther. This, combind with her passion for educating, rhythm, dance and her love of "fun" makes Debbie a valuabe member of the RbN Team!
The first time that I heard the pulsating rhythm of a community drum circle was in Montreal at the Tam Tam that is held on Mt. Royal each Sunday afternoon. I was amazed that so many people could gather together, each drumming and moving to their own rhythm, while at the same time, uniting in a common pulse. Throughout my studies at McMaster University, my passion for drumming took on a whole new meaning. I began collecting hand drums and percussion instruments, joined a West African drumming class, and initiated weekly drum circle gatherings; all for the sheer love of bringing together people to celebrate the power of rhythmic and creative expression.
As I began facilitating these gatherings, I became aware that drum circles go far deeper than drumming alone, that the dynamics of the music can reveal the dynamics of the group, that a drum circle is a metaphor for community where each person has a unique role in the music-making experience… where communication, listening and respect build the foundation… and where connection, disconnection and everything in between can occur. In my days at university I would gather together fellow drummers and join in rallies and marches in support of local social justice issues such as anti-racism, affordable housing, and equal rights. In these cases, the sound of the drums would not only assist in calling peoples attention, but also carry a very potent and unified message about the importance of respecting differences, celebrating diversity, and communicating with each other. I have always felt a natural pull to weave in other artistic modalities into my drumming programs such as painting, poetry, voice, movement and story telling. My passion to build a sense of community and inspire change through the arts continues to grow; and it naturally nurtures a constant desire for learning and honing my skills as an Expressive Arts Therapist… Above all, it feeds my soul. Together in Rhythm, |
