Our History

The Bele Bele Rhythm Collective was originally founded in 2008 by Drumlady Kristen Arant. At the time, Kristen was running the third summer program for her non-profit, the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP, founded 2005), whose mission was to use drumming, poetry, movement, song and performance to uplift young women’s voices, and empower their authentic selves.

The program started out as just a summer program, but the powerful performances featuring the young women each year brought audiences to their feet, and led to the group being asked to perform at events.

YWDEP was invited to play at several places, and it’s not easy organizing teen girls to perform!  They have responsibilities at home and school and when the gigs came up, usually only a few could make it. So for the sake of numbers, Kristen reached out to the broader community, to find women who were drummers or who wanted to commit themselves to learning how to play.

This began the diverse, intergenerational ensemble that we call Bele Bele Rhythm Collective, the name an homage to one of Kristen’s most influential teachers, Mamady Keita, who composed a rhythm of the same name, which means “Big Personality.”

Notable Venues

The Bele Bele Rhythm Collective has performed at these notable venues:

• The Hamilton (Washington DC)
• The Birchmere (Falls Church VA)
• The New Deal Cafe (Greenbelt MD)
• 202 Arts & Music Festival (DC) 
• Women’s National NA Convention (Baltimore MD)
• Baltimore Rhythm Festival (MD) 
• World Culture Festival (National Mall)
• Touch Mother Earth Festival (New Jersey)
• Drum n Splash Festival (PA)
• Million Women Drummers Festival (NY) 
• University of Maryland (MD)
• Takoma Park Folk Festival (MD)
• Takoma Park Street Festival (MD)
• NPR Studios (DC)
• WPFW Live @ 5 (DC)
• All Souls Unitarian Church (DC)