Our Mission is to develop the potential in children to become creative musicians, dancers, performers and contributors to the community. We believe music holds the key for kids to feel connected and valued.

Who is South Sound Kids Drum & Dance?
What happens when African rhythms come, by way of Brazil, to an "All American City" like Olympia, Washington? We get Samba Olywa, a thriving and joyful community samba band. For over a decade, Samba Olywa and its fans have been discovering the power that these enduring rhythms have to bind our community together, reaching children as well as adults.

Nine years ago, Samba Olywa members, inspired by the work done by Charlie Keil and his group, Musicians United for Superior Education (MUSE) in Buffalo, NY, decided to bring the joy and empowerment in creative music-making and dance to kids in our local school districts.
South Sound Kids Drum & Dance is a group of educators, social service providers, activists, and artists in Thurston County who believe deeply in our mission.
(South Sound Kids Drum & Dance also goes by "Sound Kids" and "SSKDD"!)
SSKDD has been working with 3 to 6 groups a year. Since 2000, we've catalyzed 39 ensembles, 32 of which have performed in the Procession of the Species.

We draw largely on Brazilian and Afro-Latin traditions, as we've found this to be accessible for students. They can quickly gain the thrill of being in an ensemble. In addition, the instruments are affordable, and the music and dance are extremely popular and joyful.

What do we do?
Well, each year we do it a little differently, depending on our teachers' needs and previous experience. We've held workshops for teachers nearly every year (our next one is coming up - on Saturday October 20th! (please see our Events page)); they're opportunities for the teachers to get a rich background on the music and dance that they would pass on to their students in their schools. We provide libraries of percussion instruments. We've brought professional and volunteer music and dance instructors into the classrooms to work alongside the teachers. We've hosted the annual Samba Skate at Skateland - the most fun anyone could possibly have on roller skates while groovin' to samba music. And we support our "Sound Kids" in their performances all over Thurston County.

Our Sound Kids ensembles have participated in the annual Procession of the Species, where they drum and dance before over 20,000 parade goers! They've also performed at venues such as the Department of Ecology, school board meetings, school assemblies, the Farmers' Market, and of course, our annual all-school jam at Skateland.

How is SSKDD funded?
Initially, SSKDD received grants from The Allen Foundation, The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound, Wizards of the Coast, as well as numerous donations from individuals in the community to establish an instrument library and develop curricula.

We sustain our program through our instrument rentals, our annual workshop, and donations. We are a tax-exempt organization and contributions to SSKDD are tax deductible.

What kind of music and dance does SSKDD teach?
SSKDD has taught rhythms from regions throughout Brazil and from Afro-Caribbean cultures, as well as the infectious hip-hop rhythms of the United States.

What kind of instruments do we rent?
Available instruments include large bass drums called surdos, double bells (agogos), different types of shakers (ganzas), small tamborines (tamborims), medium high pitched drums (repeniques), high pitched hand drums (atabaques), and low pitched drums (rebolos). Also included in the rentals are teaching materials, sticks, straps, and leader’s whistles.