Barbara knows that her life-long involvement with music and drumming has been and continues to be uplifting to her body, mind and spirit. She believes that drumming, singing, and movement are essential ingredients for a healthier, more peaceful and joyful world.

Barbara Borden has been drumming since the age of ten---a passion that has taken her along many musical avenues: performing and recording artist collaborating with many artists, dancers, authors, storytellers, actors, poets and healers; member of the band Alive! (eight years); composer (Beauty in the Beat, All Hearts Beating, Lady of the Serpent Skirt); solo performer (most recently her "percussion play," She Dares to Drum); drumming for peace---1994 performing in refugee camps and peace concerts in the former Yugoslavia and more recently in peace actions in the U.S.

Ms. Borden is active in the educational aspects of drumming, facilitating drum circles and councils, workshops/clinics, retreats, private and group sessions and mentor programs. Borden has been awarded numerous educational and artistic grants.

The healing power of music has always been important to Borden. She has developed her own healing arts practice for groups and individuals combining drumming, sound, chanting and toning. In 2001, Borden was initiated in Zimbawe by African healer, Augustine Kandemwa.

Ms. Borden, Keeper of the Beat, is dedicated to encouraging joy, vitality and celebration through drumming and music. The Heart Drum, made in Taos, NM, a large, heart-shaped instrument with a big, deep sound, continues to be used in ceremony and celebration. Borden feels that the powerful vibrations coming from the drum and those gathered around it help to harmonize, unify and keep the heart of individuals, groups and communities alive and thriving, reminding us that we are all part of the Great Heartbeat of Life.

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