Kate was born in France in 1960. Her father was French and her mother was from a Spanish family established in Morocco. She spent her chilhood and teenage years in the east of France.
After a few years as an educator of children with disabilities, she became a primary school teacher. She has always reserved a special place for music and dance in her life and in her classroom. She believes they are food for the soul and a sure path for well-being.
Maybe because of her mother's background, or maybe because of the evolution of the French music and dance scene, she got interested in African music and dance as a young adult. Her teacher was Noëlle Dourneau, a very smooth dancer who trained under the guidance of Elsa Wolliaston in Paris.
She met David in 1990 at a Picasso exhibition where she was hanging drawings. 6 years and 2 children later, she left France for an adventure in New Zealand.
There, she teaches African dance in a weekly class, she runs workshops and performs with Songbong, their drumming group. Thanks to her background as a teacher, she got in touch with Otago schools almost straightaway, and established a strong relationship with them, performing and teaching African dance.
Meanwhile she held down various positions such as instrument supervisor at the local music school, art teacher for after-school classes, facilitator of French cuisine classes and live model for artists. She had a third child in 1998.
Kate took up the study of the flute as she was sick of carrying drums around. She can also play a few traditional French tunes on her button accordion for nostalgic evenings. |
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David is a New Zealander from the Bay of Plenty living in Dunedin since 1986.
He came back from a five-year stint in France heavily laden with an African drum/dance repertoire.
During his 6 years in Burgundy where he met Kate, he began his musical apprenticeship. On African drums: djembé and dununs with Jalil Toukja and on Brazilian drums: agogo, tamborim and surdo with Philippe Large.
His BA (French) from Otago allowed him to have cruisy part-time work ESL teaching, mainly with engineering and commerce students at a branch of Dijon University. This left him plenty of time for music practice.
Back in Dunedin in 1996, he set up drumming lessons with a group of enthusiasts, and months later, had a group ready to perform in Kate's dance classes.
Carving drums was an option he had anticipated in France. He started in mid 1996 and has not really stopped since.This includes carving djembés, dununs, and a wide range of other hand drums. He makes drums specifically for children, and offers repairs for any drum.
His workshop is attached to his home which lets him blend family life and work. Unexpected visitors will probably find David sweating over a piece of wood any day of the week.
The first real break came in 2005 when the whole family went back to France for three years. David took advantage of the trip as a complete refresher course. He drummed in local African dance classes, and performed regularly with a street percussion band.
He attended classes and workshops in African drumming, allowing him to return to New Zealand with a complete new repertoire.
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