Hit the Beat begins, Ziegelhütte, Deutschland

Simone de Picciotto stages her first percussion workshop with teenagers at a special needs school.

Performances: UNESCO World Youth Festival, Stuttgart

Drumming concerts and other artistic offerings by youth groups from Windhoek Waldorf School in Namibia, and the Associação Comunitária Monte Azul in Brazil – in association with the Football World Cup.

Team-building – Bank of Namibia, Namibia

Vision-building workshop for 200 employees – from the director to the caretaker. Music workshop and concert under the guidance of 25 students from Windhoek Waldorf School.

Teambuilding Life Line & Child Line Namibia, Namibia

Team-building workshop for 80 staff-members. Concert and music workshop under the guidance of 25 students from Windhoek Waldorf School.

Drumming tour – Cape Town, South Africa

Concert and music workshop under the guidance of 25 students from Windhoek Waldorf School. Various schools visited – drumming, dancing, singing and body percussion.

Hit the Beat & Friends I, Germany

80 students from Windhoek Waldorf School give six concerts in Germany with Gonzo N’ Friends, for 5 of which they team up with other choirs. In Berlin, Stuttgart, Worms, Künzelau and Schwäbisch Hall 150 singers share the stage together – cultural exchange between Namibia and Germany, a meeting of minds and hearts, in action.

Kids-Camp Alisa, Germany

Two-day inter-disciplinary project in the Easter holidays with drumming, dance theatre and visual artwork for young people from age 5 to 16: at the ALISA Centre in Worms we set stories to music, improvise on various instruments and learn simple drum rhythms.
See the video on YouTube: "Kids Camp Alisa"

Warehouse „Let’s move it I“, Namibia

Three-week inter-disciplinary music, art and movement project with 120 students from classes 8 to 12 of Windhoek Waldorf School: action art with „Giant Letters“ in the centre of Windhoek, art exhibition and performances with Gonzo N’ Friends at the Warehouse Theatre, Windhoek.

Future Now – Young People‘s Projekt, Stuttgart

Over a period of half a year, a group of school-leavers craft creative ideas in movement, theatre, music and dance. The result is a performance at the Zollhaus. Here these young adults address themes such as: Who am I, where do I stand and where am I< going to? The project proves to have a positive influence on life and career choices, on personality and skills development.

Warehouse „Let’s move it II“, Namibia

Three-week interdisciplinary music and movement project with 100 students from classes 10 to 12 of Windhoek Waldorf School. A series of performances together with Gonzo N’ Friends in the Warehouse Theatre, Windhoek.
See the video on YouTube: "Hit the Beat Namibia 2014 - Let’s move it!"

Project with young refugees, Germany

In the Parzival Centre, a youth-aid organisation in Karlsruhe, we do music and improvisation workshops with refugees from Irak, Syria, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and other places. Using the pedagogical approach for dealing with trauma developed here these young people are

Edu-camp, Germany

In cooperation with IBIS, Hit the Beat runs a project every year in the Easter holidays: this is a programme for improving proficiency in German in pupils of classes 2 and 3, and our role is to support this learning process with art and music. For instance, we might talk about animals and try and portray them in music.

Warehouse „Silent Words – sing out loud!“, Namibia

A one-year interdisciplinary music, art and movement project, incorporating a programme for HIV-prevention, for 120 students from classes 8 to 12 of Windhoek Waldorf School. Through this work the students were given full information on the subject and learned about protective measures. Performances together with Gonzo N’ Friends in the Warehouse Theatre, Windhoek. Sponsoredh PEPFAR (US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).
See the video on YouTube: "Namibia 2015 - Silent Words - Sing out loud! - The Show"

Warehouse „Cultural Diversity“, Namibia

Three-week interdisciplinary music and movement project with 80 students of classes 10 to 12 from Windhoek Waldorf School. Performances together with Sprengler & Friends in the Warehouse Theatre, Windhoek. Prejudices are broken down by the experience of cultural diversity. Students present their own traditions, get to know something of other cultures and reflect on the advantages of diversity.
See the video on YouTube: "Namibia 2016 - Unity through Cultural Diversity - The Show"

Hit the Beat & Friends II, Deutschland

After a 3-week project period, 24 students from Windhoek Waldorf School in Namibia travel to Germany. In the Würth Museum in Künzelsau they give a gala concert for the opening of the exhibition “NAMIBIA – art of a young generation”. The focus is on artistic exchange between young people from Namibia and Germany and with young refugee orphans from all over the world.

„Gala Dinner“, Waldorf School Windhoek, Namibia

Interdisciplinary music and movement project with 80 students of classes 9 to 12 from Windhoek Waldorf School. Performance with Sprengler & Friends in the context of a Gala Dinner for national and international guests.

Official founding of the association

Hit the Beat e.V. finally comes of age. With seven founding members, who had been around for years, we are finally legally constituted as an association in Stuttgart. This means that from now on Hit the Beat can plan events under its own auspices and fundraise on its own behalf.

Warehouse „Honour the Earth“, Namibia

Interdisciplinary music, art and movement project with 100 students of classes 9 to 12 from Windhoek Waldorf School, plus guest participants from Namibia, South Africa and Germany. Performance involving everyone in the Warehouse Theatre, Windhoek. Theme: How are we currently treating the Earth? The project looks at what we must do, and how we can be heard.

Rundu – Rhythm that Unites! – Namibia

Hit the Beat donates ten djembe drums to the little theatre “Home of the Arts” in Rundu, Namibia – an organisation for unemployed youth. The drums symbolise the common rhythm and the bonds between people. For the youth of the region there was then a two-day drumming workshop and artistic courses.

Team-building Wolwedans Collection, Namibia

In the NamibRand Nature Reserve are located the four luxury lodges of the Wolwedans Collection. For four days we coach employees and trainees in drumming, musical improvisation, and choral singing – to prepare them for doing little performances for the guests. We practise a holistic style of coaching, which means that it includes personal development and the learning of various skills, including soft skills.

Anniversary Tour, Germany

Concert tour with 12 students and former students at three Anniversary Celebrations of our sponsors. Performances in Worms, Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Künzelsau.

Holiday Edu-camp, Stuttgart

Class 2 and class 3 pupils attend this camp for four days in the Easter holidays – they are given an experiential programme with artistic and musical elements. We give support to children with learning difficulties, help to improve their German in a creative way and give advice to parents.

Hit the Beat Waldorf100-Tour

Concert tour through Germany with 24 students from Windhoek Waldorf School in connection with the 100-Year Anniversary celebrations of Waldorf Education. In addition to two Anniversary Gala concerts – one in Stuttgart (Liederhalle 7th September) and one in Berlin (Tempodrom 19th September) – there were 12 other concerts and workshops with students over the whole country.
See the video on YouTube: "Waldorf100 # Happy-Birthday-Film-Namibia"

Hit the Beat Academy

„Building bridges – unfolding potential through music, dance, art and culture“

Our vision is to found an international „Hit the Beat - Academy“, in order to put our work on a sure footing for the future. Together with partners from Africa, we intend to support young people in becoming more professional.
See video on YouTube: "Treasuring Namibia"

Magic Words & Hit the Beat

A brilliant “sneak preview” at the Waldorf School Windhoek was followed by further joint performances in Windhoek and at the National Theater Namibia.