About The Come Back to Play Series

As adult responsibilities and routines take over, time for play is something many of us leave behind. Our goal is to experience play as children do: with curiosity, connection, freedom, surprise, and a sense of adventure. Play reduces stress, fuels creativity and problem-solving, strengthens social bonds, and promotes happiness. You are never too old to create opportunities to bring play back into your life.

Over the following five Wednesdays from 12:00–2:30 PM, each facilitator will guide you in experiencing play through their unique modality. We look forward to sharing the joy of becoming like little children as we Come Back to Play together.

These free events are offered through White Horse Community Hub. Registration is not required (except for 9/2 Painting Play- See event page for registration details). Doors open at 12pm for 1 hour of light refreshments and time for connection, and each workshop will begin at 1pm.

Schedule:

August 12 -- Introduction to Come Back To Play: A Weekly Series

August 19 -- Child’s Play with Janet Taylor

August 26 -- Improv Play with Mondy Carter

September 2 -- Pass The Painting with Alison Press

September 9 -- Piano and Drum Playshop with Daniel Barber

September 16 -- Play in Movement with Victor LaConti

See event pages for each date for more details.

About the Event:

Piano and Drum Playshop with Daniel Barber

90 minutes. No musical experience needed. Instruments provided.

Most people believe improvising on a piano takes years of lessons. Daniel knows otherwise. He teaches a technique called Playing the Fields that enables complete beginners (and lifelong printed-note players) to enjoy improvising in any key in less than an hour.

In this playshop we'll have several keyboards in the room, along with some drums and percussion. Even with everyone improvising in the same key at once, it will sound good together. Not exercises. Actual music, made up as we go. It's an amazing and eye-(and ear-)opening experience.

Why play improvisationally as adults? Being at our best amid real challenges requires us to incorporate our natural creativity if we want to navigate the unknown capably. Improvising with sound is a way to practice that in a low-stakes setting that can prepare us for higher-stakes situations. Nobody knows what the next minute holds. We practice exploring that gap by playing.

This event will end earlier than our typical Play Series timeframe. Come from 12pm-1pm for light refreshments and time for connection. The workshop runs 1-2:30pm.

About the Facilitator:

Daniel Barber has spent more than a decade helping people who would never call themselves musicians sit down at pianos and drums and simply play. He is the founder of Tune U (playyourway.us) and the creator of Playing the Fields, a technique that gets complete beginners (and lifelong printed-note players) improvising on the piano, in any key, in less than an hour. He believes playing is how we stay connected to our creativity and how we naturally learn to navigate the unknown successfully. He's excited about helping you inhabit your nature at the keys.