6 Day Drum Circle Facilitator Intensive Training with Arthur Hull & Harshil F. Chiostri

A 6-day residential intensive training

A unique, unmissable opportunity to learn the art of facilitating a successful rhythmical event with Arthur Hull, pioneer of Drum Circle facilitation.

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For the third time in Italy with the 6-Day Drum Circle Facilitator Intensive Training, Arthur Hull himself will teach you the Village Music Circles™ facilitation method he created, strong of the mastery and wisdom of more than 40 years of experience and more than 13,000 qualified Facilitators around the world!

Arthur, pioneer of rhythm facilitation, and Harshil F. Chiostri, VMC Certified Trainer for Italy, will offer you more than 50 hours of learning activities in which to experience an intense practice of all the facilitation techniques that will allow you to acquire in depth all the skills necessary to fully integrate the career of Drum Circle Facilitator into your life.

The 6-day intensive training for facilitators of Village Music Circles ™ offers beginner and advanced facilitators all the keys to lead events with groups of all sizes and origins, giving ample opportunities to learn and develop their facilitation skills in a safe and welcoming environment.

Participants at all skill levels will receive support from peers, as well as mentors and advanced facilitators.

This week goes beyond the training you receive in the 3-Day Training, with more techniques, style development, greater depth of learning, and a greater amount of hands-on experiences.

Participants will experiment with numerous keys using movement, voice, drums, percussion, and improvised rhythmical games to learn how to unleash rhythmical connection, interactive dialogue, melodies and harmonies in any group of people, through the magic of the circle.

The program includes group instruction and discussion combined with small group break-out exercises, which reinforce the learning of basic facilitation elements, always in a fun and empowering way for everyone.

The exercises become progressively more complex as the facilitators’ skills expand, while we share rhythm, joy, and lots of friendship.

There will be time for individual attention and the development of individual skills.

The Intensive includes ample opportunity to freely experiment during numerous “jump-times!” where you can live many hours of fun, learning, practicing and exploring your new skills in an exclusive supportive environment.

This Training will be offered in English and translated into Italian for the parts conducted by Arthur Hull and vice versa for those conducted by Harshil F.Chiostri.

We begin Sunday July 06 2025 at 4:00PM
and end on Friday July 11 2025 at 4:00PM with..

50 Training hours+ free workshops
an intensive experience in which we are going to work
morning, afternoon and after dinner
to feed you with the top quantity and quality of training!

What will we learn?

As a participant in the 6 Day Drum Circle Facilitator Intensive Training:

You will learn rhythm techniques, games and activities to motivate groups of people
You will develop the facilitation skills needed to lead rhythmical events
You will develop a specific evaluation technique ( Critique Technique) to progressively improve your skills
You will explore customized facilitation techniques and styles
You will learn how to avoid the most common mistakes of a beginning facilitator
You will understand how to apply the learned skills to different types of populations

Learning objectives will be achieved through the development of:

Rhythm skills based on universal principles of percussion playing
Experiences with a multiplicity of musical styles, forms, and instruments
Structured activities to learn facilitation through different tonalities, identification of timbres, variations over time, and different orchestration techniques
Improvisation using music through body, voice and group activities
Building and strengthening community through rhythm
This, and much more!

An experience that will deeply transform your life and the lives of the thousands of people you reach with your Drum Circles!

GO TO THE APPLICATION FORM!

Who is addressed to?

To you, musician, music teacher, conductor, music therapist, school teacher, social worker, coach, counselor, psychologist/psychotherapist, educator, facilitator of personal growth groups, coordinator of a non-profit association, Human Resource in a company, or simply to you who care about the well-being of your community!

By participating in this Training you will learn to bring the magic of the Facilitated Drum Circle to your entire community!

Adults, children, seniors, associations, schools, companies, festivals, will enjoy the rhythmical joy unleashed in your events.

And it is addressed also to you, VMC Facilitator, who want to improve your skills by participating as a Challenge!

Our Network

This experience will give you the opportunity to connect to an international network of facilitators, music therapists, professionals, new people to collaborate with throughout Italy and the world, from whom you can be supported in your professional growth.

Facilitator Challenge and Specialization

If you have already attended a 3 or 6 day VMC Facilitator Training, do not miss the opportunity to participate as a Challenge, and continue your training!

The Challenge is a program developed for those facilitators who have already graduated with VMC and are actively using VMC technologies in their events.

Time is dedicated to each of the Facilitators, to evaluate and improve their skills.

The training in fact includes numerous opportunities to freely experiment with your facilitation skills during the exciting and challenging “Jump-Time”.

As a Challenge you will be charged and challenged to undertake various experiences aimed at enhancing and deepening your skills, to lead exercises with small groups and in the meantime be evaluated as part of your learning process, while comparing your skills with other facilitators.

This is an opportunity to challenge yourself, practice new skills, and be gently guided by your teachers to go beyond your limits.

As a further specialization, after having participated in at least one 6-Day Training, at the end of an adequate internship you can participate in the Mentor Facilitator Training, and eventually as a final goal choose to become a VMC Certified Facilitator.

In the meantime you can expand your skills by learning numerous tricks and rhythmical games that will allow you to refine the work with specific groups of people, from children to the elderly, participating with Arthur in the Rhythmical Alchemy Playshop, offered periodically in different countries around the world.

Arthur Hull
Village Music Circles Founder

A refined percussionist and charismatic teacher, Arthur is considered the worldwide pioneer of drum circle facilitation.

In 50 years of refined research and sharing, he has defined the techniques, tools and spirit that make rhythm accessible to everyone, touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

He has taught how to facilitate rhythmical events to over 40,000 people in 34 countries and he has created an international team of trainers, offering training courses in more than 20 countries, from USA to Japan.

With a lifelong mission to make the joy and power of rhythm accessible to all, Arthur brings his rhythmical experiences to all levels of the community, from corporate executives to at-risk teenagers.

Watch an interview with Arthur about the Facilitator Training and this 6-Day Training:

Harshil Filippo Chiostri

He has studied music since he was a child, first the piano and then since 1995, percussions and didgeridoo.

He has been a Drum Circle Facilitator since 2008 and he is the first and only Certified Trainer for Italy to transmit Arthur Hull/Village Music Circles facilitation method, recognized throughout the world for its excellent standard of quality and effectiveness.

He has a background in holistic practices that characterizes his work with the Drum Circle in giving special attention to the emotional well-being of participants.

He loves sharing music in improvisation, both in drum circles and in dance-meditation events, while continuing to study traditional techniques such as African percussion.

GO TO THE APPLICATION FORM!

6 days in the magic of the amazing Tuscan countryside
at Country Hostel Toscana Nascosta

In Palaia (Pi), a corner of nature on the top of a hill, an island surrounded by woods and olive groves, where the silence and energy of nature support all those activities that require isolation, concentration, inspiration or movement.

The Country Hostel Toscana Nascosta has been hosting personal growth retreats for more than 20 years.

Here all those groups that aspire to the development of their human potential are welcome. But also those who intend to spend a holiday in Tuscany, away from stress.

Less than an hour’s drive from the two main Tuscan airports, Florence and Pisa.
In less than an hour it is also possible to reach the sea, and suggestive tourist places are also easily reachable, such as: Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Certaldo, San Miniato, Montaione, Volterra, San Gimignano, Siena.
Not only that, but there is a swimming pool surrounded by olive trees and lavender plants: during your breaks you can take a nice refreshing dip, so bring your swimsuit and flip-flops!

What does the full board service include?

The full board service includes two breaks with herbal teas, fruit and biscuits.

All types of service include:

– supply of still or sparkling microfiltered water

– free wifi connection

– use of a refrigerator and a kettle

Breakfast is European style (bread, butter, jam, fruit, yogurt, muesli, cheese, tomatoes and cold cuts, herbal teas, juices, tea, coffee and milk)

Lunch and dinner start with a salad buffet

Desserts are included at dinner

Wine and other drinks are not included, but available

The use of a washing machine is not included but available

Here's what Ketty, the hostess, tells us.

“We chose this place and this job because we believe we can offer our guests a place where everyone can develop opportunities for personal growth, in the freedom of the path that each one can choose. Because we hope that the growth of a person, cultural or spiritual, can give impetus to the evolution of humanity, sharing the good that each one can bring.

We promote a culture of responsibility towards nature and the environment, aware that the goods and resources of this world belong to all those who inhabit it and also to future generations. We try, in our daily actions and choices, to live coherently these ethical choices of ours.

We strongly believe that a correct diet is the basis of well-being, so we carefully choose the ingredients of our dishes: seasonal vegetables and fruit, possibly from a short supply chain and organic. We season our dishes with our cold-pressed organic EVO oil, and enrich them with the fragrance of the aromatic herbs that grow luxuriantly in our fields. We pay great attention to the alternation and combination of ingredients. Our cuisine is mainly vegetarian, with Mediterranean inspiration, but upon request we are able to cook rich vegan dishes and of course all the traditional dishes of Tuscan and Italian cuisine.”

Where

Località Capannacce, Strada Privata, 130, 56026 Palaia (PI)

Here on Google MAPS

How to get there:

By car

Whether you are coming from Florence or Pisa, the exit from the Firenze-Pisa-Livorno (Fi-Pi-Li) highway is Montopoli. Take the roundabout you come across at the exit, following the signs for Palaia, or going under the highway again. At the first intersection, turn left (signs for Palaia or San Miniato), avoiding going straight to Marti. At the second intersection, turn right (still signs for Palaia or San Miniato), avoiding turning left for Montopoli. At the third intersection, continue straight (still signs for Palaia), avoiding turning left for San Miniato. Traveling along the Provinciale Palaiese you will come across the hamlet of Chiecinella: on the left you can spot a small and ugly prefabricated church, to the right of which begins a dirt road that, in about 900m., leads to the Capannacce parking lot. We suggest you travel along the dirt road at low speed due to the bumps and the sharp bend to the left that you will encounter.

By train

The closest station is San Romano – Montopoli – Santa Croce, and you can contact the private taxi service “Magdy” at number 347 7868123, to organize your transfer to Toscana Nascosta.

By plane

Pisa airport is certainly preferable to Florence airport, both for its proximity and for the possibility of getting on the train from the airport.

Before participating

Pre-training reading is highly recommended: “Drum Circle Facilitation: “Building Community Through Rhythm” by Arthur Hull. Order it by clicking HERE.

Watching the following video “The Art of Drum Circle Facilitation” is required.

Drum Circle Facilitator Kit

Once you become a facilitator, if you don’t have drums and percussion to start offering events and if you want to avoid wasting time and money looking for an instrument here and there, you will have the opportunity to purchase a 24-people Drum Circle drum and percussion starter kit at a really special price.