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Matdawna is part of our legendary drum squad team and she’s taken some time to talk to us about her experience as a member of KB!

What are you most enjoying about your Bloco work at the moment?

“So far, working with the young people themselves. They always keep things interesting and watching everyone grow over the course of a project is always great to see! Making sure everyone gets an opportunity to take part and giving the young people space to be themselves is really important to me.”

What’s your favourite memory of your time here at Bloco so far?

” I find it difficult to really pick just one, so I’ll pick two (I’ll try to keep it brief).

The first one that jumps out to me specifically would be Glastonbury 2025, when we performed with the Ezra Collective.

Seeing the sheer number of people excitedly watching us dance and have a good time on stage was insane! This was also the first time I’d ever been to Glastonbury – I already knew how huge and popular the festival was, but it never fully registered until we were on stage.

The second would be from our trip out to Cape Town – where we started an impromptu performance that walked right up to Louis Maholo’s front door, a close friend of Claude’s. It was his birthday, and he didn’t know we were coming!

It was such a moving moment, and what sticks with me is just how much joy this brought him. What particularly stuck were the locals in the area joining us, dancing with the dancers, and joining in in different ways. It felt like one big band despite us never having spoken – it was awesome! “

How have the Leadership Programme and Bloco team supported you in your role?

“Having completed the Leadership programme during Covid, I was given the chance to lead the band on a couple of gigs. Following this, I had the amazing opportunity to assist with Bloco’s workshops as an intern as well as joining the senior summer school team – and this allowed me to observe and practice my leadership skills directly.”  

“There’s always someone around that you can go to in the Bloco, and you always learn something different from each leader!”

What else are you up to outside of Bloco?

“Outside of Bloco, I’ve been working on my digital art and animation work! I’m not amazing at sharing my work regularly online, but I’m getting a little better at it! I’ve studied visual art for most of my life, and am really pushing to get the stuff I’m passionate about out there!”

– “You can find all my links here : https://linktr.ee/matdawnajnphilipp!”