About the Beautiful Teachers at Rubatano
Dana Moffett has undertaken a long journey into the complex and beautiful music of Zimbabwe, resulting in her creation of Rubatano Center on Whidbey Island. The center's focus is marimba instruction while building community, and a direct exchange of instructors from Zimbabwe. In addition to teaching in the Northwest, Dana has taught at numerous camps and festivals including the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival, Nhemamusasa North in Canada, The Canvas in Juneau, Alaska and for the Matanho Project in Zimbabwe.
Dana is a performance artist with Ruzivo and Paul Mataruse, touring in the United States, Canada and Zimbabwe. She has a strong background working with youth camps and youth performance groups. Through her passion she fosters respect for the music and the demands of performing in an ensemble. Dana's love of the music has taken her to Zimbabwe twelve times, to study the music and culture. She enjoys being a student of this music, be it marimba, mbira, dance, or singing. Dana is dedicated to the enrichment of her local community through the teaching of Zimbabwean music and culture.
Rubatano Center is very excited to have Max Hart join the teaching team this fall 2026. Max (they/them) grew up on Whidbey Island, where they started playing marimba with Dana in 2005. That led them to join Ruzivo alongside Paul Mataruse, and in 2006 they spent two months in Zimbabwe learning marimba, mbira, and dance from musicians there. Shortly after they organized a four month U.S. tour for Bongo Love, a Zimbabwean Afro-pop band they’d met while traveling. Max played marimba with Ruzivo off and on for over a decade, returning to Zimbabwe with the group in 2012 to perform at Harare International Festival of the Arts. Max has taught marimba to kids at the Waldorf School, and led workshops for youth and adults in a wide range of visual art forms, vocal improvisation, and leadership development. Off the marimba, Max runs a life and leadership coaching practice and sits on the board of Whidbey Compost Collective, a worker owned composting nonprofit. They also co-created and help steward an annual participatory singing retreat, Sing with the Trees. After two decades away, they recently moved back to the island where they grew up, and they’re excited to be back in the world of marimba music.
We welcome back to Rubatano Center, Tillie Scruton! Tillie first encountered Zimbabwean marimba music while still in grade school. However, beyond some obsessive practicing and a brief stint in a summer band in 1997, she never had an organized experience with it until starting at Rubatano Center with one of Dana’s class groups in 2011. In 2016 she was encouraged to put together and lead a class group, Kurera, made of of mama friends, and she has been part of Rubatano’s studio band since its inception in 2017. She left Whidbey to live on Waldron Island to be near family. Tillie taught marimba on Waldron and continued traveling back to Whidbey frequently to perform with Rubatano. She is now returning to Whidbey full-time and looks forward to getting back into the music scene. Her other musical habits include (but are not limited to) guitar and piano. A resident of the PNW since birth, she enjoys natural history, time with friends, creating stuff, doing things with boats, and reading books. She and her husband Chris Rogge have two children enrolled in South Whidbey Public Schools. Rubatano Center is thrilled to have Tillie back and on the teaching staff.
Rubatano Center is pleased to introduce Micah Petrich to our teaching team. Micah has been undertaking a teacher training course this past year and has now launched his first class. Micah has been a dedicated and enthusiastic follower of Zimbabwean music and culture, studying and playing in Rubatano groups since 2013.
Caden Davis is new to the PNW and is delighted to be joining the beautiful happenings at the Rubatano Center. Caden is an enthusiastic performer, educator, composer, and listener of all types of music, spanning from his studies of Baroque and Romantic classical music, to the deep and ancient traditions of the mbira, and everything in between. A North Idaho native, Caden earned his Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet Performance from the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho in 2021, before hopping on board with Polyphony Marimba (based out of Santa Fe, NM) for their 7 week national tours in 2021 and 2023. In between, Caden was music director at a church in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
He was introduced to the Kwanongoma Marimba style in elementary school. After elementary school, he continued to play in the newly formed Coeur d’Alene Youth Marimba, where he eventually took on a leadership role around age 14. Attending Zimfest in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022 has given him the chance to hear the authentic style and playing of Zimbabwean music, which has continued to ignite his passion for this music. He has directed and taught several groups of all ages, including 4 years during his undergraduate studies, and 2 years with a young-adult group he formed in Coeur d’Alene. He is so excited to bring his experiences to the Rubatano Center and get connected in the scene here!
Zimbabwean-style marimba music offers students a unique cross-cultural opportunity to explore an in-depth and wide range of music from Africa. Students build their musical confidence and have the opportunity to experience success quickly. Learning in ensemble form, on soprano, tenor, baritone and bass marimbas, encourages the importance of listening to each other. In addition to hands-on instruction, students are introduced to the African culture, rhythm, songs, dance and language associated with the instrument's origins.
Rubatano Center - Dana Moffett marimba@whidbey.com 360.661.6187
