PORTSMOUTH — It was probably the first time these students had heard a fish story told by two feet and some drums, but Theo Martey had just made a big haul and wanted everyone to know about it.

So he danced.

Dressed in a bright, orange and yellow-patterned traditional African outfit, he let about 30 students at Hathaway School in Portsmouth know how good he felt about the day’s catch. Beaming from ear to ear, he raised his knees up and down, shook his head back and forth, twirled around and even shimmied on the floor in a sitting position as band mates Obuamah Addy and Saeed Abbas pounded out infectious rhythms behind him.

Mr. Martey hadn’t really caught a fish, actually, but that’s the story he was selling.

“Most dance moves are telling stories,” he explained afterward. “The one we did today was the story of a fisherman in Ghana after a successful day. It was telling the story of a big catch, you know. They come home to their wives and celebrate because they have a lot of fish. That’s what the dance is about.”

Obuamah Addy and Norchemi’s performance at Hathaway was the kickoff to Connecting the Beats, a two-part exploration of African and Afro-Caribbean beats in Rhode Island that features six concert jams and an eight-week workshop. Offered for free to all Newport County students, the program is a collaboration between Common Fence Music, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County, the East Bay Met School, the Jamestown Teen Center and Portsmouth Action for Youth. It’s made possible by the support of the Newport County Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation.

Tom Perrotti, musical director of Common Fence Music, said the idea for the program came from the nonprofit music venue’s wish to collaborate with the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“They have a computer lab with music software and drum machines, and the kids have focused on the beats with hip-hop and rap. They have some great things going on but it just seemed that the music room was a little under-served, so we thought we’d do our little part to help out,” said Mr. Perrotti.

Because the kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs were already working with rhythms, it made sense to incorporate more traditional percussion such as those found in Africa, he said. “We’ve got the synthesis of the digital rhythms and the live drumming. It’s kind of a journey back to the beginnings in Africa,” he said.

Organizers also wanted to expose kids to ethnic music that’s actively being played in Rhode Island, said Mr. Perrotti, noting that while all three members of Obuamah Addy and Norchemi are originally from Ghana, Mr. Addy now lives in Providence. (Mr. Martey resides in Manchester, NH, while Saeed Abbas hails from Albany, NY.)

“We learned there is a small Ghanaian community and a larger Nigerian community. This all is a surprise to me. I didn’t know before this that there was a Ghanaian community (in Rhode Island),” said Mr. Perrotti. Two other performers, Lydia Perez and Jesus Andujar, are Puerto Rican and Dominican, respectively. “So these groups are all well-represented in the state.”

Obuamah Addy — his first name is pronounced the same way as our president’s — was a child singing star in his native Ghana and in the 1970s and 80s played that country’s popular dance music known as “highlife.” In 1982 he joined the group Odadaa in the United States — the group was the subject of a PBS documentary, “Dance Like A River” — and has been touring this country and sharing West African music and culture with Americans of all ages ever since.

“It’s very educational and helps them know what’s going on in Africa, our music and the history behind our drums. And, it’s also about the discipline we apply to our music. We want to involve them too — let them play some drums and get them involved and be part of the whole thing,” said Mr. Addy, who’s played with jazz bandleader Wynton Marsalis.

Mr. Abbas, who started playing drums 30 years ago, when he was 5, first came to the U.S. in 2002 because he wanted to teach Americans about African music.

“The music’s not just for Ghana — it’s for everybody. Everywhere I go to teach the music, they love it,” said Mr. Abbas, who like Mr. Addy has played for President Bill Clinton and other dignitaries.

The program at Hathaway School started with Mr. Addy asking the students to be attentive. “Sit tight and listen to the drums and the music. If you’re talking while we’re playing, you’re gonna miss some beats,” he said.

Mr. Addy then pounded out a rhythm on a “donno” or “talking drum,” so called because its pitch can be altered. “When there was no radio, no television, our forefathers played this,” he explained.

Feeling the beat

After a few minutes, some kids started bouncing in their seats or moved their heads back and forth. Others seemed mesmerized by the rhythms bouncing off the concrete walls and stared intently on the six rapidly hands in front of them. Many of them try to follow the drum patterns, slapping their hands on their knees.

Next they start playing a little highlife, which originated in the early 1900s and is characterized by jazzy horns and multiple guitars. Since the group employs no guitars or horns, however, it must improvise.

“See that square drum over there?” said Obuamah, pointing to a “gome” that Mr. Martey is sitting on, using his bare feet to alter its sound. “That’s our bass guitar. It has different tones on it, just like he’s demonstrating now.”

Next, the group demonstrates a more quiet and contemplative sound, incorporating a flute and a “baliphone,” also known as an African xylophone. Two mallets are used to hit eight bamboo keys, with gourds hanging underneath for added resonance. “We believe this was created way before the piano,” Obuamah said after the performance.

Mr. Martey then abandoned his drums to dance, pulling 6-year-old Mikayla Andrews up to join him. At first she seemed nervous while mirroring some of Mr. Martey’s simple steps, but soon a smile crept onto her face.

A bit later, a whole line of kids are up and improvising their own dance steps, wherever the beats took them. No two rhythms were the same. Finally, the children are invited to come up and play the instruments themselves. “I thought it was pretty fun,” said 10-year-old Morgan Ward, who played a hand drum.

“When they heard ‘drummers,’ they were thinking a drummer in a band. They had no idea it was going to be like this,” said Sarah Chase, director of Portsmouth Action for Youth and one of the more enthusiastic dancers at Hathaway. “They get to dance and listen to some music they never get to hear. (Children) have to see that we’re multi-cultural; it’s an experience that they don’t get by turning on the TV every day.”

And the beat goes on ...

Connecting the Beat organizers hope the concert jams going on now will entice more local students to take part in the free drumming workshops that begin Nov. 13 in Newport.

“These kids are going to go home and tell mom and dad about the drummers and they’re going to be scrambling to sign them up,” said Ms. Chase.

The Connecting the Beats program crosses all cultural lines, said Mr. Perrotti, who told the Hathaway students:

“We’re all connected to this drum culture and have been since our parents gave us that first rattle.”

The first two weeks of Connecting the Beats is over, but there’s still plenty of drumming to be enjoyed. Here’s a rundown on upcoming performances and workshops, all of which are free unless otherwise specified.

• Lydia Perez from Puerto Rico appears at the Boys & Girls Club on Friday, Nov. 6, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. (Kids Café) and 5-7 p.m. (Teen Center).

• An eight-week percussion workshop begins Friday, Nov. 13, at the Boys & Girls Club. The workshops will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Kids Café and 5 p.m. in the Teen Center. To register, e-mail tom@commonfencemusic.org with “Percussion Workshop” in the subject line.

For more information visit www.commonfencemusic.org or call 683-5085.