Late summer greetings & Happy New Year to all celebrating Rosh Hashanah!
Celebrating abundance this month in all of it’s forms, including so many opportunities to dance and drum with master teachers of Guinean drum & dance in Maine!
For your calendars…
*Ongoing Thursdays: Drummers, did you know that djembefola, Namory Keita, teaches weekly classes with Seacoast West African Dance & Drum in Kittery? He does indeed.
*Upcoming: Thursday September 12th ~ Alhassane “Papain” Camara will be visiting from New Mexico and guest teaching for one night only at the Kittery Dance Hall as well. (Yes, I know it’s the same night as our Portland class, but it’s such a great opportunity and I encourage you to go!)
Known for his graceful yet powerful style, Alhassane shares his vast knowledge of Guinean dance with students of all levels. He has taught in the Seacoast several times. Here is a clip from a class he taught in Newburyport in 2011 as well as a post class solo in Arizona. Please contact Liz Fowler for more info. I’d love to hear all about it when you get back!
*Upcoming: Saturday October 5th~ A very exciting day of dancing and drumming with Sidiki Sylla, Ismael Bangoura and Mangue Sylla is coming right up, also very close by, in Kittery, Maine!!
These 3 master artists will be offering classes in drumming, dancing and dundun dancing AND performing that evening. Our very own, Blue Moon Tribe, has been invited to perform as well, which we’re quite excited about! Please visit this LINK FOR OCT 5th CLASSES for all the details about how to pre-register and carpool from Portland.
I’m feeling super blessed to have an ever-growing community sharing in the love of West African dance in my home town. So much gratitude to everyone who joins me in Portland!! I hope to share the day together on Oct 5th, and keep an ear to the ground because we’ll have even more opportunities to dance with master teachers in New England this fall.
This month in class we will be celebrating the rhythm and dance, Soko ~ A dance coming from the Malinké people of Faranah, Guinea. It is a dance for young boys and I am grateful to offer it this month as my two young brothers are making big leaps in their lives. One heading off to college and the other starting his sophomore year in high school.
In this video Mbemba Bangoura plays lead djembe for Soko ~ (I’m excited to recognize some of my friends from Guinea in this video as well… thanks to Michael Pluznick for posting it!)
Let’s celebrate all of the young boys in our lives as we dance Soko in September.
See you on the dance floor… Peace, blessings and abundance to you!
Embody the Rhythm 