Embody the Rhythm

This month I hope you will join me in dancing to give thanks (to everything and everyone we are grateful for!), while also giving thanks to dance for bringing such healing and joy to our souls and bodies.

We will drum up (and dance up!) the spirit of thanks-giving throughout the month, and then take it to share with our families and friends on Thursday the 28th (no class that night). 

What a blessing it was to have Youssouf Koumbassa & Namory Keita grace our community last week! Thank you to everyone, dancers and drummers alike, who joined me in welcoming them. It makes me so happy to share in the celebration of West African Dance by bringing my “guru” and master teacher, Youssouf, to my home town.

Check out the beautiful crew of drummers that accompanied this class ~

10/31/13 Djembéfola, Namory Keita leads our talented crew of local drummers

This month as we shimmy toward the darker months of the year (saving all the daylight we can) we will honor the rite-of-passage dance, Soli. Soli is a vibrant dance of the Kindia region of Guinéa. I look forward to sharing this dance!

As a reminder, I regularly share news, photos and videos on facebook, Portland Maine West African Inspired Dance Group (link). Check out the video from Youssouf’s class last week! 

Many blessing to you all & see you on the dance floor!

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!

Dear community, 

This posting is brought to you from the heights of another glorious summer day, with the smell of salt sea air and wild roses permeating a soft breeze. This month in class we will continue to celebrate the beautiful dances Yankadi and Makru, adding on and expanding with new movements to keep you on your toes. Please scroll down to last month’s post, entitled “Mid-Summer Thunderstorms…” for a longer description of these beautiful dances from the Susu people of Guinea. 

I am pleased to announce that we will have guest drummer, Michael Pluznick, back with us on August 8th, and for a few additional weeks this month as well. Let’s give him a warm welcome back to Maine! 

Additionally we will be welcoming back a wonderful guest teacher, Nyama McCarthy-Brown, for the last week or 2 of the month. It’s so exciting to have these guests to share in drumming and dancing with and always such a blessing to experience the style and inspiration of new teachers.  Please join me in celebrating them both in class…

I look forward to seeing you all on the dance floor very soon!

Peace 

I hope you’re all enjoying excursions to the ocean, lakes and rivers, camping, smelling the flowers, and all of your favorite opportunities of summer amidst this amazing heatwave and the accompanying powerful thunderstorms.

Drawing from an infinite well of inspiration from La Guinea, the country who’s dances and rhythms we celebrate each month, I’m sharing a few photos I took there, reminding us to find solace in the shade and in the incredible magical relief of water…

N’toh relaxing in the evening shade

Refreshing Voile de la Mariée, waterfall in Kindia, La Guinea

The first dance and rhythm we’ll share in July ~ Yankadi, conjures for me the feeling and imagery of water. The fluid, sultry movements flow through space not unlike the way plant reeds move in the sway of a river. Yankadi is a dance of courtship from the Susu people of Guinea, traditionally danced under the full moon and followed by the second dance we’ll do this month (yes two, together!) ~ Makru. Makru is a celebratory and vibrant dance to accompany the joy of successful connections made in courtship. Perhaps we’ll even take these two dances into August since we’re down to only three Thursdays left this month…

I cannot wait to share the dance floor with you all again!

I’m excited to return to the feeling of the rhythms resonating up through the floor, our community raising our energy together, the beat making it’s way into our bones and the dance vibrating fully under our skin… Can you feel it? Wongai!

Room Island, La Guinea

Peace and blessings

Sending out a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who came out last month and helped to make Ebuné ~ All Peoples, All Creatures Parade & Spring Celebration such a roaring success and good time. It was a beautiful day from start to finish and each individual who took part contributed to that outcome. 

What an amazing community!

The All Peoples, All Creatures parade makes it’s way down Congress St. May 5th, 2013. Photo by Modibo Some

The parade made it’s way, with vibrant musical accompaniment, through downtown Portland and on up to the Eastern Prom.

Dance and music performances followed a community ritual blessing, welcoming back and giving thanks for the abundance of Spring. 

Members of the Dark Follies started off the performances, delighting us all with their fluidity and grace:

Bella Lisa makes sword balancing appear effortless. Photo by Jessica Townsend

Lovely Kate is dancing for two! Photo by Cami Smalley

Next, the Blue Moon Tribe, consisting of a revolving group of committed drummers and dance students from our weekly dance class, lead by (yours truly) Marita Kennedy-Castro  brought a healing dance from Guinea, West Africa to share with all peoples, species and creatures:

Blue Moon Tribe dancers and drummers in the flow. Photo by Cami Smalley

Dancers of the Blue Moon Tribe giving it up! Photo by Cami Smalley

Finally, the incredibly talented Rwandan dance group, Abeza B’inganzo, also from Portland, ME brought a truly grande finale to the performances. Their power and energy radiated out into a very appreciative audience:

Abeza B’Inganzo! Photo by Jessica Townsend

The beautiful ladies of Abeza B’inganzo shining like stars. Photo by Jessica Townsend

Abeza B’inganzo bringing their infectious smiles and powerful rhythms. Photo by Jessica Townsend

There is always something amazing happening right outside our doorstep, and this weekend is no exception. This Sunday, June 9th I hope you all can join me in welcoming Dylan Blanchard’s new ensemble, Siembra to Portland!

They will be teaching a percussion workshop from 1:30-3pm and performing at 7pm at Mayo St. Arts.

Also, if you’re ready to incorporate more West African Drumming and Dancing to your life, there are so many opportunities to chose from this summer. Especially if you’re not afraid to jump in the car (or on a plane). I want to share a few of the fantastic camps and festivals happening in the United States for you to consider as you’re making summer plans ~

7th ANNUAL NDAJE FESTIVAL, June 27 – 30th, 2013 Boston, MA

A weekend of dance and drumming and dancing class with 20 of West Africa’s finest teachers.

CAMP FARETA, July 7-13, 2013

Camp Fareta is a residential workshop hosted by Youssouf Koumbassa, a master dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Guinea, West Africa, and featuring many other master dancers and drummers from Guinea, Mali, and Senegal. It is an immersion in West African drum and dance that started in 2006 and is held at a beautiful setting in the southern Sierras of California each summer.

The 11th ANNUAL CAMP MERVEILLES West African Drum & Dance Conference August 8-11, 2013

Camp Merveilles is a world-class conference that combines local West African artists with visiting faculty to bring the amazing spirit of West African drumming and dance to the Front Range. This is a unique opportunity for students of all
levels to experience the teaching of master dancers and musicians right in Boulder, CO.

Opportunities abound. I cannot wait to dance with you all this evening! Thank you for your patience as I scurried to gather this information together and post this on the fly. Oh! This month we will be dancing Manjiani! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Manjiani (pronounced Mahn-JAH-nee) is a rhythm and dance from the Malinké people of Guinea and Mali, originally created as a rite of passage for young women. It is danced in present day Guinea, by both men and women at wedding celebrations and other festivities.

Have a beautiful month of June and enjoy this new moon!

Peace and blessings

Writing today while overlooking the ocean in one of my favorite cafés, drinking black tea and thinking about how beautiful this dance of life is; how blessed I am to live in this amazing community. Feeling deeply grateful for all of you today, for the singing birds, the return of flowers, warm sun on my skin, and the 1st of May!  Happy Beltane everyone! Another reason to dance!

Blue Moon Tribe performing at Ebune 2010

I am so excited to share in our community celebration of spring this Sunday May 5th amongst a gaggle of colorful community members celebrating the wild creatures we all are. I hope you’ll join in the fun of this free event, open to all!  Ebune ~ All Peoples, All Creatures Parade and Spring Celebration!  www.Ebune2013.com

A number of wonderful drummers and dancers from our weekly dance class will be there sharing some fun grooves for all who wish to participate and a 14 piece+ Blue Moon Tribe will be performing a healing dance from Guinea, called Lamban (also Lamba), where the parade culminates on the Eastern Prom.

To help promote this event, a group of us will be performing some fire dancing, puppet/mask masquerading and general entertainment this 1st Friday during the Art Walk. Please join us in Congress Square (by the Eastland Hotel). We’ll be there from 6-8pm ish, alongside some incredibly creative local artists selling their wares.

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For the month of May I am excited to bring to you the dance, Kassa. Kassa means “to plant” in the Malinké language. This rhythm and dance of the Malinké is to bring energy to those who are planting in the fields and helping conserve the seeds for future regeneration.

It has been way too long since we have danced Kassa together,  and this is the perfect time of year to be sending energy out to all our incredible local Maine farmers!

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No need to stop there! There is yet another way to celebrate this weekend:

Join in fabulous music and movement classes with Namory Keita and Abdoulaye Sylla at the Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine.  They are incredibly gifted artists and both kind and generous teachers!

Join our Southern Maine community in these West African drum and dance workshops with master teachers at the Dance Hall!

Sunday, May 5th

Drum class with Namory Keita

12:30 to 2:00 pm

Dundun dance class with Abdoulaye Sylla

2:15 to 3:45 pm

Dance class with Abdoulaye Sylla

4:00-5:30pm

$15.00 per class or $40 for all three.

Pay at the door — cash, check, or Visa/Mastercard.

For those of you ready to do some shopping, there will be a little African market, too — CDs, DVDs, clothes, and more!

For more information:

Seacoast West African Dance and Drum

Liz Fowler-Camara   603-969-5264

Hello beautiful dance and drum community, 

Happy Spring! It’s so exciting to hear birds singing, see crocuses pushing their way up through the earth and witness the amazing dragon-like blooms of witch hazel brightening the bushes. It is really here! If you could dream of any flower you’d like to be this month, what would it be?

Today I am choosing these bright yellow lovelies~

Let’s fill the dance studio with ourselves as embodied flowers all month long to encourage and celebrate spring’s arrival!

This month we’ll be dancing the celebratory dance, Gumbé, from the Tuba people of Boké Village in Guinea ~ Another dance traditionally enjoyed for wedding celebrations and the births of babies. Quite appropriate for spring I’d say…

To love and new life!

Please join me this weekend at the Kittery Dance Hall for classes with Sidiki Sylla and Ismael Bangoura of Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theater!! They’ll be at the Dance Hall this Saturday, April 6th for a drum class at 1pm and dance class at 2:45.

Sidiki’s energy and enthusiasm are totally contagious. I took my very first West African dance class with Sidiki in 1999, and he remains one of my favorites to this day. I can’t wait to boogie with him again, and with all our friends in southern Maine!

Sign up in class to carpool with us or pop me a message here if you’d like to jump in. Here’s how much fun we had last time they came… and this is just the warm up~

Come join the fun this weekend!

I look forward to dancing with you very soon.

Peace and spring blessings

I write this post from the lovely mountains of VT where I am away at my twice-yearly Goddard residency. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to take an incredible Haitian dance workshop here, learning a bit more of the history of Haitain dance and meanings behind some of the movements. I especially loved when we were dancing to a rhythm called Yanvalou and invoking a snake deity, Damballah, as we moved with the fluid and watery motion of snakes…

This Thursday, May 7th, you too will be able to embody serpentine motion while you grove with lovely Janice Erickson at our weekly class. Janice will be bringing you a sweet Afro-Cuban influenced warm up followed by moving across the floor  to Zebullah and more Congolese dance with choreography pulled from the “grandmother” moves of Samba~ It’s going to be so much fun! Your pre-paid cards are good to go for Janice’s class… Have a wonderful time! 

Get a taste of what’s in store with this video of Congolese dance class in NYC:

… and this one from a class in California:

Next week we will resume classes in traditional Guinea style dance. My hope is to bring you the exciting dance Soboninkun, also referred to as Soumounoukou. I can’t wait to dance with you all in the month of March!!

Much love and peace to you! 

Dancing is a great way to come together

and set energy in motion

to create positive change.

This month on Valentines day people will be gathering in towns and cities around the world as part of One Billion Rising, calling for an end to violence against women. One unifying aspect of these actions and rallies will be dancing! I’m encouraging everyone to take part in our local Portland events on V-day, and to get ready to take part in a flash mob by attending the Flash Mob Rehearsal this Sunday 2/10.

On Valentines night at West African dance class we’ll keep the energy of change flowing! 

In recognition and support of One Billion Rising we will have a donations jar at class on 2/14  to support the work of a fantastic, Portland-based organization, Prevention. Action. Change. The focus of P.A.C. is on “helping people understand and avoid risk, gain confidence in making safe choices and in expressing what they want, need, and feel, and add to their tool box of skills for addressing violence in all its forms.” Taking workshops with this organization is extremely informative and empowering for all genders.

Recent happenings~

I want to share this message for everyone who donated during classes in December to our dear friend, Brigitte Ndyikum-Nyada, so she could return to Cameroon for her mother’s funeral: “Please spread the word to all who donated that I love them, I am grateful, and I wish all a fabulous-happy and healthy new year. You are the greatest of friends anyone must have. I am lucky you are mine! Love Queenie B”  

In January some of our wonderful drummers and students from class joined with me as the Blue Moon Tribe, participating in a 2 year anniversary celebration at Bright Star World Dance Studio in Portland. It was a night of celebrating and paying tribute to dance from cultures around the world. I wanted to share with you the Blue Moon Tribe’s performance, in case you missed it: