Greetings all!
I hope summer is treating everyone well.
A few announcements in this email:
1) Guest Teacher for Seydou Coulibaly's Wednesday Dance Class
2) Uhuru Afrika - Saturday August 14th
3) Uhuru Afrika's JUMP! featuring Coraje - Thursday, August 19th
4) Dance Complex Summer Cleaning/Temporary ShutDown
1) Guest Teacher for Seydou Coulibaly's Wednesday Dance Class
As most folks already know, Seydou is currently in Mali on his yearly trip leading a group of students (if you would like to go to Mali to study with Seydou, or stay at his school/home, please email wadabo@gmail.com with subject line "Study in Mali").
Teaching his class while he is gone is Sharon Kivenko, herself just back from intensive study and research in Mali and Europe. Her classes have been great so far, and with Moussa and Issa heading up the drumming, the music has been awesome as well.
A little more about Sharon:
Dance Ethnographer, Sharon Kivenko has traveled to Mali and Ghana West Africa, to France and Belgium, and throughout the United States to conduct research on West African dance and music. She recently returned from a year-long stay in Bamako, Mali where she studied dances, rhythms and songs from the Mande canon with members of Seydou Coulibaly's acclaimedTroupe Komée José. She is a member of the historic award-winning Malian dance ensemble Le Ballet du District de Bamako, and has worked with the troupe as a celebration facilitator at community celebrations such as weddings and baptisms. Sharon has also traveled to a variety of rural areas in Mali to observe and participate in community celebrations of all sorts. Sharon is a former member of Joh Camara's Troupe Sewa, and has performed with Seydou Coulibaly, Issa Coulibaly, Djeneba Sacko, Melanie Berg and with Maputo and Mawye Mensah in their Ghanaian dance and music ensemble Logo Legi. A Doctoral Candidate in Social Anthropology at Harvard University, Sharon aims to bring dance as a topic of study and as a physical practice into the academic study of human lifeways and cultures.
2) Uhuru Afrika - Saturday August 14th
This Saturday Uhuru Afrika returns!
9:00pm 1:00am @ AllAsia Bar - 344 Massachussetts Avenue - Cambridge, MA
Uhuru Afrika : Boston's Afro-Diasporic Dancefloor Explosion !!!End of the Summer Bash!!! w/special guest DJ Marco Castro (Dancegruv / AfrobetaBodega) coming to Boston from Miami to play for you.
Featuring your Resident Uhuru Afrika Urban Griots:
Adam Gibbons & Max Pela
Live West African Drumming
by Malian Master Percussionist Sidy Maiga.
Jay Medina will be mastering a mix of moving images for you.
21+ : $10 : www.uhuruafrika.com
RSVP on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128939317147592
3) Uhuru Afrika's JUMP! featuring Coraje - Thursday, August 19th
Next Thursday JUMP! returns! After a party which featured awesome latin dancing and a special surprise appearance by Bassekou Kouyate's Ngoniba, the next party features more latin percussive fun with Coraje.
August 19th
@ Oberon - 2 Arrow St - Cambridge, MA - Harvard Square
18+ : $10 : 9pm-1am
Uhuru Afrika's JUMP Returns!!!
With residents:
* urban griots :: Adam Gibbons & Max Pela.
* Malian master percussionist :: Sidy Maiga.
* Visual Artist :: Jay Medina.
and very special guest:
CORAJE!
Advance Tix: http://www.cluboberon.com/shows.html#uhuru
CORAJE is 3 men (Ernesto Abreu, Nico Laboy and Matt Baranello), 50 pieces of percussion, and 3 tons of fun. Starting with a core mix of vocals and percussion, CORAJE brings the afro-latin-carribean funk to the dance floor.
CORAJE is unapologetically angry at the state of the world but crushes apathy through flipping that anger into positive energy and driving powerful hypnotic rhythms and chants. Come to the show, move to the energy, and dance us to a better world.
RSVP on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=140521179300035
4) Dance Complex Summer Cleaning/Temporary ShutDown
The Dance Complex closes yearly for cleaning, renovations, summer vacation. This year, it will be closed from Monday August 23rd through Monday September 7th (reopening on the 8th). If you would like to volunteer during the closure to clean and earn some free classes, please contact the Dance Complex directly.