If a group of partied-out college students miraculously woke up before the end of brunch on Saturday, and wandered into the World Music Hall, they might have been confused enough to believe that some sort of Afrobeat preschool had moved into Wesleyan. What they actually found was “Moving to the Beat: Dances and Rhythms of West Africa,” the latest installment of the Wesleyan’s Family Series.
The workshop was taught by Cheree Camara, a dance instructor from Yale, and Aboubacar Sanou and Lansana Toure, drummers from Burkina Faso and Guinea, respectively. They taught simple choreographed versions of a dance celebration to approximately fifteen kids, ages two to twelve. They also learned how to play African instruments in order to accompany this dance.
“It was an energetic, exciting workshop of music and dance that engaged the parents and children as well,” said Julie Glickman, Events Assistant for the Center for the Arts.
Of course, children have an unusual “sense” of rhythm and direction. As the dance steps became more complicated, the younger ones seemed to drop out, and the rhythm section often bordered on cacophonous. But who is to say that the blond-haired toddler hitting a Dun Dun drum excitedly wasn’t marching to one of his own, or that the pixie in the pink sweatshirt who consistently mixed up right and left feet wasn’t learning something about dance. And, when the teacher called out “step, slide” she probably didn’t mean “see how far you can glide on your socks,” but the boy practicing indoor skating looked like he was having an awful lot of fun, and maybe he was soaking up a bit about foreign culture while he was at it. The kids and their parents had a blast learning dances based on jumping and swaying . They also learned how to listen to the drumbeat for instructions on what to do next.
“I really enjoy working these events,” said Asli Sonceley ’08, who helped usher the event. “We don’t see people of this age group on campus very often.”
Sonceley, who hails from Turkey, repeatedly commented about the extent of information available to American youth.
“In Turkey we didn’t have events like this,” she said. “American children are really lucky. They get to know other cultures.”
The workshop was coordinated by Julie Strand, a Wesleyan Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology.
“ I’ve been around here for a few years now working on my Ph.D., and a while ago the Family Series people approached me about having an event,” she said. “Kids like to move around, and I thought integrating sound, movement, and rhythm would be a fun way to introduce them to something new.”
Strand’s idea was a success; the event seemed to be enjoyed by all who attended.
“My favorite part was the dancing,” said Persephone Marien, age 10. “I take Modern Dance lessons, but this was a nice change.”
“I thought the teacher was awesome, very encouraging, even though we were all clueless,” said mother Lisa Marien. “She kept up this ‘You can do this’ attitude that made a big difference. Everyone was of a different ability and age but felt like they could try, do their own thing and that would be okay. More of this would be great. There is so much available here culturally that you can’t get anywhere else.”
The Family Series continues on February 26th with the Annual Children’s Carnival, which will involve crafts for kids and continental music by the Wesleyan Orchestra.
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