NEWFANE-Caro Diallo, guest dancer and teacher from Senegal; drummer Ult Mundane, based in New Hampshire; and other guest drummers will teach a series of workshops Saturday, Sept. 20, and Sunday, Sept. 21, at Union Hall near the Newfane Common. There will be all levels dance classes and drum classes on both days, plus African meals.
Gena Corea will be honored that weekend and will be present. Corea brought Diallo to the Brattleboro area from Senegal more than 20 years ago, which started African dance and drum classes and the Abene Festival in Brattleboro. Classes and the festival have not occurred since 2019, and Diallo's return this summer has resurrected this opportunity.
On Saturday, there will be a beginner class from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by a lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The class is $15, and lunch is $10. From 2 to 3:30 p.m., a drum class will be presented. The cost is $15. An all-levels class follows from 4 to 6 p.m.; the cost is $25. For access to all classes, the cost is $50 (lunch not included).
Sunday features a beginner class from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with an African lunch available for purchase from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The class is $12, and lunch is $10. A drum class follows from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.; the cost is $12. The day concludes with an all-levels class from 3 to 5 p.m.; the cost is $25. For access to all classes, the cost is $40 (lunch not included).
In addition to the weekend of workshops, Diallo and Mundane are teaching classes on Sundays (except Sept. 21 because of the weekend workshops) at Inner Heat Yoga, 464 Putney Rd., Brattleboro, and on Wednesdays at Aloha Keene, 83 Court St., Keene, New Hampshire, until Oct. 5, when Diallo returns to Senegal.
Diallo is director, choreographer and lead dancer of the Senegalese dance troupe, Black Soofa. Hailing from the Casamance region of Senegal on the west coast of Africa, where he has been dancing since childhood. After intensive training with various dance masters in Dakar, Diallo joined the ballet troupe Forêt Sacrée, performing throughout West Africa.
"In a warm-up students rave about," organizers wrote in a news release, "he provides an entire vocabulary of African movements. An accomplished teacher, he systematically builds up phrase after phrase of the dance until students find themselves performing the entire choreography. This experience is one of coming together in joy and community."
Mundane has been studying traditional West African drumming for more than 20 years, playing djembe and dunduns. He has learned from world-renowned teachers such as Famoudou Konate and Mamady Keita. Since 2010, he has been studying with Namory Keita, a master drummer from Guinea. Mundane currently teaches a weekly class in Temple, New Hampshire, and leads the drumming for a weekly dance class in Keene.
For more information, email africandancevt@gmail.com and see African Dance VT on Facebook.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.