Shaking our tailfeathers
Last night, I went to my first workshop in West African dance, with master Ivorian dancer Samba Diallo. In my sporadic study of West African dance, Harmony's been my only teacher, so this was not only my first workshop, but also my first time learning Ivorian dance from an Ivorian, and my first time learning it from a male instructor.
Samba was a fun and clear instructor. He worked us hard, first warning us that his warmup was "very hard, but very good for the dancing" (and yes, it was, but not so much that we were too pooped to dance), and he kept us moving for probably a good 60-70 of the 90 minutes of the class. I couldn't always understand what he said, but he communicated what he wanted us to do very clearly through both words and gesture, the latter being particularly important when the drums are thundering away and you can't hear anything else. He also teased us often for having such stern looks of concentration on our faces, reminding us to smile for many different reasons (it's culturally appropriate for the dance we were learning, the importance of training oneself to smile while dancing, and the increased energy you get when smiling as you dance.) Best line of the night: "if you don't smile, it's not my fault if you get tired!" ;)
We learned a dance from the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire, from a particular ethnic group whose name I've already forgotten (possibly the Senoufo?). He said it's usually done wearing a sort of tutu, because it imitates a bird. Harmony also whispered to me at one point that this was the dance "that Djo Bie's always talking about, where the young girls dance topless," though Samba didn't mention anything about that. The opening steps that we learned had different movements for men and for women (and there were actually two men in the class, so we had both sexes represented in the dance), but then the rest of it seemed to be the same for both. All of the moves were new to me, as was the rhythm we danced to, but they worked fairly similarly to the West African dances I've learned before, in that we repeated one move until Djo Bie gave the drum break, then we changed at the break. Samba didn't really break down the mechanics of the moves much, but, like Harmony, he would give us a skeleton of the move, and then show us how to build it up more dynamically (adding in jumps, more expression, etc.) The last few times that we ran the combination, he really let loose, and it was amazing to see how athletic and dynamic his movements were. A lot of them really reminded me of jazz-age dance moves and of hip-hop-- there was one thing that was totally like a funkified version of the Charleston. There was one move in particular that I really loved, because it was exactly the puzzle piece I'd been looking for to fit at a very specific moment in a choreography that's been gestating in my head for a few months now. Sweet!
I am sore today, though not nearly as much as I was expecting to be. I'm surprised to find that it's mostly in my shoulders, because the warmup and dance seemed way more thigh- and ab-intensive to me. But aside from some minor twinges in my obliques and inner thighs, I'm not feeling it there (though one knee feels a little tight today.) And, though I wasn't originally planning to take the second workshop tonight, I think I might go back for more. He's teaching a different dance tonight.
So, if you're in Bloomington and you're free tonight and want to get a really amazing dance experience that also happens to be an excellent workout, come to the workshop tonight! It's well worth it. Here are the particulars:
Dance workshop with Master Dancer Samba Diallo from Ivory Coast
All levels are welcome! This will be a great opportunity to learn specific Ivoirian dances from a master!
Wednesday, October 21 ~ adult class 7-8:30
$20
Class held at The Lodge (101 E. 6th St., Bloomington, IN)-- on the corner of the square, facing Samira and above Subway (enter on 6th St next to the tattoo shop)
By the way, if any of you are in the Smyrna/Athens, GA area (*cough*we_are_pliable*cough*), Samba teaches regular classes in both towns.
Samba was a fun and clear instructor. He worked us hard, first warning us that his warmup was "very hard, but very good for the dancing" (and yes, it was, but not so much that we were too pooped to dance), and he kept us moving for probably a good 60-70 of the 90 minutes of the class. I couldn't always understand what he said, but he communicated what he wanted us to do very clearly through both words and gesture, the latter being particularly important when the drums are thundering away and you can't hear anything else. He also teased us often for having such stern looks of concentration on our faces, reminding us to smile for many different reasons (it's culturally appropriate for the dance we were learning, the importance of training oneself to smile while dancing, and the increased energy you get when smiling as you dance.) Best line of the night: "if you don't smile, it's not my fault if you get tired!" ;)
We learned a dance from the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire, from a particular ethnic group whose name I've already forgotten (possibly the Senoufo?). He said it's usually done wearing a sort of tutu, because it imitates a bird. Harmony also whispered to me at one point that this was the dance "that Djo Bie's always talking about, where the young girls dance topless," though Samba didn't mention anything about that. The opening steps that we learned had different movements for men and for women (and there were actually two men in the class, so we had both sexes represented in the dance), but then the rest of it seemed to be the same for both. All of the moves were new to me, as was the rhythm we danced to, but they worked fairly similarly to the West African dances I've learned before, in that we repeated one move until Djo Bie gave the drum break, then we changed at the break. Samba didn't really break down the mechanics of the moves much, but, like Harmony, he would give us a skeleton of the move, and then show us how to build it up more dynamically (adding in jumps, more expression, etc.) The last few times that we ran the combination, he really let loose, and it was amazing to see how athletic and dynamic his movements were. A lot of them really reminded me of jazz-age dance moves and of hip-hop-- there was one thing that was totally like a funkified version of the Charleston. There was one move in particular that I really loved, because it was exactly the puzzle piece I'd been looking for to fit at a very specific moment in a choreography that's been gestating in my head for a few months now. Sweet!
I am sore today, though not nearly as much as I was expecting to be. I'm surprised to find that it's mostly in my shoulders, because the warmup and dance seemed way more thigh- and ab-intensive to me. But aside from some minor twinges in my obliques and inner thighs, I'm not feeling it there (though one knee feels a little tight today.) And, though I wasn't originally planning to take the second workshop tonight, I think I might go back for more. He's teaching a different dance tonight.
So, if you're in Bloomington and you're free tonight and want to get a really amazing dance experience that also happens to be an excellent workout, come to the workshop tonight! It's well worth it. Here are the particulars:
Dance workshop with Master Dancer Samba Diallo from Ivory Coast
All levels are welcome! This will be a great opportunity to learn specific Ivoirian dances from a master!
Wednesday, October 21 ~ adult class 7-8:30
$20
Class held at The Lodge (101 E. 6th St., Bloomington, IN)-- on the corner of the square, facing Samira and above Subway (enter on 6th St next to the tattoo shop)
By the way, if any of you are in the Smyrna/Athens, GA area (*cough*we_are_pliable*cough*), Samba teaches regular classes in both towns.