day four......

August of 2010 found me in my first West African dance class with a wonderful Senegalese woman whom I have grown to absolutely adore.  From the moment I heard the rhythm of the live drumming and began to swing my arms in warm up, I knew that this was for me.  I have since been fortunate enough to have teachers come into my life showing me the dances of Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Benin and hopefully someday soon I will learn some dances from Sierra Leone.

I have been a dedicated danzante of the tradition of Danza Azteca from Mexico for nearly four years, a story in and of itself worth going into and absolutely to be recounted but at another time....

My love of danza grew in part out of my love of the harmony found in living a natural life.  The simple things like sunlight, wind rippling across water, watching a garden go through the seasons, animals, all of these things are present in la Danza and even deeper levels of such simple things.  That first West African dance class opened up within me the same place of natural harmony.  I would be lying if I said I was surprised, though in all honesty I'd never once thought to take a class nor had any interest in West Africa at all prior to joining the AfroBeat group I now play with. 

At one of my Malinese classes recently I happened to have a wonderful conversation with a friend, who upon hearing of my desire to explore the connection I found between la Danza and the West African dance asked me if I'd seen the PBS series Black in Latin America: Mexico & Peru, The Black Grandma in the Closet.  I had not seen it so I of course immediately watched it that night. I have posted it below in full and the link above will take you directly to the PBS site where it can also be found should the video below be removed. All I can say about the 53 minutes I spent watching is three things; 

1) uh wow? 
2) of course! & 
3) why didn't anyone tell me?!?! 

enjoy....