Siya Manyakanyaka-Kelley posted this on Facebook. Sounds pretty great. I know the drumming will be fantastic. If you haven’t seen Magatte Sow yet, it would be worth it to attend just to hear his drumming (he’s Angelique Kidjo’s percussionist – check out this video of him taking his djembe out into the audience at one of her shows).

Master Dancer/Instructor Dance Workshops with Mareme Faye will be here in Seattle teaching 2 dance workshops:

Friday October 21st 7:00pm
Open Flight Dance Studio (Etienne’s class)
4205 University Way N.E
Seattle, WA 98105

Monday October 24th 7:30pm
SHIFT Movement & Healing Art (Etienne’s class)
3517 Stone Way N.
Seattle, WA 98103

LIVE DRUMMING with Magatte Sow, Etienne Cakpo and other local drummers.

Frank Anderson is resuming his Saturday-afternoon Mali/Guinea dance class at 7 Stars today at 5:00.

Here’s a note from Frank about today’s class: “I’m just about better from my surgery, so I’m having dance class. What I’m going to do is play drums mostly, and then whoever wants to dance can dance. It’s quite possible that another teacher or two will be there to show the dance, but if they’re not I’m going to get up and do some easy moves so that dancers can do the moves with more energy. I still have to take it kinda easy for another two weeks, but I love the rhythm and dance so much I decided to start the class back up anyway.”

7 Star Women’s Kung Fu
525 21st Ave (between Cherry and Jefferson)

Mohamed Duranteau is in town from B.C. for a couple of days. His classes are always hot.

Here’s a note from Jessica regarding Mohamed’s classes:

Manimou wanted me to send out an email to let you all know that his friend Mohamed Duranteau will be teaching his class on 12/8 @ FICA Studio and at Planet Earth Yoga for Sarah Lee Koumbassa on 12/9, see details below.

• Wednesday 12/8/10 7:30-9pm Fica Studio at 10th and Union in Cap Hill
• Thursday 12/9/10 7:30-9pm Planet Earth Yoga (thanx Sarah Lee!) 418 North 35th Street, Seattle, WA 98103

$15 per class, Cash prefered.

Mohamed Andre Duranteau bio

Artisitc Director-Choreographer-Dancer & Musician, Wontanara Drum and Dance of Victoria, Canada

Ever since he was a young child growing up in rural Guinea, West Africa, Andre Duranteau dreamt of becoming a great performing artist. Andre began to pursue this dream at the young age of 15 when he moved to the capitol, Conakry to join his first ballet ” L’Ensemble Instrumentale de Kakimbo” Here, Andre developed his skills as a singer, drummer and dancer, travelling and performing around the country until 1996 when he moved on to join “Le Ballet Taille”, with whom he worked with until his arrival to Canada in 2007.

In 1997 Andre participated in a national annual competition, “Festi Kalum”, where his ballet received a nationally accredited diploma. In 2004 “Le Ballet Taille” took part in “La Tour Federale,” a government funded collaborative project bringing together 10 different established ballets from Guinea. In 2005, Andre was officially named Lead dancer of the “Ballet Taille”.

Mohamed is a warm-hearted individual who loves to share dance! His class tends to move at a fast clip yet he still manages to teach difficult movements effortlessly. You will feel challenged and satisfied. Come ready to sweat, learn and dance!!

Here’s a note from Jacque Johnson, a fantastic African dance teacher.

Hi,

Thanks.

If interested, e-mail me and I’ll make sure Jacque gets your note.

Passing along this note/invitation from Sarah Lee Koumbassa. We should all turn out to give Ibrahima  a nice send-off. He has been an important and generous contributor to our community for many years.

Dear Friends-

It is with mixed feelings we announce that our beloved teacher, mentor, father and master artist Ibrahima Camara will be leaving us to return to his home in Senegal to live.  While he may be back from time to time to visit, he intends to live with his mother, family and community in Senegal, starting in mid September, 2010.  Ibrahima has lived in the United States
for 37 years, contributing, directing, teaching, leading and loving all of us, from Boston to Seattle, and it is now our turn to give back to him, and
express our love and gratitude for all that he has created for us.

If you live in the Northwest, please join us for an unforgettable farewell
party for this great man.  We would like to stuff his pockets full of money,
and fill his heart full of our love and appreciation so he can return to his
land ready to start the next chapter of his life there.

THE PARTY:
Monday, August 30th, 2010 from 7:30 – 10:30pm
Schedule of Events:

7:30-8:30 – Dance Class Extravaganza – taught by multiple teachers!

8:30-9:30 – Dance and Drum party! (and snacks to break the Ramadan fast)

9:30-10:30 – Senegalese Dinner and acknowledgment for IBRAHIMA!

At Planet Earth Yoga Center
418 N 35th St. in the heart Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood
across the street from Theo’s Chocolates (the old Redhook Brewery building)
just East of the intersection of 35th and Phinney Ave.

We have not set a price for this event, but we encourage you to come and
enjoy the evening, celebrate Ibrahima, and give generously!

Please contact Laurie Sylla or Sarah Lee Koumbassa if you are willing to
help in any of the following ways:
. Bring food? (I believe Adama is making Cheb u jen, but my guess is that we
will have 50+ people there, so another dish would be good. Also, salad,
cake, plates/cups/spoons, drinks.etc)

. Help set up? If you could be there by 6:45p, that would be enough time to
get the food ready to go for after dance class. Also, what about decorating?

. Could you stay after to help clean up?

. Would you invite other key community members? Dancers, drummers? Could you
put this out to your email distribution lists?

This party is less than 3 days away, so please, spread the word so we can be
sure to reach all of the people he has touched!

If you know you cannot attend, but would like to contribute to his new life,
you can send a check to him at:

Ibrahima Camara
14040 Courtland Pl. N.
Seattle, WA 98133

Thank you.

Hey, there, dance nuts. You won’t want to miss this one. Alseny is one of the most dynamic and fun dance teachers you’ll ever see. He’s teaching two classes this weekend – Saturday afternoon in Fremont and Sunday evening at the Seattle Center.

Here’s the announcement (these classes are also listed on the African dance page):

ALSENY YANSANE, dynamic teacher and fourteen year performing artist of the world renowned, BALLETS AFRICAINS of Guinea is offering two fabulous West African Dance classes in Seattle guaranteed to rock your world!

www.wontanaraproductions.com

This is last-minute, I know, but if you’re free tonight, make it over to Etienne’s class at Open Flight (4205 University Way NE) for his “Dance for Haiti” fundraiser.

Friday, Jan. 29, 7:00-8:30 pm
Open Flight Studio

African dancers Etienne Cakpo (Benin), Siya Manyakanyaka-Kelley (S.Africa) and special guest artists invite you to join them for a special African dance class with live drumming. All students pay the normal $14 class fee and 100% of revenue will be donated to relief agencies assisting in Haiti. Drummers and dancers please come join us!

Abdoulaye Sylla, a master dancer and drummer from Guinea, West Africa, is teaching Guinea-style West African dance Sunday afternoon at 5:00 from now until Nov. 22.

The drummers turned out in force yesterday to welcome Abdoulaye to Seattle. Karim Koumbassa, Manimou Camara, Frenchy Lamont, and several other drummers filled the 4th-floor Center House Studio H with djembe and dunun, and Abdoulaye showed the dancers moves to Sofa and Soko.

As I played the sangban, I dug my iPhone out of my pocket and shot this video of the class. I somehow managed to mute the sound, and the camera is jumping all over the place, but I hope you can get a bit of a sense of Abdoulaye’s presence.

Abdoulaye Sylla is a former principal dancer and percussionist for Les Ballets Africains, Guinea’s world-renowned national ballet company. He has also performed in other companies and has trained many professional dancers and drummers. He has lived in the U.S. since 1994 and has taught and performed at dozens of schools, churches, theaters, community centers, colleges, and cultural festivals, as well as at Trinity College in Connecticut, where he was an adjunct professor.

Abdoulaye teaches every Sunday from now until Nov. 22, from 5:00 to 6:30. The class happens in the fourth-floor Studio H in the Center House at the Seattle Center (there’s an elevator to the fourth floor near the bathrooms in the north hallway of the Center House, or you can take the stairs at the west end of the hallway). $15 for adults; $10 for children 7-12.