African Dance & Drumming Assemblies
The Cape Cod African Dance & Drum Ensemble, including master African drummer Mohamed Kamara (Guinea, West Africa), offer an exciting educational program for school assemblies and family events. With highly favorable reviews, they have been presenting assemblies and workshops regularly throughout Cape Cod at public schools, libraries and family events. By watching and participating, students are exposed to the West African dance and drumming tradition. They take something very special with them: African dance, rhythm and song!
- Opening the show, the Ensemble performs the traditional dances and rhythms of Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, West Africa, in traditional costumes.
- Mohamed and Tara give explanations and the cultural background of the African dance and drumming tradition.
- Mohamed teaches a beautiful call and response song from his home village in Guinea.
- Students then have the chance to try the African dances themselves! They may come up and dance with the Ensemble in a group, learning simple traditional movements.
- The audence may then participate in a Question and Answer session with Mohamed and Tara. This is highly informative, where students can learn many in depth details about African culture and history, as well as the dance and drumming tradition.
- Student may then sit with the drummers to try out the rhythms. Mohamed will teach several simple rhythms that the students can play as an ensemble. In this way, they can experience the multi-rhythmic nature of African drumming, where several rhythms play and interlock as a rhythmic whole.
Our assemblies are fun, hands-on and highly energizing for kids. Most of all, it is a valuable learning opportunity to experience African culture firsthand — through dancing, drumming, stories and song. In this way, an unknown culture becomes something students can belong to, honor and know for themselves.
Afterschool Classes & Workshops
Mohamed and Tara also teach more in depth workshops on African dance and drumming for students. Drum class time may be devoted specifically to mastering rhythms and hand technique for drumming with djembe and djun djun drums. Dance classes, with live drumming accompaniment, focus on mastering traditional dances from Guinea, Mali and Senegal, as well as basic movements and isolations.
About Mohamed Kamara
Mohamed was born in a village in Guinea, West Africa into the Kamara family, which is known for its traditional African drumming and dancing. He began his career in the Gambia where he started his own dancing and drumming group. He is the former artistic director of the African Ballet of Gambia. Mohamed has traveled extensively through Africa, Europe, and the United States performing and teaching his art. Mohamed served as lead teacher for Chuck Davis's cultural art safari, which is held every summer in the Gambia. Students interested in learning African drum and dance attend from all over the United States and Europe. Mohamed also leads his own African dance and drum camp every April, on an idyllic island village off the coast of Guinea. Mohamed continues to teach dancing and drumming all over New England in school systems and at various universities. He is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music. Mohamed also performs with his groups, The Spirit of Africa and Koliba, for festivals, jazz clubs, schools, concert halls, museums and cultural events. From his dedication to his art and teaching for over 25 years, Mohamed was awarded The Commonwealth Award by Governor Weld for fostering cultural education in Massachusetts . Visit his website at www.africandrum.com.
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