A national committee whose goal is to plan for permanent space for African dance and drum in the major US cities. The Cultural Beat challenges those in the community who have similar beliefs to come forward. We would be happy to help organize a conference for us to discuss these ideas. If travel money is an issue in these tight economic times, the conference can be done online.Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if interested.

A coherent schedule of dance conferences and workshops. Let us stop cannibalizing each other this year. Why not have a national calendar for scheduling conferences?

More training in staging and producing dance concerts. While everyone wants to perform for their friends and family, not all companies are ready to put on a show with a $25 ticket price. Staging a show is a skill of its own. Perhaps we can start offering classes to smaller regional markets to improve the quality of concert performances.

Transparency in artist pricing for workshops and conferences. We have called for this in the past. Artists need to paid properly so they can feed their families. At the same time, there has to be some sanity in the prices that are set so that the smaller markets can bring artists in for workshops. It shouldn't matter where you were born or who you know to be able to book an artist.

A dance and drum community that is technologically competent. As the closing of Djoniba's showed, few artists had workable web sites where information about them could be obtained or messages left. Our dance organizations, over all have not kept pace with technological advances. In today's world this is unacceptable. Technology can be daunting but knowledge tames it.Technology is an essential component for a successful business.

A healthy, safe and prosperous year for all of our teachers, drummers, dancers and family members!

This year we had the most exciting adventure in the Malian portion of the Sahara desert. We attended the Festival of the Desert (Festival du Desert) in Essakane, Mali, approximately 65km outside of Timbuctu. The festival which started in 2001, takes place the second week in January every year and celebrates Tuareg culture. The Tuareg are nomadic people whose territory stretches across Mali, Niger and Algeria. Many other nomadic peoples, such as the Fulani (Peul) from Mali and Burkina Faso, and the Mauritanians attend the festival. At night, international stars (from Mali as well as from other parts of Africa and Europe) perform on the main stage, but throughout the day, dancers and drummers can be found performing in the sand throughout the desert. There is also a conference that occurs simultaneously but that was in Tamaschek, the language of the Tuareg.

It is that time of the year when we try to catalogue the groups who are running trips to Africa. The potential for big bonuses might have disappeared this year but you may still be able to afford a trip. Here are some that we have heard of. Culture Central does not endorse pr recommend any trip. We are merely sering as a clearing house for the information. Before you spend any money to travel to Africa, make sure you are comfortable with the people running the trip. Check the iternary and make sure it will satisfy what you are looking for. There is nothing worse than spending the money to go to Africa and then being unhappy when you get there. Be a smart consumer, do your ground work and research before you commit. Having said that..do go to Africa, particularly if you teach dance or drum. It will change your life and your perspective on your craft.

Trip information below:

This is our last piece on the dancing from Festival Du Desert. Both the women and men performed a dance called the Takamba. This is a form of dance we had not seen in the US. It is a very melodic dance and can be performed from either a standing position or seated. It seems to be primarily danced by the Songhai people and others in Northern Mali and Niger. We were told by Djenaba Sako that the women are telling love stories in the dance, while the men are challenging each other. Drums, chanting and hand claps drive the dancing. The rhythm is almost hypnotic. We have a short segment of the group TARTIT dancing the Takamba on the main festival stage on the last night. The first part is seated and the second is from standing positions. There are also other small clips of the dance already on You Tube. In one the women are dancing across the floor. In the other, the person filming catches part of the men's seated dance although he is obviously interested in other things at the scene.

The Ndaje Dance festival, put on by Pape N'Diaye and DionneThomas, recently closed in Boston. Although just in its third year, the conference is quickly gaining in popularilty, offering a good selection of classes and comraderie. This year, as an added bonus, conference attendees were treated to the debut performance of LES ENFANTS DU SOLEIL, a professional, African dance touring company composed of dancers and drummers from Guinea, Senegal, Mali and the US. The company featured both male and female dancers The men were represented by Malang Bayo, Rich Faye, Babacar N'Diaye, Pape N'Diaye, Ousman Sall, Mor Talla Samb and Mamdy Sano. We have it on good authority that Babacra M'Baye will also participate in the future. The women were Heike Currie, Alauna Faye, Tamika Haris, Tamara Jones, Shurla Nelson, Zaleika Reid, Maila Sylla, Koko Tete-Rosenthal and Dionne Thomas. Djeneba Sako and Marie Basse-Wiles added a little spice.

The African dance and drum cultural community was blessed for many years with the wisdom and talents of Djimo Kouyate. Born in Dianna, Tambacounda region, Senegal, Djimo was a Diali, oral historian and 149th generation of the Kouyate family of Diali, historians and musicians, who have honored West Africa for centuries. [A diali is a west African poet, praise singer and musician, considered a repository of oral tradition. Dialis are known as jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), and igiiw (or igawen) in Hassaniyya Arabic.]

August 16, 1946 - August 1, 2004

"Djoniba's is closing this week!" The words were shocking. With little public notice, Djoniba's dance center in Manhattan closed its doors during the days before Christmas. The email messages flew back and forth, marshaling resources for the displaced dance instructors and gathering listings of alternative spaces. Finally, someone asked the million dollar question: why was Djoniba's closing?