My dance teacher while I'm in Bamako is Issa Cissoko. He is from Mali. He went to school for modern dance in France. While in the National Ballet for 10 years, he was in charge of traveling to the different villages of Africa to research traditional ethnic dances and bring back to teach the company. He would go to the village chief to ask permission. They would explain the history and show him sacred things that were part of the dance ceremonies. Thus, Issa knows many dances from different ethnic groups of Mali. A local dancer told me that Issa is the best around.
Issa is a generous and patient teacher. I was able to easily follow his style and learn quickly. I learned a new dance every day and Jeremy translated for me so that Issa could tell me the background of the dances and I could ask questions.
I had private lessons with live drum accompaniment~from master drummers...I was in heaven!!
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I attended Deja's drum and dance classes this weekend at the tecopa hot springs and I LOVED them. Is there any chance you will post some photos from these classes?
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