WACONGO DANCE COMPANY
Arts-in-Education
SAFARI: Living Art RESIDENCIES
Goals
Africa’s influence is strong within our lives; think of the music to which we listen, for example – everything from jazz to rock to hip-hop bears the indelible stamp of that continent. Afrika Yetu plans to give students an understanding and appreciation of those influences.
Afrika Yetu’s Arts-In-Education programs aim to:
- Educate and promote diversity, cultural awareness and understanding through the presentation of African arts. Student participants will broaden their view of the world by communicating with artists, musicians, instructors and other students from different countries.
- Instill and increase a sense of creativity in student participants.
- Give learners of all ages and backgrounds an understanding of African arts and culture. Students throughout the United States and abroad participate in our cultural school programs. These students come from various socioeconomic backgrounds and races, and include all age groups, from pre-school to senior citizens.
Our educational programs focus on four areas:
Humanities and Educational Programs; Cultural Exchange Programs; Community Outreach Programs; and Mainstage Performances.
Afrika Yetu’s Arts-In-Education programs provide the social, cultural, and recreational programs and activities coordinated each semester with various arts and social organizations. This is to enable a student-centered approach, which emphasizes the individual needs of students, educational programming and appreciation and respect for diversity and global awareness.
Each student will, at least, have had an opportunity to both discover a culture other than his/her own, and to rethink any assumptions or biases about that culture.
The Programs
SAFARI: Living Art Residencies
Safari is a Swahili word, meaning “journey”.
The African never separates art from life. Song and dance, music and storytelling pulse within each man, woman and child of the continent. Over tens of thousands of years they have carried art to every corner of the globe; that art still dwells within all of Africa’s children – each of us.
The Safari Educational Program aims to bring that art out from within each child. Using lessons on the arts and culture of today’s Africa, Safari will help children recognize the connection they share with that continent, and each other.
Project description
Africa has a very rich heritage, shaped by countless past generations.
Although similarities exist throughout the continent, there are also myriad
differences amongst its people and its regions. The forefathers passed their
heritage on to various ethnic groups throughout the world. The Safari
Educational program traverses this history of African tradition and culture.
To communicate culture in Africa, one uses a variety of forms: music, singing, dancing, storytelling, mask, costume and instrument making, to name a few. Safari will explore these media in depth, directly involving the students in each lesson.
The Safari: Living Art residency program (available for any time frame, from one day to 10 weeks) contains multiple components:
- Instruments, Song and Dance
- Art and Costuming
- Storytellers
- Contemporary African Culture and Organization
- Ancient African Languages
- Presentation (student performance)
For a more detailed explanation of the program and learning objectives, please contact booking@wacongo.com
Master drummers from WACONGO conduct classes for differing skill levels, from novice to advanced students of music. The drummers teach Ngoma drum techniques, ancient Congolese and other central African rhythms, and contemporary styles for Afro-Cuban music — and even pop.
Master Drumming workshops, suitable for all ages, communities and people, can last from 2 hours to a full day, depending on your preference.
Drums for all students can be provided by WACONGO with advance notice.
Contact: booking@wacongo.com
Photo: The Ngoma drum of central Africa is the mother of the modern conga and many Haitian and Brazilian drums.
WACONGO’s master dancers offer lessons on the various dance styles of Central Africa, such as Kongo, Luba, Pende, Mongo, Nyanga, Lingala and many others. Those dance styles have influenced traditional Afro Cuban and Latin dances, such as reggae, rumba, merengue and Brazilian Capoeira and samba.
Master Dance workshops, suitable for all ages, communities and people, can last from 2 hours to a full day, depending on your preference.
Contact: booking@wacongo.com