Intergenerational Community Arts Celebration
Saturday, August 3, 2024
A day of drum and dance for all ages.
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For the first time, Drum Power is pleased to announce that we will host an intergenerational day of dance and drumming for the entire community—young, old, and in between.
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At Madison Youth Arts Center at1055 E. Mifflin Street in Madison, WI.
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Attendance is open to all! Every age and ability is welcome.
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Classes will be taught by nationally renowned instructors. Class schedule to TBA soon but will include:
West African Drumming
West African Dance
Afro-Brazilian Drumming
Afro-Brazilian Dance
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Individual class cost $18. A full day pass for all activities is available for $60.
Attendance is free for youth who attend our two-week program and they are strongly encouraged to come and bring their friends and family to experience this unique event. However, space is limited for these participants and spots will assigned to those students who sign up first — so be sure to opt in on the registration form. -
Participants with any signs of sickness (whether from flu, COVID, or any other communicable disease) should remain home and not attend programming.
Please review full COVID Protocols here.
2023 Instructors’ Bios
West Africa Drumming with Yorel Lashley and Mandjou Mara
Yorel Lashley is an educator, percussionist, songwriter, and educational psychologist. In 2001, Lashley founded Drum Power, which has used the process of learning West African Traditional, Afro-Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban percussion to help more than 3,800 young people develop and practice social-emotional skills. In addition to Drum Power, Lashley also created the Relationships First professional development for building and maintaining healthy classroom culture and fully-integrated social-emotional learning. Lashley, who previously performed professionally in New York City for 12 years, currently performs West African, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, and New Orleans Second Line with a range of groups in the Midwest as well as Kankouran West African Dance Company. He also serves as the Director of Arts at PLACE.
Mandjou Mara is a master drummer and griot (singer) from Guinea, West Africa. He lights up the room with his playful musicality, magnetic persona, and expert technique. He began playing music at the age of five and was a member of Oiseau Blanc and Ballet Tayeli. As he became more skilled, he was known as having a “voix d’or” a “voice of gold.” In addition to being an engaging performer, Mandjou is a patient and skilled instructor. Through his performance and teaching, he connects with everyone and ensures that “there are no boundaries in the language of music.” He also works at the University of Wisconsin - Madison as an accompanist. Mandjou is a founder of Limanya Drum & Dance Ensemble.
Afro-Brazilian Drumming with Tom Ross and Guests
Thomas is currently the Musical Director and President of The Handphibians Inc., a community based Samba School in Madison , Wisconsin, and is co-founder of Grupo Balança, an ensemble didicated to performing Brazilian Samba and Pagode. He has studied numerous styles of Afro-Brazilian music in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador do Bahia, Brazil. To date, Thomas has performed on three occasions at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) and performs regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Brazilian Dance with Quenia Ribeiro
Quenia Ribeiro is a dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With over 25 years of experience in the field, Ribeiro has performed Samba and Afro-Brazilian Dance in Greece, Martinique, Portugal, Brazil, and throughout the United States. Her studies in dance include elements of Classical Ballet, Street Samba of Rio De Janeiro, Afro-Brazilian Folkloric Dance, and Orixa movements rooted in Africa. Ribeiro has partnered with schools in both New York City and Brazil to teach Brazilian Dance and Creative Movement. Currently, Ribeiro choreographs and directs her own Dance Company, Grupo Ribeiro and teaches at Ailey Extension in New York City. sambasambasamba.com
West African Dance Assane Konte
Assane Konte is one of the original founders of KanKouran West African Dance Company, an organization that he founded in 1983 with his childhood friend and master drummer, Abdou Kounta. Since then, Konte has dedicated his career to preserving and sharing Africa’s rich culture through dance and music. His choreography and costume designs have enhanced not only KanKouran’s stage presence, but also countless local and national dance companies. KanKouran has performed with symphony orchestras, chorales, church-based dance groups, tap-dance companies, ballet companies, theatrical productions, and other drum and dance companies from around the world. Konte presently serves on the faculty at Howard University. kankouran.org