Can you Kiniwe?

Infectious rhythms, intricate dance patterns, and camaraderie characterized Tufts' first Intercollegiate Festival of African Music and Dance last Saturday.

The public workshop, held on Saturday afternoon, was hosted by Professor David Locke and his students, who make up the Kiniwe dance troop. Groups from Wellesley and MIT also participated. It brought together area students, allowing them to share their experience with African culture through song, drumming, and dance.

In addition to the workshop, the groups performed at the campus center during the cultural festival. The festival culminated in an evening performance at Cohen Auditorium.

"The whole event was a learning experience that showed the different parts of the African Diaspora," freshman Kiniwe dancer Adwoa Twum said. "It bridged cultural gaps."

Each student group held a tutorial to share their knowledge of a particular dance with others. Locke and master drummer Dolsi-naa Abubakari Lunna hosted the event and presented a Dagomba dance from Ghana. They also demonstrated the Tora, a dance characterized by bumping buttocks.

Kera Washington, the director of Wellesley's Yanvalou troupe, showed the Vodun dance from Haiti, which was accompanied by the Yanvalou's drummers and lead dancer Moira Pulitzer-Kennedy. Lamine Tour‚, the co-founder and co-director of MIT's Rambax, led the groups in Sabar, a dance and drum tradition from Senegal.

The founder and director of Kiniwe since 1979, Locke noted that the study of African dance is becoming increasingly popular among students. "The idea was to have students at different colleges and universities around Boston realize that they are not alone, and partly to demonstrate that African music and dance is part of the legitimate curriculum of study," he said.

The Kiniwe performance group is composed of students from two of Locke's classes. The students in these classes, which are listed as "African Music Ensemble" and "African Dance," participate in an active learning process which teaches them several traditional West African dances and drumming. Students learn about the cultural importance of each dance.

Wellesley's West African drum and dance ensemble, Yanvalou has a similar mission. Co-President Moira Pulitzer-Kennedy, a senior and dancer for the troupe, said that Yanvalou focuses on the African Diaspora as it exists in Haiti and Brazil, and the dance is portrayed in a folkloric context rather than a religious one. Yanvalou is the name of a rhythm, dance, and song.

"It is a very spiritual rhythm," Pulitzer-Kennedy said, while wearing the traditional all-white dress of the dance. "We are not doing it in the religious context but it does have significance. It incorporates reverence for the earth and the spirit realm."

Students from Tufts and other colleges participated in the open workshop held on Saturday afternoon. Marco Brun del Re, a student from The Berklee School of Music, saw a flyer for the event and decided to visit campus to participate in it. He remarked, "As far as African music goes, I find it to be very spiritual, and it taps into something within you."

Kaplan, a co-president of Yanvalou and a drummer in the troupe, expressed her enthusiasm for the event, observing that culture shows combine many different cultures which are often unrelated. "It's exciting to perform with other college African dance groups," she said.