Amadou is the general housekeeper. He's from the dogon region and came to Bamako to make money to send back to his family, sort of the way people move to NY to make it big. He learned Bamanankan when he got here and got a job with the Coulibalys. The running joke is that he can't pronounce his "p"s, so when we make popcorn will ask him what it is and he'll relpy "Fofcoin!" He's an incredibly sweet man who always brings us tea in the evenings. Though no one really knows how old he is...
Lagi is our Djembe teacher. They say if you hit the Djembe right it doesn't hurt, but I just can't believe that since you're essentially slapping your hand against a metal bar and letting your fingers whiplash into a drum. Plus, after feeling Laji's calloused hands, I'm pretty sure you just have to endure until it doesn't hurt anymore...
Allhasone Sissoko is the most recent addition to our Djembe team. He's an expert drummer who taught Lagi and Issa Coulibaly (our drummer back at Brown), among others, everything they know. He's incredibly skilled at following the dancers to make it easier to get the beat.
Madou is our Djoun djoun player and a really sweet guy. He's very patient when we try to learn, but once you express interest, he'll sit with you there for a good hour playing until you really get it in your head. There are three Madous but as of now I don't remember their last names... more pictures to come.
Djibi Coulibaly is Sedou's Nephew, who lives at Yeredon. He's pretty much the coolest cat in the world, seen here lounging on his motorcycle. He's about our age and comes to dance class with us and is always around to lighten the mood with some juvenile remark or tickle fest. As far as we know, "Djibi is bitch"
Sali Soumare is one of our dance instructors and is just about the fiercest woman I know. She teaches us Dununba, a dance named after the big bass drum that the drummers hit. She started dancing when she was 14 and apprenticed with Sedou Coulibaly for 15 years. She now choreographs contemporary and traditional dance for the local and regional phases of the Biennale competition, and has been commissioned to choreograph 250 dancers for the opening ceremony of Mali’s 50th anniversary of independence celebration.
Kadia "Mba" Coulibaly is another one of our dance teachers, who is teaching us "Sungurubanin," or the little whore dance! She has awesome dreads and an adorable daughter with the same name. Mba has been dancing traditional Mande dance since she was 10, and trained with Seydou Coulibaly and Sali in Seydou's dance troupe.
Seydou Coulibaly is the Co-owner of Yeredon center and our connection to so many fabulous Malian artists. He started dancing to impress a girl when he was little and has been dancing ever since. He has won many local and national awards, and trained Mba and Sali, as well as ran a successful dance troupe for many years. Now he assists in the Mande dance class at Brown as well as teaches his own class at the Cambridge learning center in Central Square, Cambridge on Wednesday nights.
Seykou Kamara is a professor of languages and Malian arts, culture, and history. He is the son of Seydou Camara, the famous hunter’s bard. He is a translator and interpreter for Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and the Malian development NGO CEK-Kalasaba (sponsored GTZ-Germany and SNV-Dutch). He teaches at Lycée Ibrahima Ly in Banankabougou, Bamako and for Antioch College’s abroad program. He is currently writing the memoire of his father, entitled The Shady Tree. He has been working with the Coulibalys and Yeredon students since 1996. He is also a singer, composer, and plays both the n’goni and kamalen n’goni. Most importantly, he is our guide and interpreter, and is loved by all, despite-of, or partly because of his dirty sense of humor, depending on who you ask.
This is our dance instructor Madou. I don't know that much about him except that he's an ill hip hop dancer, great at didadi, and is participating in the bienale celebration, choreographed by Sali. He's got a great sense of humor and loves to play tricks on us... Tricky Madou. That's what we'll call him.
This is the other Allhasone, also our dance instructor, though I don't know his last name, because even though he's Sali's brother, she's been married for quite some time. We'll call him sweet Allhasone. Sweet Allhasone is also dancing in the bienale and teaches us contemporary dance with style!
