Marigold Presents
West African Dance Class
Led by Gabrielle Eggstein
Accompanied by Master Drummers Mamadou Lamine Thioub & Abdoulaye Thioub
Monday, November 11, 2024 11:00AM - 12:30PM OSU Memorial Union Room 13
Register FREE for OSU Students | Register $20 for Non-Students
“With one person, it's hard to see very far.
Two people, you can see a bit more.
But if you have a whole group of people around,
really caring…it helps you fulfill your purpose.”
Sobonfu Somé
About the Class
From Gabrielle Eggstein
We believe African dancing includes everything that a human being needs to stay healthy today on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. We will draw from other techniques used in Yoga and Nia in preparation for the dance with live drumming.
In our classes, we teach the basics of West African dance technique from Burkina Faso, Liberia and Senegal as well as its cultural and social significance. Using live drumming, participants will learn to dialog with the drums. Drumming clarifies the connection between various rhythms and dances.
The class will learn to appreciate the relationship between music and dance in the various cultures and countries involved, as well as the similarities between these dance traditions. In West African practice, for example, a great deal of communication is expressed through group dancing. Bringing joy and empowerment to the community through West African dance is one of our major goals.
The event has two slots:
The first part is an introduction to the origins, alignment, core work, posture in the body and foot work used in West African dance. We are learning about spiritual reflexology and the importance of feet and hands in African dance, connecting to the elements. We are getting the body ready to dance to West African music and into the feeling the rhythm and the relationship to the drums, preparing for the traditional dance.
We are accompanied by master drummers Mamadou Lamine Thioub and Abdoulaye Thioub from Senegal, who share the story and song about the traditional dance, we are experiencing as a group.
About the Teachers
Gabrielle Eggstein
Gabrielle's Journey with West African Dance
"Dance has always been my greatest passion in life. On St. Lucia island, in the Caribbean, I discovered my natural gift and danced with the local population on festivities. Elders encouraged me to continue: “It is beautiful your dance, don`t stop!”
In my early twenties I discovered West African dancing when I received my elementary teaching diploma in Switzerland.
We were asked to create a choreography three minutes long for a dance. At that time, I have not been accompanied by live drumming. I used a CD by Touré Kunda from Senegal.
A few years later, a teacher for traditional West African dance and drum from Burkina Faso, his name was Daouda Coulibaly, moved to my hometown Lucerne, Switzerland. With him I got the chance to study dance and drum privately and in groups for over ten years.
In 2002, Sobonfu Somé from Burkina Faso became my spiritual teacher. In 2007, I decided to go on a trip with Sobonfu visiting her beautiful tribe, the Dagara people, which became the most important trip of my life. Communicating through movement, I have been studying for so many years, I realized in dancing with the local people in the village, that it is possible to become fluent in a non-verbal language."
Abdoulaye Thioub
Abdoulaye Thioub hails from Senegal, West Africa. He is the son of Meissa Thioub, the Master Drummer and Director of the Ballet African Sangomar. Born into a long established Griot family of musicians, Abdoulaye inherited the tradition of drum and dance. He has been carrying on his family's music lineage since he was a small boy, performing with his father's company and, at age 7, with Biennal De Daker. A versatile artist, he also performed in film and with Ballet Diallo in Senegal.
As a teenager, Abdoulaye started teaching dance, drum, son and theater arts to students for cultural festivals. He choreographed for the company Jabooot Do Ouakum, winning third place in 1007 and second place in 2000 at the regional dance competition Oscar Des Vacance. In addition, he taught children in French schools from 2000 - 2003. Abdoulaye has been teaching and performing in the US since his arrival in 2009.
Mamadou Thioub
Mamadou Thioub is a master drummer and Griot from Dakar, Senegal. He is the son of Meissa Thioub, the Master Drummer and Director of the Ballet African Sangomar. For eight years, Mamadou was a featured performer with Ballet African Sangomar before immigrating to the United States. Mamdou and his brother Abdoulaye were raise din the tradition of the Griot; they are the storytellers of their people responsible for preserving the culture, passing history from one generation to the next.
In addition to performing and teaching with the Ballet African Sangomar, a the young age of 12 he founded and directed the children's group Maaj Daan, which won three consecutive trophies at cultural art competitions. A gifted teacher, he has participated in Artist in Residency programs throughout California and Oregon for 13 years.
