AFRICAN DANCE HITS

When you think of dance, you expect to find people jumping about to blaring pop music and thumping stereos, or prancing around in tutus for ballet but today we saw something totally amazing! When we first walked into the hall, we couldn't believe our eyes. We met a man called 'Rubba' who came from Jamaica, who is the African dance instructor. We also met George, a professional drummer and dancer who originates from Ghana. Our first impressions of the African visitors were that they are very friendly and affectionate towards each other. We spoke to a few students and teachers about what they thought. "Pretty good so far", "different", "Lot of effort and enthusiasm". So, overall, everybody was enjoying it so far.

The dancing was also quite unexpected and unusual and we could see how the dancers needed to be flexible and fit. After observing some groovy dance techniques in the hall, we paid a visit to the gym, to discover the importance of African music. We learnt that there couldn't be any African dance without music. Drums play a big part in African music (take a peek at the monster drums in the hall if you need convincing!) and each drum rhythm has its own meaning, story or moral. Also the rhythm and body language of a person when they dance can tell a lot about their personality, according to Africans.We spoke to a teacher who said she had been to many places in Africa, in cluding Uganda, Tunisia and Egypt. Although she has been to these places,, she has never experienced African dance before. Later we had the chance to speak to George, the professional African drummer. We asked him what the aim of the day was and his response was "to teach rhythmic dance and drumming". He said that all African dances use 'call and response'. George used to travel around schools and 'strut his stuff' on the drum and occasionally dances as well, but now he does it voluntarily. 'Rubba' on the other hand likes to do more of the dancing.

This morning we visited a year 7 music workshop run by 'Ladi' Aganga Willims, ('Ladi' for short), an African musician. As we walked into the music room what we heard was completely different from any normal music lesson. 'Ladi' was sitting in front of the class talking to the group about his childhood. As we spoke to him he told us of his inspiration since childhood to play music. Interestingly, his family detested music and despised the fact that he might take up music as a profession. When he bought his first guitar he had to hide it from his parents! He said "music was so frowned upon that I had to hide it." However, his parents' disapproval made him love music even more.

When we asked him about the importance of music in his life, he told us that he uses it as a way to express himself. He uses music to let out his inner soul. The whole class seemed to be captivated by his stories. He is a natural orator and the way he spoke to the class showed his love of music. He really wants to share it with other people. We look forward to hearing more from him during the days ahead.