Hello folks,
Thought I'd drop you a note to let those of you who like drum and dance (hmmm. anyone here?) know about an extraordinary opportunity up here in VT.
My friend and link to sanity in the town of Tamale, northern Ghana was a young dancer named Awal Alhassan. On top of his skills, he was a great teacher, jokester, and all around good guy. I hadn't seen him (and still haven't) since I left Ghana a few years back - that's usually the case, unfortunately.
However, by a weird coincidence I was online a few months back and voila! There he was on the web - he had married, moved to Seattle, and is teaching regularly there. WOW! It's been great to catch up with him - he really did help me a lot. He's the second guy in the video linked here - this was on my birthday in Tamale. Now you know what it's like to have West Africans sing Euro-Western ditties: youtube.com/watch
ANYWAY. His current website is here: awalalhassan.googlepages.com/ - you can see vids of his dance and Dagbamba drumming too.
I'm SO lucky, because we've worked it out so that Awal will be in residence here in Vermont (at St. Michael's College, where I teach) for 2 weeks, from April 11th - 24th!!! Yay! We'll be hosting a workshop weekend here and performing in two concerts, all of which are listed below. He will teach Dagbamba dance styles that I am pretty sure most of you haven't seen before, but which are used in circle-style just like we have around the fire. I will also be co-teaching Ghanaian drumming with him, both Dagbamba and Ewe styles.
To make it even better... those of you who were at SFF 07 will remember Johnny Scovel, who taught Haitian drum and played for the Haitian dance class. He is truly a remarkable and fun teacher, and a ton of folks insisted I tell them when Johnny came back out - so here you go, this is your warning! Johnny is scheduled to be out during that same time, teaching during the weekend workshop (Haitian drum/dance) and then playing in the concert on April 24th. I do hope you can make it.....
If any of you would like to come up for one or more of the dates here, or attend the classes I teach at St. Mike's where they will be teaching as guest artists, it'd be great to have you. I can help find lodging for a limited number of folks who want to come. Awal will be at my home, but we have room for a few more, and I can get crash space for others up in Burlington if given enough notice.
Please let me know asap if you intend to come - it'd be great to have you and see all of you again - and I can't express how rare and valuable this chance is to work with artists who aren't normally out in this part of the country. Space is limited due to the size of the dance studio on campus, but we have plenty o'room for drummers! Some drums will be available, more info will be sent out to those who are interested.
Here's the current schedule - subject to confirmation, as I'm still awaiting some info from the campus events coordinator:
1) April 12th: Concert appearance in the St. Michael's Fine Arts weekend with the Akoma Drummers and Awal Alhassan, 4:30pm, St. Michael's College - free (Ewe and Dagbamba music)
2) April 18th (evening) and 19th: (this MAY change to April 19-20 depending on the college's situation) - workshop weekend with Awal Alhassan and Johnny Scovel - classes will be for Dagbamba/Ewe and Haitian dance, and Ewe/Dagbamba drumming. $20 per workshop or you can do the whole weekend for $60.
3) April 15, 17, 22, and 24 (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm) you can attend classes at St. Michael's College that both Awal and Johnny are teaching for free, although we do request a small donation if you can spare it.
4) April 24th: the Akoma drummers in concert with Awal Alhassan and Johnny Scovel, featuring music of the Ewe, Ashante, and Dagbamba of Ghana, and Afro-Haitian drum traditions as well.
Please email me for more info - hope you can make it!
Cheers,
Joss
Thought I'd drop you a note to let those of you who like drum and dance (hmmm. anyone here?) know about an extraordinary opportunity up here in VT.
My friend and link to sanity in the town of Tamale, northern Ghana was a young dancer named Awal Alhassan. On top of his skills, he was a great teacher, jokester, and all around good guy. I hadn't seen him (and still haven't) since I left Ghana a few years back - that's usually the case, unfortunately.
However, by a weird coincidence I was online a few months back and voila! There he was on the web - he had married, moved to Seattle, and is teaching regularly there. WOW! It's been great to catch up with him - he really did help me a lot. He's the second guy in the video linked here - this was on my birthday in Tamale. Now you know what it's like to have West Africans sing Euro-Western ditties: youtube.com/watch
ANYWAY. His current website is here: awalalhassan.googlepages.com/ - you can see vids of his dance and Dagbamba drumming too.
I'm SO lucky, because we've worked it out so that Awal will be in residence here in Vermont (at St. Michael's College, where I teach) for 2 weeks, from April 11th - 24th!!! Yay! We'll be hosting a workshop weekend here and performing in two concerts, all of which are listed below. He will teach Dagbamba dance styles that I am pretty sure most of you haven't seen before, but which are used in circle-style just like we have around the fire. I will also be co-teaching Ghanaian drumming with him, both Dagbamba and Ewe styles.
To make it even better... those of you who were at SFF 07 will remember Johnny Scovel, who taught Haitian drum and played for the Haitian dance class. He is truly a remarkable and fun teacher, and a ton of folks insisted I tell them when Johnny came back out - so here you go, this is your warning! Johnny is scheduled to be out during that same time, teaching during the weekend workshop (Haitian drum/dance) and then playing in the concert on April 24th. I do hope you can make it.....
If any of you would like to come up for one or more of the dates here, or attend the classes I teach at St. Mike's where they will be teaching as guest artists, it'd be great to have you. I can help find lodging for a limited number of folks who want to come. Awal will be at my home, but we have room for a few more, and I can get crash space for others up in Burlington if given enough notice.
Please let me know asap if you intend to come - it'd be great to have you and see all of you again - and I can't express how rare and valuable this chance is to work with artists who aren't normally out in this part of the country. Space is limited due to the size of the dance studio on campus, but we have plenty o'room for drummers! Some drums will be available, more info will be sent out to those who are interested.
Here's the current schedule - subject to confirmation, as I'm still awaiting some info from the campus events coordinator:
1) April 12th: Concert appearance in the St. Michael's Fine Arts weekend with the Akoma Drummers and Awal Alhassan, 4:30pm, St. Michael's College - free (Ewe and Dagbamba music)
2) April 18th (evening) and 19th: (this MAY change to April 19-20 depending on the college's situation) - workshop weekend with Awal Alhassan and Johnny Scovel - classes will be for Dagbamba/Ewe and Haitian dance, and Ewe/Dagbamba drumming. $20 per workshop or you can do the whole weekend for $60.
3) April 15, 17, 22, and 24 (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm) you can attend classes at St. Michael's College that both Awal and Johnny are teaching for free, although we do request a small donation if you can spare it.
4) April 24th: the Akoma drummers in concert with Awal Alhassan and Johnny Scovel, featuring music of the Ewe, Ashante, and Dagbamba of Ghana, and Afro-Haitian drum traditions as well.
Please email me for more info - hope you can make it!
Cheers,
Joss
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