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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us August 14, 2004 Dancing and drumming are a way of life By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings A love and curiosity of West African drumming led Ashland resident Leslie Green to head to Guinea for three weeks to learn first-hand about the country's drumming and dancing culture. Green has done drumming for the last 12 years for meditative purposes and began taking classes locally from Denbaya Inc., which teaches the drumming and dance of Guinea. It is associated with company Fore-Fote, a dance company from Guinea. The classes are taught by Ryan Camara, who heads the Fore-Fote School of Drum and Dance Northwest, which is based in Ashland. "Through Ryan, I learned that drumming is only half of it," said Green, a hairstylist at Luxe Submitted photo Dance instructor Fanta Camara leads a dance class on the island of Roume, off the coast of Guinea in March. Six Ashland residents participated in the three-week dance and drumming workshop. Salon. She said dancing and drumming go hand-in-hand for the people of Guinea. "You don't do one without the other, it's like apple pie with ice cream in America," she said. For Green, it was important to experience another culture. "The more we understand other parts of the world, the more we can get along," she said. "It's so crucially important, especially considering the world we now live in." This is the third year Camara has taken local residents to Guinea. This year, six Ashland residents attended the Fore-Fote school in March, held on the island of Roume, an hour's boatride off Guinea's coast. In Guinea, drumming and dancing is not just entertainment, but a way of life. Camara said there are drum rhythms and dances for practically every event in a person's life, including funerals, weddings and work. "People just don't go out on the street and play for the hell of it," he said. "Each song, each dance has a meaning to them. It's the music of the people in Guinea. It's an integral part of day-to-day life, like cooking or anything else you do on a daily basis." He said it's important for the people of Guinea to share the proper way to do their music with others. "It's important for them for those who want to learn to do it right," Camara said. "It's their culture and an extension of themselves. It has meaning to them. It's so important to them to make people understand what they are playing because you wouldn't want to play the rhythm for a funeral when at the beach." Camara began playing percussion at age 7 and trained in Ethnomusicology at the University of California Los Angeles. He went to Guinea as part of a specials studies research project. He was adopted by the Camara family of the Susu tribe and began a traditional internship with Fore-Fote founder M. Lamine Dibo Camara in 1997. Fore-Fote has made several CDs and have performed their music around the world. Camara said the Djembe drum, which is the drum used by the people Guinea, is a special instrument. "It is one of the most rhythmic and unique instruments around," he said. "You can make so many different sounds with it. It's limitless." The trip also brought an unexpected surprise for Green, when she met and feel in love with a man from Guinea named Pele. Before she left, she and Pele were married. Two other people from Ashland that were part of the trip, also met, fell in love and married Guineans. One of the couples met on a pervious trip and had a long-term relashionship. "If someone had said to me that I would go to Africa and fall in love, I wouldn't believe it," Green said. "It was just unbelievable, but it was love at first sight." Green said Pele plans to move to Ashland, but has to wait for more than a year before his application is reviewed. For Green, being part of the day-to-day life of the village she was at and to learn drumming and dancing in that environment was something she will never forget. "It was fabulous and heartwarming to be a part of this experience," she said. "To be able to learn first-hand what the music and dancing means to them was a very emotional experience. For me, it made me understand the importance of the music and dance I was doing." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams