By Karina Martinez-CarterThe Daily Northwestern
As the sound of pounding drums resonated through the room, Abdoulaye Camara shook the dreadlocks out of his face and looked up with closed eyes and a smile, sweat dripping down his temples.
Camara, who grew up in the west African nation of Guinea and now resides in Sweden, guest taught an African drumming and dance class at Hemenway United Methodist Church, 933 Chicago Ave., on Saturday afternoon.
For the first hour and a half, about 10 people of different ages and races sat on folding chairs in a circle tapping and pounding djembes, or hand drums, clutched between their knees. Camara led them in different rhythms, each building upon the last one learned.
“Bitty bitty bitty bitty ba da da,” Camara shouted, with an extra emphasis on the final syllable.”That’s good, real good,” he said when they finished, the last pound still ringing through the room.
At 12:30 p.m., the lesson switched to dance. About 10 people participated, most of whom hadn’t participated in the drum lesson.
Camara taught them the traditional Yamama dance. In certain cultures, Yamama is a highly anticipated annual performance in which a village’s best dancers perform, said drumming instructor Tony Garrett, who helped coordinate Camara’s visit. For each lesson, Camara explained the traditions and history associated with each song and dance.
Nancy Graham-Betend, a resident of Rogers Park, took the drum lesson and participated in most of the dance lesson before tiring and joining the drummers who played for the dancers.
Graham-Betend said she appreciated Camara’s teaching style, which consisted of little verbal instruction.
“He taught really intuitively, and from here,” she said, putting her hand on her chest. “I enjoyed it tremendously. Here in the United States, we have to break everything down and show it with more explanation.”
While the lessons were open to people of all ages and levels, most of the participants had taken African drum or dance lessons before.
Nikolai Kanounnikov, also of Rogers Park, is part of a “drum circle” with Garrett that meets in Evanston. He began drumming four years ago when he took some workshops with master drummers who were visiting in Chicago, he said.
Kanounnikov said the free-flowing form and constant sharing of African drum rhythms is what captivated him at first.
“The rhythms have this inner beauty,” he said. “Once you learn them, they stay with you and don’t leave. You wake up at night with them in your head.”
Garrett took the drum lesson and then helped drum for the dancers afterward. He said he was happy with the turnout and how interested the participants were.
“We wanted to give everyone a taste of African culture and show how ingrained with each other the African drum and dance are,” he said. “Certain inflections match with the dancers. That’s the beauty – they’re like one.”
Camara teaches classes across the U.S. from April to July for his Allatantou Dance Co. and is from the Sousou ethnic group.
Camara, who wore a Bob Marley shirt and loose, patterned pants, said he enjoyed teaching Saturday’s group.
“They were great people and students,” he said. “I could see everybody smiling and the spirit coming to them. I teach to see that connection that people make.”
Reach Karina Martinez-Carter at [email protected].
