Weinberg senior Bezawit Abate may smile when she’s happy, but it’s more likely you’ll find her dancing.
“I grew up in Ethiopia, and for any special occasion — wedding holidays, proposals, any occasion that people are gathering — there’s always songs playing and there’s always dancing,” Abate said. “One thing about our culture, we express our happiness through dance.”
Abate is the president and choreographer of ELEL Dance Group, a dance team that specializes in Ethiopian and Eritrean traditional dances.
The club wasn’t recognized as an official group for several years and had to pause operations during COVID-19, Abate said. She joined the group in 2022, when it was revived by an upperclassman during Fall Quarter.
“I realized, ‘Oh, I used to do this when I was younger. I’d like to keep doing it,’” Abate said.
Abate said the group became an official club during her junior year and changed from Habesha Dancers, its previous name, to ELEL Dance Group.
As a choreographer, Abate is responsible for finding cultural songs from Ethiopia and Eritrea to dance to and teaching members the dance moves to each song.
Abate said spending time with the people in ELEL and dancing with them helps her de-stress from her classes and other responsibilities. She said the club is open to everyone and that many ELEL dancers are beginners.
“Practice can get hard sometimes, if we’re rushing for last minute requests, but at the end, you make so much bonding with people around you,” Abate said.
Weinberg sophomore and ELEL member Merry Tola said she grew up in Ethiopia but had never danced in a group before arriving at Northwestern.
She said she appreciates that ELEL gives her the opportunity to showcase her identity and spread awareness about Ethiopian culture.
“It’s just such a fun way of showing our culture and learning more about it, but then also having such a supportive community where we’re so loved and appreciated,” Tola said.
McCormick senior and ELEL treasurer Lucas Wesonga said because ELEL is a new club, it doesn’t have funds from previous years to rely on, so he frequently searches for grants to support the group’s needs.
ELEL Dance Group recently received $1,176 from the Associated Student Government, the highest allocation of funds given to a new student group this quarter.
Wesonga said he had done contemporary dance and hip hop in the past, but ELEL was his first experience with traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean dances. He said he enjoys being a part of the group because it’s an opportunity to express his creativity.
“If you know anything about dance, you know that it takes you out of your body,” Wesonga said. “You experience a vast range of emotions when you’re dancing, so it’s all those things that make it that outlet I need for my creativity.”
Many current members are seniors and want the group to continue to thrive after they graduate, Wesonga said. He said they hope the club will grow to a size comparable to Afrothunda Dance Troupe, another dance group on campus that performs African dance styles.
Wesonga said the club is working on attracting more members and building excitement around Ethiopian and Eritrean dances to reach that goal. He met many of his close friends through ELEL and likes the community he’s built with the team, he said.
“Just getting to be in practice with them and being goofy around them and just us messing around, it’s a really beautiful experience,” Wesonga said.
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