Explore the heart of all West African musical traditions: the drum.
Learn to play the many parts of djembe, doundoun, songbas and kenkenes
with Vado Diomande, life-long drummer, drum-maker and repairer. Learn
to play accompaniment lines to Kookoo, Temate, Katana, Bolohi, N'Goron
and more as you build up to playing lead drum. Growing up in the rich
musical culture of West Africa, Vado learned both dance and drum at an
early age. Vado’s wealth of knowledge demonstrates the fascinating
patterns and rich tapestries of Ivory Coast drumming. Master dancer,
teacher, choreographer and drummer Vado Diomande was initiated as a
youth to be the keeper of the sacred mask stilt-dance for his village
in the Ivory Coast.*DRUM RENTAL $2 AT THE DOOR
Vado has danced since the age of four, learning the dance and drum
traditions of his Mahouka people. At an early age, he was initiated
into becoming the keeper of the sacred mask dance on stilts,
Gue-Pelou. This distinction brought him to the Ballet National de Cote
d'Ivoire, where he became a principal dancer for more than 15 years.
Vado learned over 60 ethnic dance and drumming traditions from the
Ivory Coast and other West African countries. His repertoire elevated
his career to eventually choreographing and touring extensively
throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. In 1989 he established
L'Ensemble Kokiegna d'Abidjan, which has resided in New York City as
the Kotchegna Dance Company since 1994. In Vado’s native language
Mahou, ’kotchegna’ means messenger. His troupe’s goal is to
inspire joy and understanding through the power of dance and drum,
promoting the exchange of culture worldwide. He continues to
strengthen his experience as a choreographer, artistic director,
teacher and performer. He also takes part in many educational programs
for children in New York City schools and beyond. For more
information, go to www.kotchegna.com.
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17/07/2020 Last update