African Dance at the YMCA
I have become a YMCA addict of late and my African Dance class on Saturday afternoons is feeding my addiction. My only dancing experience is whatever I pass off as dancing in the clubs and I was definitely put in my place. I am learning straight from professionals, and the instructors really push you hard from the beginning. There is no time to think, you just have to feel the music and go with it. The class is accompanied each week by a drum line of four to eight drummers. You can’t help but be drawn into the seductive beats and moves. The Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) makes it possible to bring in dancers from all over the world to teach. Last week, a dancer from the National Ballet of Guinea was our guest instructor. It is strange learning a dance from a culture that I did not grow up in, but it is also interesting to see the roots of what has become the norm in mainstream hip hop culture.
wow, i was just at the Y and never heard of those classes… totally cool…