Kùlú Mèlé in Africa

Dear friends,

Please join us next Wednesday, January 21st, from 6 – 8 PM to hear stories about the recent 2-week trip to Guinea taken by members of the Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum ensemble. They will talk about their adventures, their study with master artists Mariama Touré, and M’Bemba Bangoura, internationally recognized performers of traditional Guinea drumming and dance. And they will talk about the new dance they are working on. Welcome them home and get a first-hand view of what was a life-changing trip for many. Hear about how these local artists continue to school themselves in traditional culture, making it accessible to a new generation.

Kulu Mele: Travel Stories
January 21
6 – 8 PM
FREE
Philadelphia Folklore Project
735 S. 50th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19143
215.726.1106

www.folkloreproject.org

By Merilyn Jackson
For The Inquirer

‘Mission accomplished,” Dorothy Wilkie announced last month when she and her company returned to Philadelphia from a two-week dance residency in the West African nation of Guinea.

The mission had been to acquire new choreography for Kùlú Mèlé African Dance & Drum Ensemble, which Wilkie directs. But in Guinea, where temperatures were high and political tensions higher, company members also had their eyes opened, their artistic and cultural horizons expanded and – with one exception – just missed experiencing a coup.

The trip, a dream of more than seven years, had begun early Dec. 1 with a dozen company members assembled in the luggage-filled living room of Wilkie’s East Oak Lane home, excitedly awaiting the bus to their Royal Air Maroc flight from Kennedy International Airport. Continue Reading »