The News (New Glasgow)

‘Nothing but that moment’

Maritime Centre for African Dance gets library group on their feet

- BY KEVIN ADSHADE

Mufaro Chakabuda instructed people to check their idea of what they think Africa is at the door.

“Come in with a clean slate,” she said.

Chakabuda, founder of the Maritime Centre for African Dance, brought a little African culture to the community room at the New Glasgow Library on Saturday. She demonstrat­ed different types of dances, rooted in various countries on the continent of Africa, and was accompanie­d by percussion­ist Andrew Dahms.

“We’re going to make this room a little warmer,” she said, as she urged the roughly 40 people in attendance – some of them seniors, others young children – to rise to their feet and join her in dance.

With her big smile and enthusiast­ic approach to dancing, Chakabuda owned the room, smiling as everyone joined in with her, eager to soak up the cultural experience. She told them of how the continent of Africa – comprised of 54 countries – isn’t all what you see on TV; Africa has huge modern cities, and yet, there are also villages where the inhabitant­s haven’t strayed too far from their ancestors in terms of embracing the old customs. Canadian visitors, she said, are very much welcomed in Africa.

“I truly believe it’s because I am passionate about what I do – giving a realistic picture of what Africa is,” she explained.

Their inhibition­s gone, those in attendance were soon following Chakabuda’s lead, throwing themselves into their movements.

“I think it’s an environmen­t that we create with MCFAD – to allow a person get out of their comfort zone and say ‘it’s okay.’ In that moment – the moment you are dancing –there is nothing but that moment.”

‘Music is a gift’

“Music is a gift that is there for you,” Dahms said, after giving a brief talk about the origins of the djembe, a traditiona­l African drum played with bare hands and covered with goatskin. This particular drum, he explained, doesn’t do well in the cold weather, and must be kept warm.

Players of the instrument, he added, often rub the top of the drum with their hands before playing, in order to warm it up. “It makes the sound richer,” he said.

According to Chakabuda, traditiona­l drums in Africa were used not merely for entertainm­ent purposes, but to warn neighbouri­ng villagers of pending war, or the close proximity of ‘slave-raiders.’

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