From Guinea Girl to Sabar Queen

Impromptu dance lessons at Mesa's house


Well, all I can say is, it will be a long time before I'm even a Sabar princess, let alone a queen. I've been, shall we say, quite resistant to the whole shift to Sabar, even though my friends have 100% faith that I can get it! But, I do miss my Guinea dance!
Noah and I attended our first big Sabar party in Medina (Dakar) our first weekend here. It was quite a spectacle! The drumming was truly off the hook! There was both djembe and sabar drumming and dancing. There were a number of Toubabs (white folks, as the Senegalese so endearingly call us) who jumped up and danced-not me!! The next weekend there was a smaller party in our neighborhood, which was geared more for the young kids, mostly girls. Holy moly, what amazing dancers these kids are! This time it was only Sabar. I kept encouraging Noah to jump in and do a solo, but he was being shy. Because we were the only foreigners at this party, we stood out much more and the drummers weren't going to let us go without dancing for them. So as they saw us starting to leave, they continued playing and followed us. Now we were outside the circle. I certainly was not about to do a Sabar solo, since I don't know one Sabar move, but luckily Noah came through and saved us both. The crown went crazy as Noah danced. Something happened after that moment because since then, Noah hasn't stopped dancing. He did two more solos at that party and has participated fully in the two dance classes that we've had so far. Not only that, but he practices the steps constantly and remembers all the choreography!
We dance with our friend, Pap Ba, at his house in the courtyard under two huge mango trees. The trees shade us from the sun when it is hot and protect us from the water when it rains. His sisters and mother are teaching me Wolof.
He dances with a local company, whose director, Mesa, lives across the street from us. For those of you who know Papa Ladji Camara, they are contemporaries. Mesa is quite well known and an incredible drummer, as are his sons. It's great because all of the artists hang out at their house, drinking tea all night, so there are always people around. Malong Bayo is married to one of Mesa's daughters and his house is in our neighborhood as well.
Yesterday, I went to watch the repetition (rehearsal) at the cultural center, which is a ten minute walk from our house. The acoustics are terrible, it's beyond hot and they dance on a concrete floor, but they have huge smiles on their faces and they have a great time! They danced all djembe yesterday; Wollosodon, Djaa, Dundunba (with a little Sonsornet "inside"). After they all did their Dundunba solos, they grabbed me and pulled me in. This time I danced-no mini-ballet, just a couple of steps. It was fun and they were all soooooo happy to finally see me dance!