African Queens Dance Company

This year we showed up and showed out! Even in the midst of great trials, our people are resourceful, spirited and creative! Continue to let your CREATIVITY soar this year, in business, in your home, with your hands, in your communities! The best is yet to come.

Let's do the Buy Black Challenge y'all! Find and support a black business today and watch our COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS go to work!

Let us continue, in the new year, to take care of our own. Let us take the COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY of maintaining the communities where we live and do business. Let's start policing our own neighborhoods. Let's be there for our women, our children and our elders.

Once you are truly determined to do a thing, nothing or no one can stop you! Start that business! Take that class! Learn that new thing you've always wanted to learn! Let your SELF DETERMINATION drive you to greatness!

Let us remember to strengthen the bonds of our family, friends and community this season and always. Our UNITY is our most valuable asset!

We are happy to continue shining a light on Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists and the artists in this program. Today we highlight the work of Naomi Diouf. Naomi ...Gedo Diouf, known in her community as Mama Naomi, is an expert in West African dance, history, costume, song, and culture. Her given name Gedo, is reminiscent of a mask dance to honor the spiritual world. She grew up in Monrovia, Liberia, where her family belonged to the Grebo -- also known as Glebo-- ethnic group (a subgroup of the Kru community) and her father served as a government official. When she was six years old, she attended one of her father’s large gatherings in which Grebo dancers performed a customary ritualistic war dance. The performers’ movements, costumes, and passion inspired her to learn Liberian dances. She trained at the Kendeja Cultural Center for Indigenous Performers, studying with prominent dancers and musicians from Liberia and many other West African nations. Her study of various dance styles led her to research dance forms from around the world. Mama Naomi is the artistic director of Diamano Coura West African Dance Company in Oakland, CA, founded in 1975 by her husband Dr. Zakarya Sao Diouf. Diamano Coura means those who bring the message in Wolof, a Senegalese language. She aims to preserve West African dance and introduce it to new audiences through performances and her work in schools. Mama Naomi shares, In Africa, dance is a part of everyday life and is used to mark life’s transitions, to heal, to tell a story, or for pure enjoyment. Unlike many forms of Western dance, African dance can be performed by all members of the community, from absolute beginner to expert. In addition to her own company, she has choreographed works for many other dance companies, including a consultancy on the classical/African fusion choreography and music of Val Caniparoli’s work Lamberena, which has been performed by more than 20 ballet companies. She is an advocate of arts-in-education and has taught West African dance in schools throughout California and abroad. To learn more about Naomi and her work, visit diamanocoura.org. Photos by RJ Muna, Gregory Bartning, and Crystal Birns.

TODAY at 3pm is the Kickoff of #Makinu_UnityHealingandConnectionThroughDance, amazing dance and drum offerings for youth and families in East Palo Alto. This FR...EE program includes both virtual and outdoor (social-distance observed) programming in the parks. It is made possible through City of East Palo Alto's 2020 Summer Park Activation program with generous support from Silicon Valley Community Foundation's #DonorCirclefortheArts! Many thanks to #Makinu community partners Girls to Women, BottleTree Culture, Fua Dia Congo and Redtone Records. For more info or a link to register, send me an inbox or email [email protected]. Matondo (Thank you)! See more

Mosheh Milon, Sr., is known as a Master drummer, percussionist, folklorist and drum maker with over 40 years of experience. Born and raised in Chicago Illinois,... Mosheh demonstrated a natural inclination towards music even though he was not born into a family of musicians. He began playing drums at age 6 shortly after watching professional drummers perform at Daniel Haile Williams Elementary School in Chicago. He continued playing drums each year in school in a host of neighborhood bands. Following graduating high school from Paul Laurence Dumbar 1972, Mosheh began his life as a professional drummer and craftsman making, maintaining and repairing all types of drums (1972-present). He became a member of the Sun Drummer Company (1972-84) in Chicago and seized the opportunity to become a drummer for the Darlene Blackburn Dance Company DBDC (1972-80) in Chicago. It was with DBDC that he traveled to Lagos Nigeria, West Africa to perform at Festac 1977, the International Arts & Cultural Festival of the Diasporas. In 1974, Mosheh Co-founded Muntu Dance Theatre where he was also the Musical Director until 1984. He studied Music Theory and Composition at Malcolm X College (1973-74) and Kennedy King College (1975-76). Mosheh also drummed for Katherine Dunham’s African American Dance Company (1978-79) at Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis IL, under the direction of Mortham from Senegal, West Africa. He studied African Arts, Culture and Drumming (1986-2003) with the West African Jali Ba’s by traveling there yearly. Because of the frequency of his visits, he built a compound in Talinging Kujang The Gambia in West Africa 1995, to immerse in the culture and to contribute to the improvement of the community. The early 1990’s was a continuance of traveling and research in drumming styles in West Africa including South America and building the Bantaba Dance Ensemble. A documented portion of Mosheh’s research was a drummer on a study tour for the Spirits Dance & Masquerade Company (1998-99) in Chicago Illinois, traveling to Senegal, Gambia and Salvador, Brazil. After the tour he shared this experience as a teacher for the Arts and a Jazz Summer camp (1998-2002) in Oakland, California. Over the years, Mosheh has continued researching and studying various styles of drumming throughout West Africa in Dakar Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Gambia. Most recently, Mosheh culminates over 40 years of experience as a professional musician and Master drummer along with training from Mindful Schools to create therapeutic and cultural enrichment programs which are grounded in mindfulness practice and uses drumming as a springboard to develop discipline, life skills, confidence, pride, and a sense of accomplishment and community building. He served as the music consultant and instructor for Community Action Marin’s Child Development Program. This program serves 500 low income working families of which 98% are children of color, primarily Latino and African American. Mosheh has earned the title of Tan-Tan Jali Ba meaning a keeper of the oral traditions of African drums and culture. Serving as a Tan-Tan Jali Ba, Mosheh serves as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Bantaba Dance Ensemble in Oakland (1989-present). Bantaba takes its name from a Madingo term that describes the community circle and gathering place for all important events. #blackexcellence #mdt #muntudancetheatre #masterdrummer #drummer #percussionist #folklorist #drummaker #music #musician #traveler #teacher #founder #artisticdirector #bantabadanceensemble

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to OUR QUEEN Ms. Leslie Carter, founder & director of the African Queens!!! We love you, we thank you for over 30 years of dedication, sisterhood and DANCE!!! May the Creator keep you and bless you with many, many, many more! Asé

A blast from way back. Yonvalu, performed by a Queen. Video circa 1996

MLK Performance, Oakland CA. Queens workin' the stage!

Habari Gani? Ujamaa! You want a business, piece of property, plot of land, investment endeavor...if I want the same thing, why not pool our financial resources and make it happen together? One man can only do so much, together we can do magnificent things!

Habari Gani? Ujima! We are each born with a special gift, talent or skill. Let's use them collectively to build our communities and leave a legacy for our children.