Black Business Spotlight: Ko-Thi Dance Company

WE’RE BACK NOW AT 1151. RHYTHM DANCE, MUSIC AND CULTURE. THOSE ARE JUST A FEW WORDS THAT DESCRIBE KOBE DANCE COMPANY. THAT’S SOME OF THE VIDEO THAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW, KOFI IS CELEBRATING 55 YEARS AND THEY STARTED RIGHT HERE IN THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE. THE WOMAN WHO STARTED IT ALL IS JOINING ME NOW HERE AT 11. AND WE ARE SO HONORED TO HAVE MAMA FERN JOINING US DURING OUR BLACK BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT. GOOD TO SEE YOU. WELL YEAH. GOOD TO HEAR YOU. I KNOW YOU CAN’T REALLY SEE ME, BUT WE COULD SEE YOU AND WE CAN HEAR YOU, SO THIS IS GREAT. TELL ME JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF KOFI DANCE COMPANY AND HOW IT CAME TO BE. WELL, WELL, I STARTED IT IN 1969. THIS IS AFTER I TOOK A SPECIAL TRIP TO GHANA, WEST AFRICA, AND HAD GONE TO ONE OF THE FORTS THAT WAS BUILT FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPORTING, UM, ENSLAVED AFRICANS TO THE NEW WORLD. UM, IT WAS CALLED AND IT’S STILL CALLED ELMINA CASTLE, A WORLD HERITAGE SITE. AND UM, THAT EXPERIENCE WAS QUITE PROFOUND. UM, LOOKING THROUGH THE THE WINDOW OF NO RETURN IN THE LAST VIEW THAT, UH, THOSE ENSLAVED AFRICANS WOULD HAVE HAD. AND THEN INTO THE HOLES OF THE SHIPS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. SO, UM, IN, IN, IN THAT EXPERIENCE, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIT DOWN ON THE COAST, ON THE BEACH, AND LOOK OUT AT THAT WATER AND JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT I WANTED TO DO AS AN ARTIST. I WAS STUDYING DANCE AT THE TIME, AND, UM, DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT WOULD BRIDGE THE GAP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC BETWEEN THE AFRICAN CULTURE AND AFRICAN AMERICANS. AND WHEREVER ELSE AFRICANS ENDED UP BE IT IN SOUTH AMERICA OR BRAZIL, OR IN THE CARIBBEAN. AND THAT WAS THE SEED THAT STARTED KOFI. AND HERE WE ARE, 55 YEARS LATER, AND KOFI CONTINUES TO PAVE THE WAY FOR OTHERS IN THE DANCE INDUSTRY. HOW DOES IT DO THAT? WELL, WELL, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT’S REALLY ALL ABOUT TRAINING. WE’RE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DANCE COMPANY IN THAT USUALLY THE FOUNDER OR HAS A VISION AND ARTISTIC VISION, AND THEN YOU START TO IMPLEMENT THAT VISION BY WORKING. YOU START OFF TEACHING, YOU BUILD AN AUDIENCE AND, AND, AND PEOPLE WHO COME TO TAKE CLASS AND STUDY WITH YOU. AND OUT OF THAT, I WAS. ABLE TO BUILD A TECHNIQUE. THE KHARKIV WARM UP THE CAULKER TECHNIQUE IN TERMS OF HOW DO YOU TAKE SOMEBODY WHO’S NEVER BEEN TO AFRICA BUT HAS AFRICAN ANCESTRY IN THEM? HOW DO YOU HELP CONNECT THEM TO THE CONTINENT THROUGH THE USE OF THE STUDY OF MUSIC, DANCE, SONG AND THEATER? SO YOU DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES AND TEACHING AND A TECHNIQUE, AND OUT OF THAT YOU ALSO ARE CHOREOGRAPHING AND YOU’RE CREATING AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IN THE COMPANY IS BRING OUR MASTER ARTISTS FROM THE CONTINENT OR THE CARIBBEAN WHO RESIDE IN THE UNITED STATES. SO THROUGH THE 55 YEARS, WE’VE HAD A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF TEACHERS THAT WE BRING THROUGH AND HAVE THEM CHOREOGRAPHED, PUT PIECES ON THE COMPANY. UM, AND SO IT JUST KIND OF SNOWBALLED FROM THAT. YEAH. AND ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW, WE’RE LOOKING AT SOME VIDEO OF A DANCE THAT I BELIEVE IS CALLED GOOMBAY. CAN YOU QUICKLY EXPLAIN WHAT GOOMBAY MEANS? YES. YEAH. WELL, GOOMBAY IS KIND OF A CELEBRATORY DANCE. UM, IT WAS ORIGINALLY TAUGHT TO US IN THE 80S BY A WOMAN, BY THE NAME OF RHONDA MOORMAN, WHO WAS ONE OF THE ARTISTIC DIRECTORS OF WHAT IS NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE CALLED THE INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN BALLET. AND THE GOOMBAY IS A DANCE THAT IS DONE TO CELEBRATE, LIKE AT A GIRL’S OR YOUNG WOMAN’S WEDDING. IT WOULD BE A DANCE THAT MAYBE IN TRADITION, THE WOMEN, THE YOUNG WOMEN WOULD DO. GOTCHA AT THE AT THE PARTY FOR THE FEMALE. SO, UM, BUT, UM, SO ANYWAY, IT’S A CELEBRATORY DANCE. GOTCHA. YOU HAVE MUCH TO CELEBRATE IN GUINEA, WEST AFRICA. YEAH, THERE IS MUCH TO CELEBRATE WITH. THE KOFI DANCE COMPANY. AND I KNOW THAT THERE IS A WAY FOR FOLKS TO SIGN UP FOR CLASSES, AND WE’RE GOING TO MAKE SURE TO POST THAT INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE. MAMA FERN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR

This post was originally published on this site