Fela! Cast Members Teach Howard University Dance Class

Do the cast members of the hit broadway musical Fela! ever get  a breather? Even while on tour with the show, many of them take time out to do work in the community. US-based Life Giver Entertainment has been sponsoring a tour of master workshops and dance classes run by some of the cast members as they go from city to city. Having just left Washington, DC, the show is now on a week-long run in Atlanta, and they are heading to Connecticut next week. Afrofusion TV was able to catch two of the cast members as they ran a workshop at Howard University’s Dance Studio in Washington, DC. As djembe drummer Talu Green kept the rhythm going with his hands, Guinean dancer and instructor Ismael Kouyaté led the class through some basic West African dance steps and sequences. Talu Green, who travelled with the Broadway cast to Nigeria this past April 2011, explained to us the experience of performing for thousands of Nigerian fans at the shrine of Femi Kuti, Fela’s son and heir apparent. And Ismael, who also teaches dance for a living, talked about the joy of sharing his art with students of all nationalities. If you haven’t seen the show yet, you still have multiple chances. This is actually a great week for all things Fela; his birthday falls on Friday October 14. In Nigeria, there’s a super celebration going on: the original Felabration, a weeklong fête of concerts, workshops and other activities in and around the shrine. But on the actual day of his birthday, the Felabration goes worldwide; from Italy, London, Paris and Birmingham, to venues in the US – from New York City to Oakland, from DC to Atlanta. So if you can’t catch the actual show, you can still experience some sort of Felabration. Could be a party. But perhaps even better, a master class from one of the masters. For more on these workshops, check out Life Giver Entertainment’s Facebook page. You can watch a promo for Fela! the musical after the jump. Bless…

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• Bill T. Jones Takes Broadway Hit ‘Fela!’ On Tour (npr.org)

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