Dance
continued from page 9
Collective. She said many of the
members are also part of a collective
called “Fob Kan,” a name that means
“sound of rhythm” in Malinke, the
language of Guinea and Mali.
The group of dancers hop and
swing their arms during the “sole”
dance, which is a dance for the rite
of passage for boys in Guinea, Fire
hawk said. She said the boys go
with the village elders into the
woods, and they play one rhythm
when the boy leaves the village and
another when he returns.
For girls, she said they do a
dance called “sorsener” for their
rite of passage.
West African dance “is probably
the most joyous, ecstatic dance ever
done,” Firehawk said. “It’s a con
nection between sky and earth.”
Firehawk said she completed her
studies of dance at the University of
Massachusetts and traveled among
the indigenous peoples of Guinea
and Mali for almost five months. She
said she intensely studied their dance
culture, a culture based on connect
ing with spirits through dance.
Although Islam dominates the re
gion, Firehawk said the dances had
elements of magic in them — the
“Ifs a super energetic and
expressive kind of dance. ”
Rachel Bonvillain
West African dance student
tribes called it “ju ju.” She said it
seemed like a kind of voodoo, but the
dance encompassed both the nega
tive and positive aspects of magic.
“We’re finally acknowledging
Africa for the richness that’s there,”
Firehawk said. “It’s been a long
time in coming.”
Rachel Bonvillain, one of the
dance students, said she drove from
Cottage Grove to attend the classes.
“It’s a super energetic and ex
pressive kind of dance,” she said.
Bonvillain said it’s easy to catch
on to the dance because Firehawk
explains and demonstrates each
step, first at a normal speed, then
breaking the step down into sim
pler parts for the students to learn.
Teri Page, another West African
dance student, said she enjoyed the
drum music.
West African dance “is really
unique from other dance classes be
cause of the live music,” she said.
Page said she enjoys the classes
because they are a fun, aerobic
workout.
“You get a high off it, because
you’re moving so much,” Bonvil
lain said.
Bonvillain said dancing to the
beat of the drums is inspiring and
powerful, and at the same time,
hard to explain.
“There’s something about the
drums,” she said.
E-mail reporter Jen West
at jenwest@dailyemerald.com.
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Rap
continued from page 9
“We’re not talking about mate
rialistic things like in the main
stream (hip-hop),” he said.
Riddlore said his music
comes from the ghetto, but it in
no way promotes the “gangsta”
lifestyle. Instead, he said he fo
cuses more on hip-hop style
and uses some positive mes
sages in his lyrics.
Firtel said all the artists per
forming in Friday’s show are in
dependent and sell their own al
bums. They don’t make huge
amounts of money, he said, but
they also don’t answer to anyone
but themselves.
“We don’t want anyone telling
us what we should do (with our
music),” Riddlore said. He said
he will be promoting his new al
bum, “Everything You Need to
Know to Make It Big,” which was
released Monday.
Riddlore, like many of the oth
er Los Angeles artists on the Af
terlife label, has never performed
in Oregon, but he said he be
lieves they will be well-received.
“We’ve got a lot of support in
Oregon,” Riddlore said.
Firtel said the response he has
received from people who have
heard about the concert is positive.
“People that listen to these
guys are super-stoked,” he said.
DCF Entertainment, Afterlife
Records and the Black Student
Union will team up again for this
April’s Black Arts Festival, fea
turing many of the same artists
from Friday’s concert, and
adding Aceyalone, Cypher 7,
Cotton Candy, Legion and
P.E.A.C.E. to the roster.
For those who miss the Eugene
performances, the artists will also
be performing at Portland’s Rose
land Theater on April 20.
E-mail reporter Jen West
atjenwest@dailyemerald.com.
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