An Update: The semester is over! We went on our final program trip at the beginning of the month (to the river delta region of Sine Saloum on the beautiful island of Mar Lodj). Then came exams, the re-entry session to prep students for counter-culture shock and advise them on how to leverage their study abroad experience in networking and interviews, and the farewell dinner. Now Serigne and I are just working on submitting grades and end of year reports before enjoying a nice long break.

In the mean time, I've met with an old acquaintance from my work with AWOMI in 2006, Coumba Toure, who is now the West Africa representative of Ashoka. For those who don't know, Ashoka is an international organization that supports social entrepreneurs through a fellowship program. It is Echoing Green's peer, but different in that it doesn't focus on start-ups and is more established internationally with regional offices and programs. Coumba came to speak to our students about gender issues and public health in Senegal (one of her many areas of expertise as activist, Ashoka rep, and childrens' book author). She mentioned that she is brainstorming around the best way to establish a new 'Youth Venture' program in the region that will fit well within the West African context and a) spread the word about social entrepreneurship; b) encourage young people to use social entrepreneurship as a way to fix local problems big and small; and c) provide support for them to do this. I jumped on board to help with brainstorming, research and yes - a little fundraising. Last week was Ashoka's regional fellow-selection period so one of their founding board members was in town. I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him, Coumba and an Ashoka intern, Simon, during which he entertained us with stories of narrowly escaping Suharto's secret police in Indonesia in the 60's due to his dissertation research on the entrenched corruption of the forestry industry and other equally exciting adventures. I'm looking forward to possibly working more with Coumba and the team to develop a network of young social entrepreneurs in the region. It's nice to know that now that I've been introduced to the world of social entrepreneurship, its lingo, its network, I can still continue to learn and contribute in various capacities anywhere in the world - thanks EG!

Another interesting update is that a couple of weeks ago I was invited to speak at the 25th anniversary of my old elementary school, the International School of Dakar (ISD). I'm sure it's pretty hard for most international schools to keep up with their alumni who are constantly in flux - so they were really excited to hear that I was in town. I must admit that I got really nervous about speaking - I'd been asked to speak once in the afternoon to the student and faculty/staff assembly and again in the evening to board members, parents and invited dignitaries. Mind you, in the evening I was to share the stage with the U.S. Ambassador and many of the parents are ambassadors themselves. But in the end all went well and I was thanked and complimented by students, teachers and parents, which was nice. It was amazing to see how much has changed and also to reunite with several of my former teachers who are still there. Overall it was a nice experience that allowed me to reminisce but also appreciate just how much I've grown since my own years at ISD.

Well I'm afraid I have to end this update because I have to run to a performance. This week is the Kaay Fecc international dance festival (kaay fecc means "Come Dance!" in Wolof). The cousin of a friend is performing in an hour and I promised to go watch. Last night's performance ranged from the incredible to the incomprehensible. Who knows what conceptual art delights tonight holds in store....

If you’ve ever wanted to come to Senegal, December 2009 is IT: Listen up everyone and listen well! In December 2009 Senegal is going to make history again by hosting the third edition of the World Festival of Black Arts (FESMAN III). The first edition of the festival was in Dakar in 1966 and featured world renowned artists. Here is a look into the history provided on the website:

FESMAN ’66 was in essence a thunderbolt: the Festival was the visible, tangible product of the years spent by Black peoples to win back their dignity. It delighted the audiences and critics who were sufficiently open to understand its importance. And this great event took place in an African land that had only recently been returned to African rule, in a creative explosion that brought together a range of disciplines and different generations.

Whether or not they were in favour at the time of the concept of Negritude in theory, the artists and intellectuals taking part in the Festival nevertheless kept their artistic promises. Where else, if not at the FESMAN, could one have then found both the American Negro Dance Company with Arthur Mitchell and Alvin Ailey, the great Bahia capoerists such as Mestre Pastrinha alongside the Senegalese National Ballet Ensemble? Where else could audiences have listened to the two great stars Duke Ellington and Marion Williams, along with Julie Akofa Akoussah and Bella Bellow, both unknowns at the time, and a Samba queen such as Clementina de Jesus? Under what other circumstances could the international literary jury members Aimé Césaire and Langston Hughes have awarded prizes to the writers in their thirties Tchicaya U’Tamsi (for Epitome) and Wole Soyinka (for The Road) and to the author of a first book published the previous year, entitled No Easy Walk to Freedom, by a certain Nelson Mandela?

FESMAN II, hosted in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977 was also a worldwide hit and a step forward in the creation and fortification of our most cherished black art institutions:

The programmes were once again exceptional. In the field of music in particular, the FESTAC caused a sensation, with not only a retrospectively impressive line-up (Stevie Wonder, Myriam Makeba, Gilberto Gil, King Sunny Ade, Gil Scott-Heron, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Sun Ra, mPongo Love, Carmen McRae, Pépé Felly, Caetano Veloso, Donald Byrd, Hoballadii Waaberi, Isaac Hayes, Les Amazones de Guinée, Randy Weston, Mighty Sparrow and Sidiki Diabaté to name just a few), but also an unprecedented impact from the South to the North of the planet, owing to the development of radio, records and cassettes…

The other disciplines were not to be overshadowed, particularly in the IN, which notably saw the confrontation of the first fruits of cultural development initiatives undertaken by African States during the first FESMAN (schools and centres for choreographic and theatre creation and the visual arts) as well as by independent companies and movements in the United States, Brazil and the Caribbean, which were also often facing difficulties in their respective countries to achieve recognition of their specific requirements and commitments (for example the Americans Angela Jackson and Barbara Ann Teer, the founder of the National Black Theater of Harlem, the Brazilian Abdias do Nascimento, etc.).

To read the full history of FESMAN click here. Watch excerpts from the famous William Greaves documentary on FESMAN ’66 and the Peter Gaunt documentary on FESMAN ’77.

FESMAN III will be held from December 1^st to December 21^st, 2009 in various venues throughout Dakar and the rest of the country. Although the full program has yet to be unveiled on the website, it has announced that several notable figures and artists do plan to attend: Manu Dibango, Césaria Evora, Danny Glover, Salif Keita, Tracy Reese, Youssou N’Dour, Sidney Poitier, Gilberto Gil...to name a few.

So I invite you all to come to Dakar anytime, but especially in December! The sooner you buy your tickets and confirm with me the better.

And if you’re not impressed by my invitation, here’s one from Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal:

I chose a theme of great relevance: “the African Renaissance.” Indeed, Motherland Africa has the duty to contribute to the emergence of a universal civilization, in which all cultures are represented in order to share and to grow. I am certain my Senegal, along with the Teranga (hospitality) of its citizens, will help in this regard. This meeting will be decisive. It will be a display of brilliance of Black World fertile creativity. It will also be a moral rebirth and a mobilization of all forces towards Africa’s development…

I call all Africans, all the sons and daughters of the Diaspora, all my fellow citizens, all the partners that are ready to walk by our side, all States, all international organizations, foundations, firms, etc. for a shining success for this Festival, and for the rise of a new Africa.

His Excellency Maître Abdoulaye Wade
President of the Republic of Senegal
FESMAN 2009 Honorary Committee President

Pirouettes & Throwbacks: Like many little girls, my childhood dream was to grow up and become a ballerina. I was pretty serious about this goal up until the age of...oh, maybe 13. I used to parade around the house in ballet slippers and touts-touts, was a ballerina for a Halloween for a few years, and took regular classes up until high school. I think what finally broke the dream for me, besides my waning interest in this relatively rigid classical form of dance, was the realization that this discipline seemed to demand me to be something I'm definitely not: a waif. Of course I had all the support of parents and family, but looking at ballet performances made it clear to me at the time that a certain body type is required. I soon grew out of my childhood fantasy, hung my point shoes as decorations, and took up modern and African dance classes where curves are celebrated.

Looking back, I realize that I just didn't really want to be a ballerina or else I wouldn't have given up so easily. It is hard but still possible to dance without the traditional 'ballerina body.' Even so, the impact of those traditional expectations is real. I have a new friend here, Morgan Ross, who is doing research on just that - the impact of the classical ballet body image on dancers of color, specifically in former French and British colonies. She is a Watson Fellow - for those of you who have not yet graduated from undergrad, this fellowship is amazing and you should all apply - and therefore has a year to travel to an unlimited amount of countries to research something she is passionate about. Since dance is a shared passion of ours, I decided to try to help and put her in touch with my former ballet teacher, a no-pain-no-gain stick-touting French woman named Madame Andree Lorenzetti.

Me and Madame Lorenzetti when I happened upon the dance studio in 2006. She looks exactly the same after 10 years and even now after 12 years...

This is how, earlier tonight, Morgan and I found ourselves in Madame Lorenzetti's adult ballet class, neither of us having taken ballet for some years now, dizzying ourselves with clumsy pirouettes and struggling through painful adagios. It's actually incredible how the dance language (a unique collection of French terms) has stuck with me after all these years. What is even more incredible is the fact that Madame Lorenzetti and a few people in the class totally remember me from when I was ten and still wearing my round, red-rimmed glasses....

I think I'm going to keep the classes up...they are definitely a workout and a challenge. Who knows? I might just be a ballerina after all - a much more well-rounded one, in every respect, than I could have imagined.

On another note....In defense of Salsa Dancing: Last night I danced the night away with friends to a live Orchestre Baobab performance. ("Ramadan's a-comin - got to get your fun in while you can" seems to be a popular sentiment right now). I'm not sure how familiar people are with Orchestre Baobab, but many of their classics have very latin-sounding rhythms (which, of course, are just cyclng back to their African roots). So the main way to dance the night away to Orchestre Baobab is to salsa with a partner. Now although dancing face to face with a partner does make one vulnerable to sweaty, hairy-chested, old French men approaching you out of nowhere, it also has many social and artistic advantages. To name a few: 1) Conversation: Conversation actually precedes physical contact in this alternate universe of dancing! Men actually approach women, offer a hand, and ask. From there the possibilities for further verbal exchange are limitless: "I'm Christian from Berkley. I work for a women's microfinance NGO.... I'm Courtney .... I have 53 students who arrived last week....etc." 2) Dance Steps: You can either know what you're doing ahead of time or learn as you go, following the lead of your partner (who you can see!). 3) Twirls and other fun surprises: If you are lucky to have a good partner who knows how to dance you will be twirled, dipped, and whipped around like it's nothing. Your partner can make you look good. Plus there is always room for little garnishes of hand movements, dramatic facial expressions and head tosses.

This, silly as it may seem to readers over 40, is my defense of a breed of social dancing that seems to be dying. Young people: Keep hope alive! Take a salsa class and download some Orchestre Baobab.

C'est tout.

Oh, and I totally have my parents to thank for teaching me what dancing with someone should be. Mom and Dad, thanks for that (and everything else too, of course).