Élégba Folklore Society to Feature Master Artist, Yamoussa Camara at Dogwood Dell Performance

African dance is the root of all forms of movement that we know. African instrumentation is the root of all forms of music that we know. There are drum orchestras, like the djembe orchestra you will hear Thursday night, there are a variety of strings and wind instruments and there are mallet-played instruments like the one, known to the Manding as the balafon. A balafon was necessary to Mansa Musa’s court in the 12th century CE, and it is necessary now. We are honored that Yamoussa Camara, who is a master of the balafon, will be accompanying Élégba Folklore Society during our presentation “African Dance, Music & the Oral Tradition”, which will take place this Thursday, July 10 at 8:30p at the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater in Byrd Park.

Born in the village of Boke, Guinea, West Africa in 1966, Yamoussa Camara took to his drum at an early age. During his sixteen year association as first student then protege of Mohamed Kemoko Sano, choreographer and artistic director of both national companies, Djoliba and Les Ballets Africains, plus founder and director of Les Merveilles d’Afrique, Yamoussa had the distinction of being the youngest lead drummer in Les Ballets Africains. While with the national companies he toured Europe, Africa and the United States. His drum is featured on the CD’s Master’s of the Forest, Diya, Eh Allah, and both CD and video of Les Ballets Africains’ performance in England.

In 1995, Yamoussa immigrated to the United States. Since that time he has performed with numerous companies, including Wosa of Washington D.C. on their Taiwan Tour, an eclectic group of artists at S.O.B.™s in New York City, and a jazz ensemble in New Haven, CT. He taught drum and dance at Yale University for 10 years and has traveled the U.S. teaching, performing, choreographing and polishing presentations for various dance ensembles.

Yamoussa currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA where he teaches West African dance at Carnegie Mellon University, the African Drum Ensemble at the University of Pittsburgh, West African drumming at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination and West African Dance at Bodiography Center for Movement, He also teaches drum and dance workshops for children and adults, and performs with various ensembles in addition to his own ensemble Camara Drum and Dance.

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