Precious Drop - African and Afro-Fusion Dance, Music & Theater
PRECIOUS DROP, directed by Lamine a recent transplant from Guinea, is an intricate tapestry of traditional and contemporary African dance theater that explores experiences of water blessings and water scarcity. Woven together by tales of Mami Wata, the venerated water serpent priestess, PRECIOUS DROP is an intimate look at our different cultural relationships to water, and the universal human concerns around the future of our water.
The production is greatly influenced by African, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Fusion music and culture and will feature local Bay Area artists Mohamed Lamine Bangoura, Amadou Diawara of Bu Falle Dance and Drum, and Vivien Bassaouamina of Santa Cruz who will be previewing his new collaborative work “Zou” with co-collaborator Laurel Fanya, and the renowned Tawanda muChinyakare of Oakland. Also featured are Jaara Dance and Drum members Baindu Conté-Coomber, Abagail Fritz and Jasmine Donaldson, and special guest artists Alhassane “Papin” Camara of Santa Fe, NM and Ibrahim Sylla of Eugene, OR.
When: Friday, February 3 at 8:00pm and Saturday, February 4 at 8:00pm
Where: CounterPULSE 1310 Mission Street @ 9th, San Francisco
Tickets: Advanced $15, Door $20
About the Director:
Lamine recently moved to the U.S. from Guinea, West Africa. Though Lamine is a decendent of Sousou and Malinke ancestors, he spent much of his life traveling throughout Western Africa to study music and enrich his understanding of the many cultures and ethnicities of his continent. Unity has thus become the marker of his artistic style, influenced by the diverse number of artists and teachers whom he’s worked with in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, among others.
About the Co-Producers:
Jaara Dance and Drum is San Francisco’s youngest (and only) traditional and contemporary African Arts Ensemble. The company is comprised of specialized performing artists whose talents include dance, spoken word, live music, and visuals arts in both digital and traditional media. Jaara is unique in it’s seamless blend of traditional and urban African styles with multidisciplinary mediums.