Lots has happened out here in Guadalajara. But first... how is it already October?! Wow, I'm coming up on 3 months out here, but I swear I just got here.
Anyway, one of the highlights of the past few weeks was the taller de Danza Africana con Mariama! Now, as I've mentioned before, there is a huge Danza Africana scene here in Mexico. En serio.... HUGE. And, they are really into special workshops. Since I have been in Guadalajara, there have been 3 different Danza Africana workshops from 3 different native (of Africa) dancers.
Mariama taught at the Festival I went to in el bosque de Xalapa. This time around, however, was much more intimate, with less people. Mariama is from Conakry, Guinea. She currently lives in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and spent the past few months traveling around Mexico, teaching week long workshops from city to city. what a freakin' life, right?! This woman is amazing- her dancing, her thrill for life, and energy. I just adore her.
Each class was filled with crazy energy, jumps, live drumming (from the afro-drumming enthusiasts of Guadalajara, ofcourse), and the head tossing, hair flinging moves that I LOVE. We did different dances and rhythms each class.... one of my favorites being "Sorsonet." It is a dance that is performed after the harvest by the Baga people of Guinea. This video is a clip I found on the internet... not an actual video of us.
After the last class, we all headed out to Zapopan to dance in the center... yes, live drumming and all... dancing for the Mexican folk out enjoying their saturday night. Awesome good times... then the rain hit like wooooah! In spite of the maguage barrier, Mariama and I got along great, talking about the dances of Brazil and how much we LOVE that culture and flava of that country. We communicated pretty well, between spanish and french. But when it came time for her to ask me to translate... not even close. ha! Soon enough, my brain just wasn't ready. Great times, great week, awesome dancing!
On a side note- Mi familia de Guadalajara is amazing. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I live in a pretty international house- 1 Mexican (diego), 1 Swede (Sanna), 1 frenchie (Juanito), and 1 American (me). Our convos go from english, to french, to spanish... and then back again. Time with them has made home feel a bit closer.
Juanito not pictured... that taller Mexican is our friend, Omar.
And tonight... Salsa class a La Mutualista!! But more on that later...!
XO- V
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