The West African Community Cultural Initiative, Badenya (literally, “Being of One Mother”), documented and presented the music, dance and poetry of Mandeng and Wolof immigrants from the countries of Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
Objectives
CTMD produced four major concerts of African music at major public venues including John Jay College, City Center, Teatro Heckscher at El Museo del Barrio and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The Badenya Festivals featured New York-based performers alongside major artists from overseas including the Senegalese sabar drummer/dancer Doudou N’Diaye Rose and the late South African singer Miriam Makeba. An earlier concert at the Brooklyn Museum in 1996 featured the Music and Dance Traditions of Ghana.
CTMD produced the CD Badenya: Manden Music in New York City which was released as part of the Global Beat of the Boroughs series on the Smithsonian Folkways label in 2002. The CCI enabled Kewulay Kamara to found the independent non-profit Organization of Badenya in America.
Impact
Nrutha Haramba Sara
A boundary-breaking dance traditional Sri Lankan dance showcase that tells stories of transmission and translation from ritual to stage, guru to student, and homeland to diaspora.
Related News & Articles
A Bridge of Hope: Sidiki Conde
If you have been following the work of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD), you probably know of Sidiki Conde, the dancer from Guinea and leader of the African music and dance troupe called Tokounou. If you have seen him perform, you won’t soon forget the marvel of his dancing on his hands. What…
Abdoulaye Diabate and Super Manden: West African Troubadours in New York
An 800-Year Tradition Super Manden is a collective of musicians based in New York City, who are dedicated to the performance and teaching of the Malinke oral tradition of Central West Africa known as Jaliya. Passed from generation to generation of hereditary musicians and storytellers, this tradition forms the basis for the larger Mandinka, or Manden…
Contributors
