The sounds of Africa echoed through the halls of Tri-Cities High School this weekend as dancers and drummers from across the continent gathered for the 16th Annual Atlanta African Dance and Drum Festival, a three-day celebration of the region’s culture.
The festival, which began on Friday, July 25, runs through Sunday, July 26, and features workshops led by instructors from Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Angola, drawing both seasoned performers and newcomers to African traditions. The festival was founded 17 years ago by Aiyetoro Frazier of the Afrikan Djeli Cultural Institute.
“I started this just to provide an opportunity for drummers and dancers to expand their learning, provide a chance for people to witness production,” said Frazier, who has put on the festival every year except for 2020 due to COVID-19. “It was an extension of a space that I had where we had various classes. Then beyond just offering classes for local students, we also wanted to do something to offer people who could travel as well.”
Among the featured instructors is Djeneba Sako, 57, a Mali native who has become a fixture at the festival since first attending in 2003. Sako, who originally came to the United States in July 2000 to teach at the University of Colorado Boulder, now travels annually from Colorado to lead workshops in traditional Malian dance…