Clapping and dancing to the beat of African instruments, hundreds of J.X. Wilson Elementary students participated in an energetic, cultural performance by world-renowned Diamano Coura West African Dance Company.
The performance marked the Sonoma County Office of Education’s early kickoff of Black History Month and is part of its countywide effort to promote the historic and current contributions of different ethnic groups.
Diamano Coura’s leader, Naomi Diouf, engaged the students in between songs and dances, teaching them about different instruments, dance styles and the 54 countries in Africa, 16 of which are in West Africa.
The group’s members performed a variety of music and dances from West Africa, wearing colorful traditional clothing and making powerful sweeping movements to the beat of the drums.
Diamano Coura is an African arts nonprofit based at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland. The organization was founded in 1975 in San Jose with the goal of preserving, educating and fostering an appreciation for traditional West African music, dance, theater, and culture with the accurate depiction of African folklore from Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Liberia and Ivory Coast.