Moussa Bolokada Conde

Bolokada is a master drummer from Kissidougou,Guinea, expert of Malinke rhythms, and one of the world's foremost djembefolas. He joined the Les Percussions de Guinée to replace the legendary Noumoudy Keïta as their lead drummer. He has traveled and performed in major venues all over the world since 1996 and was featured in the IMAX movie PULSE: a Stomp Odyssey. Since 2004, he has been performing and teaching in the United States. He has conducted percussion workshops in many cities in the US and Europe. He has released two musical CD's, Morowaya and Sankaran. He stars in the DVD M'bemba Fakoli: A Musical Journey Through Guinea and has released the djembe instructional DVD M'bara. He is the subject of an upcoming documentary, Bolokada Conde—Malinke Village Djembefola. He was awarded immigrant status with extraordinary ability in the arts in 2007. He is also the musical director and lead soloist of Ballet Waraba in North Carolina, Ballet Wassa-Wassa in Santa Cruz, California, and Les Percussion Malinke in the San Francisco Bay area.

Djibril Camara

Djibril Camara is from the Baga people, originally from Boke, Guinea in West Africa. He spent his childhood dancing and began his formal training at the National School in Guinea’s capital, Conakry. Djibril was a principal dancer and choreographer for the international touring company Ballet du Afrique Noir of Senegal, as well as Troupe Federale Conakry and Ballet Bougarabou for 17 years, traversing Europe and Africa. Eventually his talent brought him to the U.S. for Ballet du Afrique’s presentation of the Mandika Epic on notable stages such as New York City’s Kennedy Center. For the last ten years he has shared the love of his culture and high energy traditional dance across the U.S., choreographing, teaching, and performing.

& one friggin delighted organizer and dancer: Malena Amusa

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Malena Amusa is the daughter of a Nigerian community organizer and an African American nurse. For the past 10 years, she has traveled to Senegal, South Africa, India, and across America to report the news, train in African dance and music, and start two dance companies at Northwestern University and Columbia University in New York City where she gained her master’s in journalism. An international dancer, reporter, and founder of AddLife! Studio, Malena Amusa believes dance is a powerful form of journalism and education. And she is dedicated to bringing daring tales of legendary people to stage through African dance musicals that inspire and entertain. In her lively African dance workshops, Malena combines a sensational movement vocabulary with daring messages and interactive exercises to help people assert their intellect, creativity, and personality. She has had the delight of studying with such greats as Moustapha Bangoura, Habib Iddrisu, Funmilayo, DeBorah Ahmed, Mama Safia, Tiffany Scott, Sandella Malloy, Diadie Bathily, and Aida of Senegal.