Members of Gansango Music and Dance perform at Mountlake Terrace Library. (L-R): Deise Nascimento Costa, Etienne Cakpo, Boka Kouyate. (Photos by Nick Ng)Etienne Cakpo dances at the beginning of the Gansango Music and Dance event.Gansango Music and Dance Director Etienne Cakpo gets the audience involved with the dance.Deise Nascimento Costa performs a traditional West African dance with a touch of Brazilian flair.
Boka Kouyate plays the balafon, a xylophone-like instrument native to various West African cultures.Gansango Dance and Music Director Etienne Cakpo plays a flute.Dancer Deise Nascimento Costa greets an aspiring dancer.Many families attend the West African dance and music performance.Etienne Cakpo teaches the audience some of the moves of a West African dance.
As participants tapped their feet or bounced their heads to the percussion rhythms, three members of the Seattle group Gansango Music and Dance performed a variety of West African dance and music at the Mountlake Terrace Library Tuesday.
The performers included Gansango Director Etienne Cakpo from Cotonou, Benin; Deise Nascimento Costa from Teresina, Brazil; and Boka Kouyate from Kankan, Guinea.
Gansango Music and Dance fuses music and movement from the dance and music traditions of Benin, Ghana and Togo, among other countries.
For more information about their classes and performances, visit gansango.com.
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