By Sanya Malhotra:
This year at Belmont High School, the administration decided to have a Diversity Day - rather than a Diversity Week - so that students could have the opportunity to choose their events. One of the sessions that many students found quite exciting and profound was Greg Coles’ "African and Latin Dance and Drum." Coles has been doing workshops like these full-time since 2005, still eager to find more and more places to spread his love for music and dance. His African and Latin Music workshop was an unforgettable experience for both BHS students and staff to open an eye into the beautiful culture of western Africa.
As the students entered in, he began the session by discussing the surprising similarities between African and Latin music; this is because Latin dance was heavily influenced by African tribal dance. For Coles specifically, his style of music originates from different parts of western Africa: Mali, Senegal, and Guinea. Following this, the students got the chance to try out a wide variety of African and Latin dancing.
He started off with the Latin dances, teaching the students the bachata, the cha-cha-cha dance, and salsa. The bachata was a simple 3-step dance, easy enough for the students to learn as some of them noted. Later on, he switched over to African dances, each with their own unique context and style. Coles taught the Coco, which is a farming dance with movements similar to that of a farmer, i.e. plowing fields, planting seeds, and harvesting crops. This was not some trivial imitation of a farmer’s work life, but actually had its own significance. These dances embodied the will of the African people to provide food for their tribe, no matter the circumstances. Coles also engaged the students by letting them have a dance-off, and everyone was thrilled to try out these new dances, though a little unfamiliar with them.
Another African dance Coles taught was the warrior tribal dance. This dance was full of energy, capturing the danger and excitement of a hunter looking for prey. Some of the actions included shooting a bow and arrow, being a lookout for a partner, and hunting with a rifle. All of the students felt a sort of thrill in evoking this hunter/warrior persona, quite common in some western African tribes.
Throughout the session, Coles was playing the drums with strong, accented rhythms along with the moves of the African and Latin dances. He was inspired to pursue drumming because he wanted to understand more about his own origins from Africa and explore African culture to new depths. Along with this, his culture gave him the chance to experience a community life filled with food, dancing, and music.
To end the session, the students learned a variety of African tribal songs. They had a simple melody, but each note that Coles sang for the students to repeat was filled with soul and life. Though it was in a foreign language, each of the students sang back the melodies with a surge of excitement. Coles hoped to leave each of the students a message about how to be an individual in your community. He said that one must participate in community building in order to support one another and create trust in one another.
When you learn to become an individual in your community, you understand the role you play in the world at large and become increasingly aware of the people around you.