lamba

I (along with 4 other American students and 1 ex-pat) decided to take African dance lessons at the Cultural Center of Yoff. So, 2 days ago, Friday, we had our first lesson and learned how to dance la lamba. Our teacher is a tall man with a fluid, balletic (is that even a word?) body, awful teeth, and a wardrobe of traditional African clothes plus t-shirts that say things like "I love NY" (he's a bit of an enigma). The dance itself is counted out in beats of 4, and our teacher sang the drum instead of playing it - he makes a very convincing drum beat. The dance is simple and has four variations, each variant marked by the change of the drum beat. There's a lot of arm swinging, flat-footed stomping, clapping and head tossing and it's all very satisfying after sitting in lecture all day. After our lesson, we formed a circle, held hands and hummed traditional chants with our teacher. Even though I felt a little self-conscious and ridiculous at first, I'm definately glad I decided to go. I have since decided that being self-conscious here really isn't worth the effort since I'm a spectacle no matter what, so from now on I'm going to dance la lamba and sing all I want.