Geryunant, a retreat center in southern Vermont, offering Focusing, artistic expression and healing in nature.

Dance Camp in Abene, Senegal

Dates: December 2010 through February 2011

“This man of light” in the following poem refers to  Caro Diallo of Senegal, West Africa. Written by a student after taking a dance class with Caro in September 2008 at Landmark College, Putney, Vermont, the poem movingly expresses the profound effects of Caro’s teaching and dance on a young American man.  Caro had just completed his annual teaching at the Abene African Dance Festival in Putney and Brattleboro, Vermont.

Light

This man's movements were as vibrant and dynamic as the clothes he wore.
A man who lived with dance came from a country poorer than mine.
As I danced behind him, I realized how stoic my movements were.

Something is awakened.
My breathing becomes that of an animal
I am slipping between the borders of civilization and something primal.
As hard as the sweat tries to cool my face, I feel a burning energy
as the drums beckon the spirits to  appear.

It’s as though my inner animals are trying to shatter the castle walls I have built
upon the foundations of manners, modesty, sobriety, and withdrawal from socialization.
They had never fought so desperately as when I  was trying to mimic his movements.

This man of light is trying to help me find the happiness I had tucked away years ago,
fearing ridicule from peers. There was no need to be ridiculed.
No one  is here to judge me.
No reason to be embarrassed.

Landmark helped me find confidence, a friend helped me find courage,
but this man gave me the one thing this society and my religion
gave me barely a microgram of.

This man was giving us the gift of joy.

Dancing
Caro Diallo teaches traditional dances of West Africa, in djembe and sabar rhythms, accompanied by experienced drummers and dancers from his company, Black Soofa. The dances taught, each in a choreography of Caro’s creation, vary from year to year.

Caro teaches two two-hour classes daily, one in the morning and the second in the late afternoon. Classes take place in the sandy arena in the camp or on the beach. Beginners, as well as more advanced students, are welcome. All levels are accommodated.

See the Dance Camp photo gallery.

Drumming
Experienced Black Soofa drummers teach a two-hour drum class each weekday. Rhythm, the Senegalese leader Leopold Sedar Senghor once noted, is “the architecture of the being, the dynamism that gives one form, the rhythm of the waves one emits towards others, the expression of vital force.”

Workshop Location
Abene (meaning “place where good will be encountered”) is a small village in the Casamance region in the south of Senegal. In Caro’s camp, just a five minute walk from a beautiful beach, guests live in pretty round huts. All rooms have either two single beds or one double bed. African cooks prepare delicious meals.

Excursions
Guests can spend a weekend in the city of Ziguinchor. Sometimes the timing is such that they can participate in a sabar festival. Dance students appear in a show in the city attended by hundreds of Africans who cheer encouragingly, appreciating the efforts Europeans and Americans make to learn their dances.

Various excursions can be arranged depending on the interests of guests: visits to villages, markets, festivals, carnival events, music and dance spectacles, concerts; trips in dug-outs or canoes to mangrove swamps or bird islands.

Dates
December 2010 through February 2011. Stay for all or any portion of that time.

Getting there
Take a flight to Dakar, Senegal. We will advise with more details when you call or register.

Costs
Course is $460 per week per person if booked on or before October 30, 2010. After that date, the fee is $520 per week. This includes all dance and drum classes, accommodation (double occupancy with a central bath house) and three meals per day. Superior accommodation with private bath: $610/week. Single room with private bath: $680/week. Round-trip transport between airport and dance camp: $70.

Further information and registration
In Europe:

Olivia: 079 291 6136
kurszh@carodiallo.com

Caro Diallo 011 41 78 31 78 51 4
http://www.carodiallo.com/

In the U.S.A.: Gena Corea 802-257-3099
genovefa@sover.net

Further courses and workshops