The Keeper of Stories: Guinean Traditional Music for the Climate Crisis

Join Prospect Park Alliance for a concert featuring NEA Heritage Fellow, Sidiki Conde, and his Tokounou Ensemble presenting KAWOU. The performance uses a Kawou mask representing the ancestors, which gives the power of the past to the storyteller in the present through a transference of memory. Tokounou Ensemble uses Guinean environmental stewardship traditions to address the global climate crisis through song. This program was made possible with funds from NYSCA and The Center for Traditional Music and Dance.
About Tokounu Dance Company and Sidiki Conde:
Sidiki Conde is a dancer, drummer and singer from Guinea, West Africa. Sidiki lost the use of his legs at the age of 14 but this did not stop him from his dream of becoming a dancer. Sidiki has performed with the premier dance and music ensembles in Africa. He came to America in 1998 and formed Tokounou, whose music and dances chronicle Sidiki’s unique journey as an artist and celebrate the traditional arts of Guinea. Dance and music in Africa are community events where everyone participates and no one is excluded. Tokounou offer performances as well as mixed ability workshops in which participants will learn to sing and play African rhythms on djembe drums and other instruments, as well as traditional dances.