Kulu Mele Events

Dance classes with Kulu Mele! (Note new schedule, beginning January 2007)

Afro-Cuban Dance Class - for all levels
Tuesday nights 7:30 PM - 9 PM
Cost: $10
Instructed by Dorothy Wilkie

Childrens' West African & Afro-Cuban Dance Class
Wednesday nights 7 PM - 8:30 PM
Cost: $5
Instructed by Mama Dottie (Dorothy Wilkie)

West African Dance Class
Friday nights 7 PM - 9 PM
Cost $10
Instructed by Angela Watson

Location: Lee Cultural Center
44th and Haverford (1 block from the El Stop at 46th and Market)

For more information, please contact:
Dorothy Wilkie, Artistic Director at (267) 252-6366

Workshops (past examples)

Special workshops:
M'Bemba Bangoura
Master Drum Workshop
Saturday, November 25, 2006
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
At Lee Cultural Center
44th & Haverford AV. Phila
Cost: $10.00
For more information, please contact:
Dorothy Wilkie, Artistic Director at (267) 252-6366

M'Bemba Bangoura
Master Drum Workshop
Saturday, September 23, 2006
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
At Lee Cultural Center
44th & Haverford AV. Phila
Cost: $10.00

Youssouf Koumbassa
Master Dance Class
Saturday, September 23, 2006
2 PM - 3:30 PM
At Community Education Center ( CEC )
3500 Lancaster Avenue Phila. PA
Cost: $10.00

Also: Kulu Mele offers a wide range of workshops in African diasporan dance and music - from single session participatory programs and lecture-demonstrations to long-term residencies. We are dynamic, compelling and experienced teachers and we love what we do! We teach specific dances (along with rhythms and music), dance and drum technique, related dress and cultural protocols, the interrelationship of drum rhythms and dance, and the particular values and traditions that inform songs and dances. As well, when working with young people we teach, from our own experiences, how to find and follow a dream and how to develop creativity and artistic potential.

Kulu Mele is on the rosters of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts- Arts in Education Program, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour (PennPAT), and Young Audiences of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Kulu Mele members have been teaching in the Philadelphia Folklore Project's Folk Arts and Multicultural Education program for six years. (Help in funding residencies and performances: Some of these programs, including PCA-AIE and Penn-PAT, have grant programs through which subsidies for Kulu Mele workshops and performances may be available. Email Kulu Mele for more information.)

Performances

Kulu Mele performs in a wide range of places: community gatherings, universities, theaters, concert halls, recreation centers, weddings, and festivals. We are able to work as a full ensemble or as individual dancers and drummers. Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble presents a wide range of concerts, programs, workshops, and residencies based on our extensive repertoire, for audiences and participants of all ages. Rates and programs are negotiated with each site. Please contact us for more information: 267.252.6366 or info@kulumele.org.

Current performances include:
New Mexico University (2/8/08)
Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg, PA (2/10/08)
Solis-Cohen School, Phila., PA (2/15/08)
Penn State University, University Park, PA (2/16/08)
Otterbein College, Westerville, OH (2/18/08)
St. John's Virgin Islands (2/20 - 2/25/08)
Turner Middle School, Phila., PA (2/27/08)
St. Gabriel's Hall, Audubon, PA (3/1/08)
Freedom Theater (Kulu Mele's Annual Fundraiser), Phila., PA (4/19/08)
Academy of the Natural Sciences, Phila., PA (5/17/08)
Free Library of Philadelphia, Phila., PA (5/18/08)
ODUNDE Festival, Phila., PA (6/8/08)
Kimmel Center, Phila., PA (6/20/08)

The 2007 performance schedule included:
Philadelphia Free Library, 19th and Vine Streets, Philadelphia (12/26/06)
Our Lady of Grace School, Penndel, PA (4/27/07)
Annual Charity Ball, Marriott, Mt. Laurel, NJ (5/5/07)
Valley View High School, Archbald, PA (5/11/07)
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY (5/24 - 5/27/07)
Overbrook School for the Blind, Phila., PA (6/4/07)
ODUNDE, Phila., PA (6/10/07)
Fleisher Art Memorial, Phila., PA (6/16/07)
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA (7/24/07)
Mann Music Center, Phila., PA (8/6/07)
Oshun Festival, Wilmington, DE (8/12/07)
Umoja Dance Company: Wofabe:2 Annaual African Dance and Drum Festival, Newark, NJ (10/20/07)
Bedminster Elementary School (12/2/07)
Baltimore Museum of Art (12/30/07)

The 2006 performance schedule included:
Annenberg Center (1/14/06)
Huey School (1/30/06)
Turner Middle School (1/31/06)
Freemansburg School, Bethlehem, PA (2/3/06)
Titus School (2/6/06)
Chicago State University, Chicago (2/7/06)
Delaware Community College, Media, PA (2/9/06)
Bodine School (2/10/06)
St. Gabriel School for Boys (2/11/06)
Media School, Media, PA (2/16/06)
Dickenson College, Dickenson, PA (2/18/06)
Downington High School, Downington, PA (2/21/06)
Lincoln University (2/21/06)
Belmont Hills School, Bala Cynwyd, PA (2/24/06)
Boys and Girls Club, Reading, PA (2/24/06)
John W. Hallahan High School (2/18/06)
Hallowell School, Horsham, PA (3/3/06)
Holy Child Academy (3/6/06)
Padua Academy, Wilmington, DE (3/7/06)
Painted Bride (Kulu Mele benefit) (4/7/06)
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY (4/23/06)
Philadelphia Folklore Project Dance Happens Here at the Arts Bank (5/26 & 5/27)
Turner Middle School (8/1/06)
Lee Cultural Center/CEC Master Classes with Youssouf Koumbassa and M'Bemba Bangoura (8/5/06)
Mann Music Center (8/7/06)
Kimmel Center (8/11/06)
Best Western Center City Hotel (8/19/06)
Club Polaris (formerly Starlight Dance Club) (8/20/06)
Village of the Arts And Humanities (9/9/06)
Blue Curtain, Princeton, NJ (9/16/06)
De Sales University, Center Valley, PA (9/29/06)
Montgomery Penwood, Bryn Mawr, PA (9/30/06)
Rohm and Haas, Spring House, PA (10/20/06)
Widener College, Chester, PA (11/3/06)
Woodlayde School, Gladwyne, PA (11/17/06)
Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA (12/5/06)
Top of the Tower, Philadelphia, PA (12/12/06)
Philadelphia Free Library, Philadelphia, PA (12/26/06)

Selected other past performances and workshops include:
ODUNDE (Philadelphia, PA)
Dance Africa, Brooklyn Academy of Music (Brooklyn, NY)
Dance Boom! Wilma Theater (Philadelphia, PA)
Philly Dance Africa, Philadelphia Folklore Project (Philadelphia, PA)
Baltimore African American Museum (Baltimore, MD)
African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Keswick Theater (Glenside, PA)
University of Pennsylvania Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
Scranton University (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
Lantern Theater Company (Philadelphia, PA)
Philadelphia Zoo (Philadelphia, PA)
Muhlenberg College (Allentown, PA)
Asociacion de Musicos Latinos Americanos (Philadelphia, PA)

Mecca Madyun, one of the Kulu Mele dancers.