Forty-three years after two childhood friends from Dakar reunited in Washington, D.C. to teach the dances they grew up with, KanKouran West African Dance Company is bringing its annual concert back to Howard University this weekend. The performance, set for Saturday at Howard's Cramton Auditorium, closes out a multi-day gathering that organizers describe as an opportunity to connect with and celebrate West African culture.
This year's show is titled “SUNU GAAL: Our Boat,” a name drawn from Wolof words meaning “our boat,” and it centers on Sabar dance and drumming traditions that celebrate cultural unity among Senegal's Lebou, Serer, and Walo-Walo communities, according to EIN Presswire. The Sabar rhythm represents the cultural heartbeat of Senegalese social life, per the same release. As WJLA reports, the annual concert weaves together storytelling, music, dance, and community, and organizers say it remains open to everyone.
A Weekend Conference Draws Instructors From Five Countries
The concert caps a conference running from Friday through Sunday that brings more than 20 master dance and drum instructors from Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Congo, and Liberia to the Washington Marriott Capitol Hill, per the EIN Presswire release. The gathering is considered the largest family reunion for African dance companies in the United States, the release notes. KanKouran has operated for 43 years, according to WJLA, and provides ticket information and event details on its own website.
KanKouran West African Dance Company was established in Washington in 1983 by Executive Artistic Director Assane Konte and master drummer Abdou Kounta, two childhood friends who grew up together in Dakar, Senegal, and reunited in the capital after touring independently as professional performers, according to the company's own history. After two years of local recruitment and community training, the company staged its debut full-length concert, “A Visit to Africa,” in 1985 at George Washington University's Marvin Center — a show that established KanKouran as a permanent cultural institution in the nation's capital.
What the Name Kankouran Means
The company's name traces back to a centuries-old Mandinka initiatory masquerade tradition in the Senegambia region, where a masked figure clothed in tree bark or leaves serves as a protective spirit meant to enforce justice and safeguard community members, according to the African Masquerades Wiki. That masquerade ritual, known as the Kankurang, was officially recognized by UNESCO in 2008 as intangible cultural heritage. WJLA notes that KanKouran has discussed the meaning behind its name as part of its outreach around this year's concert.
Konte's connection to Washington runs beyond the company he co-founded. He serves as an adjunct lecturer in the Theatre Arts department at Howard University's Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, where he has taught African dance for more than 40 years, and he has also taught at American University, Georgetown University, and George Mason University, according to Howard University. That academic role places him at the same institution hosting this year's concert, reinforcing ties between the company and the city's higher-education arts scene.
Anchoring D.C.'s African Heritage Month
KanKouran's Labor Day weekend conference serves as the ceremonial opening event for African Heritage Month in Washington, an official monthly observance proclaimed by the D.C. Mayor's Office in 2012, per the EIN Presswire release. The Mayor's Office on African Affairs coordinates citywide cultural events throughout September, the release adds, tying KanKouran's concert to a broader civic calendar of programming across the District.
Over four decades, KanKouran has trained four generations of dancers and drummers and maintains three performing troupes — Senior, Junior, and Children's companies, according to The Washington Informer. Company alumni include lawyers, educators, and public administrators who help financially sustain the organization, the outlet reports. Throughout its history, KanKouran has operated out of temporary studio spaces across the city — including the H Street NE corridor and the Southwest Waterfront — while working toward establishing a permanent African Cultural Center that would host weekly classes, drum making, language training, and senior programming.
That facility remains a goal rather than a reality, but the company has drawn institutional support in the meantime. KanKouran has received financial backing from national and municipal partners, including the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the D.C. Mayor's Office on African Affairs, and the International Association of Blacks in Dance through Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grants, according to the International Association of Blacks in Dance. Those grants include unrestricted operational funding meant to support the organization's overall vitality, the group notes.
