“ The pride people feel when they see us and when they hear the stories and when they hear these rhythms , and when they hear the sound ... What is most fulfilling about it is once they hear those rhythms and that sound and their soul finds itself in that rhythm .”
That resilience and the close-knit relationship would come in handy during the COVID-19 pandemic when the troupe was displaced from their from their practice building for the third time since their formation .
“ We ’ ve been practicing at three places already . Our latest place was an old daycare center that had belonged to a church , but they weren ’ t using it as a daycare center at the time . It had been the biggest space we had . They said we could use that building for practice . But I guess when things started to open back up , I guess they opened up the daycare center again .”
Now that the troupe is back to practicing at the Lowndes County Human Resources office , they are excited to complete their mission of linking people together and preserving West African culture .
“ The pride people feel when they see us and when they hear the stories and when they hear these rhythms , and when they hear the sound , some of the most hesitant or apprehensive and even people that think that they are just too professional for it . What is most fulfilling about it is once they hear those rhythms and that sound and their soul finds itself in that rhythm ,” she said .
“ Once you see that , you hear that , and you see how it brings people together . That is the most fulfilling thing for me . Oh , yeah , it is really that music does bring people together . It really does . And I ’ ve seen it all over the world . I ’ ve seen it happen all over the world .”
30 Valdosta Scene | June 2022