Dear Teacher,

The following materials were developed to assist you with making connections between African Dance and Drumming and particular areas of your students' curriculum, such as social studies, language arts, visual arts, and music. Some of the activities are better suited for younger grades and some of the materials are best suited for older students. Materials may be adapted to best suit the needs of your particular students.

We hope you find the enclosed materials helpful. We welcome any comments you have and encourage you to return the attached feedback form to us.

Sincerely,

Goal: To introduce teachers and students to the arts and culture of Guinea, West Africa

Objective: Through participatory exploration of the rhythms and dances of Guinea West Africa, students will:


• Increase Motor Coordination
  
• Improve Listening Skills
  
• Increase auditory and kinesthetic memory skills
  
• Practice Cooperation
  
• Develop Non-Verbal Communication Skills
  
• Play an Active Role in Team-Building
  
• Learn Appropriate Group Membership Skills
  
• Enhance Self-Expression Abilities
  
• Experience a Sense of Mastery
  
• Increase Self-Esteem

Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate dance subject mastery by:


• Performing a choreographed dance sequence as part of a group
• Performing a solo dance sequence, repeating steps taught in class
• Describing the cultural context of West African Dance (Be able to name reasons people dance)
• Responding to musical signals for commencing, changing, and ending movement

Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate music subject mastery by:


• Repeating rhythmic accompaniments demonstrated
• Playing an accompaniment at the same tempo as others in the group
• Describing the cultural context of African Drumming (Be able to name reasons people drum
• Responding to musical signals for commencing and ending the rhythm

Objective: Students will develop self-awareness and critical thinking skills by


• Examining the similarities and differences between their own culture and Guinean culture


• Exploring their own assumption

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MAP

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GUINEA, WEST AFRICA, CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION

The Land
Guinea is a sub-saharan country on the coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Guinea-Bissau. Guinea's land is characterized by coastal plains, a central mountainous region, and dense forest through much of the eastern part of the country. Guinea is about the size of Oregon. Guinea has two seasons, a dry season (Dec-May) and a rainy season (June-Nov). Guinea is usually very hot. Conakry is Guinea's capitol.

Bauxite, an important mineral, is Guinea's largest export. Guinea is also rich in diamonds, gold, uranium, iron, hydropower and fish. Although only two percent of Guinea's land is good for farming, 80 percent of the workforce is involved in agriculture.

People
About 7.5 million people live in Guinea. They belong to about 30 different ethnic groups, each with their own language, traditions, music, etc. The largest ethnic groups are Peuhl, Malinke, and Susu. Eighty-five percent of the population is Muslim. About eight percent are Christian.

Guinea's population is growing both because of a high birth rate and because they are taking in a lot of refugees from neighboring countries that have civil wars going on. Guinea has more refugees than any other country in the world.

Almost half of Guinea's population is under the age of 14. Only two percent are older than 65. Guinea is a polygamous society. Men are allowed to have up to four wives. Women can only have one husband. The average number of births per woman is between five and six. Infant mortality is high- 126 deaths/1000 births.

Cultural Values
The most important cultural value is respect. It is especially important to respect anyone who is older than you. Younger people happily do chores and anything else they can to help someone older, especially parents or teachers. If you walk into a room you normally greet everybody one by one, shaking their hands. You bend your knee when greeting someone older than you. You would never raise your voice to someone older than you or refuse to listen to your parents, older siblings, neighbors, or teachers.

Shared responsibility is another important cultural value. Everyone helps take care of each other. Anyone who makes money in a family is expected to share it with everybody. If someone in the family has a problem, the whole extended family has a meeting and discusses it until a solution is reached.

Anybody in the community who sees a child misbehaving is free to discipline the child. Everyone takes responsibility to help raise the next generation.

Children are considered your wealth. When children become adults they are expected to support their parents financially and to take care of them if they become ill. They also provide free labor on family farms or in other family enterprises.

Language
Susu is the official national language of Guinea. Most people who live in or near the capitol can understand Susu. French, the colonial language, is still commonly used as an official language as well, since it is understood across ethnic groups by those who have gone to school.

Government
Guinea was colonized by the French in the late 1800s. On October 2, 1958 Guinea became the first African country to liberate itself from colonialism. Guinea is a republic modeled after the principles of American democracy. They have signed onto the International Declaration of Human Rights and hold that all people are equal. The president is elected by the people. In addition to the President, there is an elected representative voting body.

Education
Education is highly valued. Public school is free, but parents must pay for school uniforms. Private schools are generally considered to be better, but it is difficult to pay for them. Children may be taught in the Arabic or the Francophone system. Many older people did not have the chance to go to school. During the French colonial period, you could only go to French schools if you agreed to be Christian. As a result, many older people cannot read or write.

Food
The most important food in Guinea is rice. People eat rice with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Manioc (yucca) and corn are also staple foods. The main meal is usually rice, accompanied by fish, chicken or goat cooked in a spicy sauce. Sauces may be made from leaves, tomatoes, palm oil, or peanut butter. Fish is very popular.

Guinea also has a lot of fresh fruit, like mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, limes, and melons. Common vegetables include yucca, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and spinach.

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Functions of Drumming in Guinean Life and Culture

• Provides music for dance


• Communicate with ancestors


• Communicate over distance to neighboring villages


• Quickly communicate important news within a community


• Creates a sense of community


• Express happiness


• Education


• Call people to pray


• Honor people


• Give energy to workers


• Give courage to military, sports teams


• Celebration


• Brings people together


• Accompanies rituals, rites of passage, religious celebrations

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Functions of Dance in Guinean Life and Culture

• Brings people together


• Celebration


• Education


• Accompanies rituals, rites of passage, religious celebrations


• Prepare people for important activities


• In Guinea there are special dances for: planting, harvesting crops, circumcision, hunting, fishing, welcoming people, welcoming royalty, weddings, births, just having fun, etc.


• Honor people


• Healing


• Provide courage


• Athletic competition

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INSTRUMENTS OF GUINEA, WEST AFRICA

Djembe or Sambanyi

• Goblet shaped wooden drum made from khari, acacia, redwood, or lingue wood; covered with a female goat skin


• Played by hand


• Makes three sounds: slap, tone, and bass


• Provides basic accompaniments to rhythms; also used to play solo and mark dancer movements


• Originally used to give warriors courage during battle and to give energy to people doing farm work in the hot sun.


• Considered a "magic" instrument

Doun-Doun

• Large, double headed, barrel shaped drum made from acacia or mango tree; covered at both ends with cow skin


• Played with two wooden sticks


• Provides the foundation of the rhythm

Sengbe

• Medium sized version of a doun-doun

Kenkedi

• Small doundoun.


• A bell is usually attached to the side of the drum. The drummer will play the bell with one hand and the kenkedi with the other hand.

Taboulé

• Shaped like a large wooden bowl, covered with cow or deer skin


• Played with a leather stick


• Originally used to call people to prayer and to relay important messages, e.g. arrival of royalty or a death in the community

Krin

• A hollowed out log drum made from khari, mango, or redwood with slits.


• Played by stick


• Original "African telephone". Used in forest region for communication.

Tama (Talking Drum)

• Double-headed hour-glass shaped drum with a "cage" of cords surrounding the length of the drum.


• Usually covered with snake or lizard skin


• Drum is held in armpit. The elbow of the arm holding the squeezes the cords to make the pitch go higher or lower. The other hand uses a curved drum stick to hit one of the heads of the drum.

Balafon

• Wooden xylophone with gourd resonators


• Considered a sacred instrument


• Origin believed to be a special gift from the spirits to an ancient king.


• Usually played by "djalis" or "griots", storytellers who keep the history of the community

Kora

• 28-stringed instrument made out of a gourd with a long wooden neck attached. It sounds a little like a harp.


• Often used to accompany djali story-telling

Castanyet

• Rafia-covered rattle with an oval handle at the top


• Usually one is held in each hand.

Gongoma

• Three keyed thumb piano set on a hollowed out gourd.

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LANGUAGE PRACTICE

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DRUM MAKING
Get a large plastic container. Turn it upside down. Decorate the sides of the container using paint, construction paper, glue, glitter, etc. Find two sticks, about 12"-15" long. You can use branches, dowels, pre-made drum sticks.

Hit the center of the container with the sticks to create rhythms. Use different size containers to get different sounds.

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CREATE A DANCE
Many dances in Guinea reflect activities of daily life, e.g. getting ready to go to a party, washing clothes, fishing, hunting, planting, etc.

Think about something you do in your daily life, e.g. get ready for school, clean your room, make a snack, etc. Create three to five movements that demonstrate different aspects of this activity and put them together.

See if other students in the class can guess what the dance is about.

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SHARING A MEAL
Boil a big pot of rice. In another pot, brown some chicken, onions, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and carrots. Cover with water. Add a spoonful of tomato paste, some garlic, salt, hot pepper, and bouillion. Simmer until food is well cooked.

Lay a cloth on the floor. Serve the rice in a large, wide bowl or on a platter. Poor the sauce, chicken, and vegetables on top of the rice. Let it cool a little bit. Have students sit around the bowl. Give everyone napkins. Students should try to scoop up small amounts of rice and sauce in (using their right hands only), roll it into a ball and pop it into their mouths.

What is it like to eat this way?

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MATCHING

Draw a line to connect the name of the instrument with its description.

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SUGGESTED WRITING PROMPTS

1. Think about your culture (the country you are from or your religion.) How do people use music and dance in your culture? How is this similar or different from how it is used in Guinea, West Africa?

2. In Guinea everyone is supposed to respect people who are older than they are. You always listen to your parents, your older brothers and sisters, your neighbors, etc. Children expect to do housework and run errands for their parents. How is work shared in your family? In what ways do you help your family? How do you feel about the work you do at home? What would be different for you and your friends if they followed the same rules here as in Guinea?

3. Describe how dancing makes you feel. What kind of dancing do you like best? What do you like about dancing? What do you not like about it? Which do you like better, dancing or watching dance? Why?

4. Describe how drumming makes you feel. What do you like about it? What do you not like about it? Which do you like better, drumming or listening to drums? Why?

5. What did you learn about Guinea and how the people live? How are they similar to people in the United States? How are they different? What is the most interesting thing you learned about Guinea?

6. What culture(s) are you or your family originally from? In what ways is that culture similar to the culture of Guinea? In what ways is it different?

7. Imagine taking a trip to Guinea. What would you want to do there? Describe your trip.

8. Imagine someone from Guinea becomes your next door neighbor. What would you tell him or her about living here? What would be important for him or her to know about life here? What would you want to show him or her?

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UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT CULTURES
Discussion Questions
(Junior High- High School)

Eating
In Guinea, food is served in a big bowl. Everyone sits around the bowl and eats the food in the part of the bowl that is in front of them. People usually either scoop the food into their hands, or use spoons.

Would you like to eat this way? Why or why not? What would you like about it? What would you not like?

(fewer dishes to wash; fun to eat with your hands; sense of community; won't waste food by putting too much on your own plate; concerns about germs; could be messy, etc.)

Marriage
In Guinea men are allowed to have up to four wives. People get married for many reasons: because they love each other, to have children, to provide family labor for farmwork, to support the widow of a relative, to cement relationships between families, etc. Many younger men are choosing to only have one wife.

What are some of the advantages of a system that allows you to be married to more than one person? What are some of the disadvantages?

(assures continuation of family if one wife is infertile; can share workload of domestic chores, can share marital responsibilities, you can start a new relationship and still respect your old one at the same time; reduces divorce, provide economic aid to widowed family member and their children, companionship among the women; jealousy; economically difficult to support bigger family; disease spread; competition for attention and resources, etc.)

Religion
Most people in Guinea are Muslim. In what ways is Islam (the Muslim religion) similar to Christianity or Judaism? In what ways is it different?

(Monotheistic; all-powerful male God; pray several times a day; women cover heads while praying; men and women are separated inside house of worship (mosque), dietary rules; fasting; animal sacrifice; many rules about every day behavior, belief in after-life, belief in "God's will", etc.)

Family
In Guinea your children are considered your wealth. People often have big families. It is not unusual for a woman to have 10 or more children. Children help with farm work and house work. They usually do whatever their parents tell them, even after they become adults. When they grow up they support their parents economically. You give to your family first and give to yourself last. Taking care of your parents is your most important job. You are also expected to help take care of aunts, uncles, and older cousins if they do not have children who are able to help them.

How do we value children here? How do we value parents? What would it be like to have 10 or 15 brothers and sisters? What would you like/not like about it? What are children expected to do for their families? What are we expected to do for our parents when we grow up? What are we expected to do for other relatives? How is this similar or different from what you know about families in Guinea?

(sometimes very wanted; sometimes spoiled; sometimes unplanned; see children as "belonging to parents", not to extended family or community; what happens when parents use drugs and/or abuse/neglect children; children here usually expect parents to care for them; sometimes we don't do what our parents want {I didn't ask to be born; it's not their life, it's my life}.)

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