Saturday, September 29^th17.00-20.00 and/or Sunday, September 30^th  11.00-14.00, € 60 (€ 40 students)

If this exceeds your capacity please let us know.

It is possible to participate for one day only.

In order for the seminar to take place a group must be formed so if you want to come please register by Sunday, September 16^th.

Reservations: 26610 91419, 6979470571 or Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo. 

Dance in West Africa

West African dances are governed by a sense of looseness and freedom of the whole body combined with a strong movement dynamic. They are accompanied by African percussion (djembe, doundoun). In a circle, in pairs or individually, the dancer is in immediate and essential contact with the percussionists. Most dances are intense and fast.

Katerina Karatzi has been engaged in African dance and African percussion for the past 7 years. As a member of the dance group «Anasa» she  has participated in performances in Athens and in the provinces. She has taken part in dance workshops with Norma Claire, Aicha Diallo, Moise Kourouma, Mamadama Camara and others. In December 2010 she traveled for three months in Mali and Guinea deepening her understanding of the music and dance traditions of West Africa. Since then she has been teaching African dance in the dance school "Chorotechno" in Athens and she gives seminars throughout Greece.

Nikos Polychronidis has played West African drums (djembe) since 2000. He studied modern and classical percussion and has participated in seminars with Ponda o Braian, Drissa Conne, Reiner Polak. In 2009 he spent 3 months in Mali in West Africa playing percussion alongside such great performers and teachers as Drissa Kone, Cidi Traore, Sega Sidibe. He participated in numerous concerts with the band "Ta Krousta tis Taki" where he specialized in doundoun and djembe. In 2004, with Daphne Assimakopoulos and Michael Afolaian, he founded the dance group «Anasa» and toured in Greece until 2005. From 2005 to 2010 he taught in Lefteris Gregory’s School of African percussion. In 2011 he founded the APcommunity (African Percussion Community) with Theodore Hioti where African, Cuban and Nigerian percussion is taught. In June 2012 he organized and participated in "Sacred Drums of the Earth" in the "Dora Stratou" Theater.

Vassilis Economidis studied classical piano and theory before starting to experiment with the flute and saxophone in electronic music. In 2009 he participated with the band «Urbanoise» in the international festival of experimental electronic music NetAudio in Berlin. That same year, affected by the virus of African drums and percussion in general he started lessons with Lefteris Gregory at "Ta Krousta tis Taki" with whom he now collaborates on a regular basis. He attended seminars on percussion and the communication between different musical traditions on an international level with Petros Kourtis. He has also studied with: Nikos Polychronidis, Davide Torti (Italy), Alex Bottoni (Italy), Harouna Dembele (Burkina Faso), Sidiki Camara (Mali), Thomas Guei (Ivory Coast), Sourakhata Dioubate (Guinea), Mare Sanogo (Mali) Babara Bangoura (Guinea) and others. In June '12 he performed as a Dundunfola in the concert by Babara Bangoura, Davide Torti & Lefteris Gregory with his band and "Anasa". He collaborates with the group "Anasa" and plays for the African dance classes of Daphne Assimakopoulou and Katerina Karatzi with Nikos Polichronidis.

But because there is no end to percussion, the daouli would not leave him in peace. So with the help of Lefteris Gregory, Katerina Karatzi and later the great Bulgarian virtuoso Stoyan Yankulov, the hours of quiet in his home have decreased to a minimum...