Lina Fat: Right now, there’re more and more people now because of the
traveling abroad. They understand the importance of culture. So,
now, they are rethinking and learning the language and also the
culture, the music and dance.
Jackie Bowman: I’m just thinking everybody should appreciate where they come
from at the same time be open for diversity. The name of the
group is Jodama. And Jodama stands for ordinary people who
appreciate and celebrate their culture by way of drumming dance.
Speaker: In African tradition, dancing and drumming are the heart and soul
of the culture. Without it, the emotional life of the community is
incomplete.
(Drumming)
Jackie Bowman: If we have a better understanding of each other, we’ll respect each
other in the long run and respect where we came from. I think we
should let the similarities in all actuality we’re more similar than
we are different. We are an African-American ministry. We
appreciate who we are but at the same time, we appreciate youthful
viewer.
Speaker: It’s been said that to experience African dance and drumming is
like having a personal conversation with a wise old man. Values
and practices are handed down from ancestors through the dance
and drums.
Jackie Bowman: I’m the one who does a lot of research. And what we do is we dig
around within history. We find out about the different types of
trials we want to represent all the new Africans. I mean a lot of
confident with these nations. So, there’s a lot of whole work to do
when they would do a performance. And what we do is we really
try to educate the people whenever we do a dance.
(Music playing)
Drumming is a language. Dance is a language.
Speaker: In a dance here saying the drums are calling for a gathering, for
people to come together.
Jackie Bowman: The dance has a purpose. The dance has a meaning. There are
dances for marriages. There are dances for naming babies. There
are dances for when people die, dances for every little marker or
rite of passage in your life, there’s a dance for it. There’s a song
about it. There is drum rhythms for it.
Speaker: The old African proverb that takes a village to raise a child,
‘Community spirit involves children.’ And they’re taught to dance
and drum at a very young age.
Jackie Bowman: When you talk about African dance and African drumming, they’re
both their own language. The drummer has a language to tell the
dancer what steps to do. And vice versa the dancer can be dancing
which will indicate to the drummer what rhythms to play. So,
there’s a perfect marriage there. They have to watch each other
closely because they have to know what each one is
communicating to the other at all times. Now, that’s perfect
harmony.
(Music playing)
Steve McAnini: Oh, I think the three primary ways of retaining culture are
language, food and dance. And to see these little Mien girls so into
this, girls that were born in this country, girls that probably speak a
little Mien with their grandparents. They’re so absorbed in this
and do this for such greats and pride that helps the culture survive.
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