Crimson Coast Dance Celebrates African Culture and Connections

Do Amaral (pictured) says the event is important for those in Nanaimo to learn about African culture and have the space to learn more and ask questions they might have. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

To celebrate Black History Month, Crimson Coast Dance is bringing a month-long event to connect those to African culture.

This is the fourth year Crimson Coast Dance has put on its annual African Connections event. This event celebrates and educates people about Africa and the culture of it.

The event has already kicked off with a North African dance workshop this past Sunday and last night was the first-ever Celebrate Africa Fair. 

Held in the Port Theatre lobby, the event brought African culture to life. The fair allowed attendees to immerse themselves in African food, music and style.

Tânia Do Amaral is a board member for Crimson Coast Dance as well as the curator for African Connections. Originally from Mozambique, she moved to Canada and then shortly settled in Nanaimo a couple of years ago.

When she first arrived in Nanaimo, she found a lack of understanding and misconceived ideas about African cultures, dances and people. At the time she began teaching Sharqi and Kizomba dance classes when she approached Crimson Coast Dance about starting the event.

“I approached them and said, ‘I have this idea, I would like to bring something during the Black History Month, that really can make sure that we are trying to give more cultural education to people and also bring a little bit of different types of activities,’” Do Amaral said.

She said the event is important for those in Nanaimo to learn about African culture and have the space to learn more and ask questions they might have.

“Then there we bring education, there we will break down the stigma, there we break down the typical ideas or stereotypical ideas or misconceived ideas about African people and the black community,” Do Amaral said. “So it's a little bit of how we can educate more people about African culture, black culture, and communities.”

Do Amaral said she finds it important to host events not just for adults but also for kids.  This includes the Karingana Wa Karingana storytelling event for children about African folktales that this year is taking place at the Nanaimo Harbourfront library on February 10 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

“I was starting to see that a lot of the events that always happen during the night are for adults and mostly people that maybe don't have kids. So easily, they can go, and they can stay there until 10 p.m.” Do Amaral said. “then what about the mothers and the fathers, and also where we can put the kids to have exposure to stories and telling and storytelling.”

As well at the  Celebrate Africa Fair, she had a booth showcasing children's books featuring black main characters or African culture and people. She said this is because she wants parents to know that these types of books do exist.

Do Amaral said she is excited to see how many people take part in the event and is hopeful to see how these events will grow the inclusion of African culture in Nanaimo.

“Man, I feel so hopeful, because I'm coming from a generation where my parents were born during colonization. I was born during a civil war in my country,” Do Amaral said. “Now I'm seeing that people are more willing to adapt or gain more education about other people. So that gives me a lot of hope, because I'm also a mother, and I have to try to do something better for my kids as well.”

At the fair, several booths showcased African culture, including Van Island SBK, a community group that focuses on the dance styles of Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba. Fabian Gonzalez was at the booth advertising Kizomba and getting new sign-ups. 

Gonzalez said Kizomba comes from the African country of Angola. He first learned of the dance style from Do Amaral who spent some time in Angola before coming to Canada. After Do Amaral decided to focus on teaching other dance styles, that’s when he decided to start teaching some of the classes.

“We've gone on this journey to learn from all of these high-level dance instructors from around the world. So we have mentors in Belgium, who we've learned from. We travelled to Portland every now and then to learn from a guy whose name is Eddy Vents, who is one of the foremost leading Kizomba leads in North America,” Gonzalez said. “We always attend the Victoria International Kizomba festival where they bring in high-level dancers from Portugal and Africa to come and do workshops.”

Gonzalez said there is a big Kizomba scene on Vancouver Island. There are many different styles of Kizomba including the fusion style and urban kiz, but he said his group focuses on the authentic Angolan style.

He said that being passed down the traditions and knowledge of the dance to then pass down to others is a huge honour. As well, he said it is a huge responsibility to teach the right dance moves and techniques as there is no formal written way about how to dance Kizomba.  

“It's kind of been passed down generationally within the country. And now it's a dance that's exploded worldwide. So the only way to learn it is to actually travel somewhere and go to somebody who possesses the knowledge,” Gonzalez said.

Also at the fair was Sean Chigumba who goes by the artist name Alpha Centauri. He was promoting his music and an upcoming show he is performing at on February 16th at the White Eagle Hall in Victoria.

Originally from Zimbabwe, he came to Nanaimo for school in 2016. Shortly he became connected with Do Amaral and her African Connections.

In Nanaimo, he said he found it interesting bringing his culture to the city as there were not many Zimbabweans in Nanaimo at the time.

“There are a lot more people now that have been coming, but it's interesting because no one has known what the culture is or what I'm speaking sometimes when I sing in Shona. So when they asked me what it is, it created so much more conversation,” Chigumba. “So it's been great because it makes people curious.”

Chigumba described his music as inspirational, uplifting and motivational. It has elements of all kinds of music genres including hip-hop, R&B, and funk.

He said his music is about 90 per cent in English and 10 per cent in Shona as he wants people to still be able to understand the meanings in his songs.

“I'll put a chorus with some Shona words because I want you to sing the Shona words, I don't want it to be a line set in the verse that you never say,” Chigumba said. “I want people to actually engage in the words.”

He said hearing people sing along to his music, especially the lines that are in Shona makes him warm inside and excited to see people embrace the language.

“On Canada Day, we performed in Victoria, and afterwards I was talking to people in the crowd and someone was from Ecuador. He came up to me and said, ‘I was so happy to hear you speaking in your native tongue because I also have my native language too, and to know that Canada is a place that's open for that is so warming.’ So it was a great moment,” Chigumba said.

Crimson Coast Dance’s African Connections event will be continuing throughout February. More information on the events and the closing Celebrate Africa Party can be found at crimsoncoastdance.com/african-connections-2024.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.