Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene through the eyes and ears of local artists. Our guest is Naomi Diouf: Artistic Director of Diamano Coura West African Dance Company in Oakland, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Diouf told KALW’s Jen Chien about three cool arts events happening this week around the Bay.
Who Among Us . . . The Art of Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle is at Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) until April 2016. The exhibit features multi-media work from three projects The Uninvited Series, The Tituba Series, and The Kentifrica Project. Hinkle’s work explores and seeks redefinition for historical and modern depictions of black women as exotic.
DIOUF: This work take me back to the Hottentot Venus. Hinkle is trying to break this myth that some people probably still have today about the black female body.
Akram Khan Dance Company presents Kaash at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Friday 11/20 and Saturday 11/21. The company’s style melds classic Indian Kathak with contemporary dance, and this performance is a remounting of their first full length dance feature created in 2002.
DIOUF: I love Kathak. It reminds me of African music and dance, in a sense, because of the exact nature of the footwork and how it captivates.
The holiday themed Cuban cabaret Explosión Cubana: Una Noche Tropical happens this weekend 11/20 and every weekend through 12/5 at Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco. The show, jointly presented by CubaCaribe and Dance Mission Theater, features Alayo Dance Company, live music by La Noche Tropical Orquestra, and Cuban food.
DIOUF: I want to be at this party because it reminds me of my younger days when my brother used to take me dancing and we’d hear all sorts of Latin music.
