Cause. Culture. Community.

Karen Phelps, Esq. has always been a dancer at heart and got her first introduction to traditional dance in 2003 studying Afro-Brazilian dance while a college exchange student in Santiago, Chile. Karen moved to Charlotte, NC after graduating law school and her passion for dance led her to professional Salsa classes, where she learned to dance Salsa “On 2” and traveled the country attending workshops with professional instructors when she was not out enjoying local Salsa socials.

A fellow salsera introduced Karen to Traditional West African Dance classes (hosted by Shae Movement African Arts) and the rest was history. Her love with Traditional African Dance was instant and in 2015 she was invited to perform with Shae Movement African Arts Dance Company. In 2017, she met Cheick Sissoko from whom she learned to play traditional drums and she extended her drumming and dance experience into performances with Cheick Sissoko and Dr. Tinka Barnes for various Charlotte events.

Narayana “Nara” Hall’s mother, Sylvia Soumah, co-owned and taught West African dance and drumming at Kono Youth Ensemble and later at Coyaba Dance Theater, in Washington, DC where, in addition to learning traditional West African Dance, Nara learned to drum many different styles of African drumming, including Congas, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Haitian drumming. He began teaching by the time he was 14 years old.

Nara is now an internationally-recognized percussionist, instructor, and performer. His repertoire spans traditional African (East, West, and South), Afro-Cuban, Afro- Haitian, East Indian, and Native American music. In addition to studying across the United States, Nara also studied drumming and dance styles in Guinea, Jamaica, Iraq, Senegal and South Korea with master musicians from all over the world including (but not limited to) Amadou Kouyate, Djimo Kouyate, Mahiri Fadjimba Keita-Edwards, Kevin Aziz White, Malori Moore, Dramane Kone, Assane Konte and Grammy-Award winning artist Magette Fall. Nara has accumulated film credits for his participation in projects such as Black Panther 1, and Coming to America 2. Nara’s most prized achievement, however, was performing for Michael Jackson at the Ethiopian Embassy. Nara currently resides in Charlotte, NC and regularly plays at local venues and festivals, as well as, performing for private events.

Cheick Sissoko was born in the Ivory Coast, West Africa and grew up in a family of musicians and dancers. He started his artistic career on live television in Ivory Coast and once in New York City, he became a drum and dance teacher for Djoniba Dance and Drum Center and Broadway Dance Center. Cheick performed with members of Cirque du Soleil at the Manhattan Civic Center; was a was a guest artist at the Kennedy Center Spirit of Kwanzaa event; was a drum and dance instructor at the Manhattan Civic Center, the Lincoln Center, and the Natural Museum of History; and was a dance and drum instructor at a number of NYC-based dance companies and for the local school system. Once a NC resident, Cheick performed with Chuck Davis and The African American Dance Ensemble at the Kennedy Center; he was a dance and drum instructor at numerous universities and theaters such as Penn State, Columbia, Duke, and UNC-Greensboro, and he also served in this role for the Wilmington school of Ballet, The Dance Coop, and the Mini-event Cultural Center (both based in Wilmington).

Dance Class Participant

Dance Class Participant

Public and Private

*Fridays

6:30pm-8:30pm

Every Sunday

3:00pm-4:00 pm

Children’s and Adult Dance Classes are located at The Dance Company -

5009 W W.T. Harris Blvd, Suite C

Charlotte, NC 28269