As a way to introduce African culture to Whitman College, the Whitman African Students Association (WASA) and Department of Theatre and Dance brought the Gansango African Music and Dance Company on Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3. The group, led by Etienne Cakpo, taught a dance workshop and a music workshop. The event concluded with a performance that incorporated the two workshops.

“The workshop is to just show artistic expression, for Africa specifically, and share different dances [and] different musical skills,” WASA President Junior Wongani Msiska said. “For me, I want people to just be able to share a new culture and learn from a different culture.”

The Gansango group first visited Whitman in the spring of 2024 as a way to build anticipation for WASA’s annual Taste of Africa event and has continued to visit to teach dance and music since. 

The event kicked off on Thursday with a dance led by Cakpo and dancer Nailah Harris. The dance workshop blended modern choreography with traditional dances from Benin, Ghana, Togo and other West African countries. This year, Cakpo mentioned that the dance styles he taught were more traditional than those in past visits. 

“We always invite people to come to dance [and] to enjoy the performance,” Cakpo said. “It’s about all the students on campus, they come, they learn, they appreciate it and that brings them together.” 

Lead Percussionist Yaw Amponash organized the drum workshop on Friday and helped teach traditional songs to participants with drums, shakers and bells. 

“This is something really important to us, to connect with other Africans,” Msiska said. “So it’s great to have other Africans visit because it gives us more community. It makes us have a little piece of home.” 

The classes also provided an opportunity for WASA to showcase African culture beyond what WASA is able to offer. According to WASA Events Coordinator Claudia Ndjeh, they don’t always have access to the necessary instruments needed for the workshops and find it difficult to teach choreography compared to Gansango. 

“We can’t do that on our own, so [Gansango] bringing their instruments, bringing their energy, bringing their knowledge, that alone is more than enough,” WASA Events Coordinator Claudia Ndjeh said. 

The workshops and performances were open to the Walla Walla community, Whitman faculty and students. 

“It’s the best way for people to make friends because when people that aren’t from Africa come to our events, a lot of people make friends,” Msiska said. “We’re not all the same, but we have something in common coming here. I feel like this gives us more freedom to share.” 

WASA also collaborated with the Department of Dance and Music at Whitman, specifically the Dance Director Renee Archibald, to organize and fund the event using the Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Endowment in Global Studies. Gansango was also invited to certain dance classes taught by Archibald and has helped choreograph dances for Taste of Africa that will take place this year on April 18, according to WASA leaders. 

“I hope that people can see a different aspect of the African culture from what we’re able, as students, to bring in,” Ndjeh said. “There are very limited things we can showcase as students, so when students come to the workshops, or whatever, I want them to see a different side of Africa that they don’t see on a day-to-day basis.” 

The workshops served as a preview of what Taste of Africa will look like. The event will be made up of a special menu from Bon Appétit, a fashion show, performances and hosting activities in collaboration with Walla Walla University. 

This week and the next will also have events leading up to Taste of Africa. On Sunday, April 12, there will be African field games, on Monday, April 13, there will be a series of Africa Talks, a collaboration event with Women of Color Voices (WOCV) making waistbeads on Wednesday, April 15. 

WASA aims to give students from Africa a space to share their community and culture while also teaching other students, staff and community about their traditions. Through annual events like the dance and music workshops from Gansango and Taste of Africa, WASA hopes to achieve its organization’s goal of bringing people together to share and learn about Africa.