Adjei Abankwah
Dancer/Musician/
Choreographer/Producer/
Director
Adjei was a principal dancer and choreographer with The Ghana Dance Ensemble for 11 years. In addition to dancing, he is an accomplished musician and composer. He plays a number of traditional African Instruments including the flute, xylophone, bass marimba, and drums. Adjei now lives in Boulder where he teaches dance, music, composes for, and performs with his band Charlie Sounds. Adjei is the co-producer and director of the BaoBao Festival and co-founder of Enkambum. Enkambum, a Colorado non-profit organization, based in Boulder, is dedicated to building community through multi-cultural experiences in the performing arts.

Kwesi Brown
Playwright, Choreographer, Dancer and Musician
Kwesi Brown grew up torn between Christian religion and traditional beliefs of his ancestors. His grandmother was a fetish priestess who insisted that he participate in all ceremonial activities, and his father was a Methodist preacher who disapproved of his son's participation in “heathen rituals.” His punishment for doing so often involved spending weekends at a Cape Coast Methodist mission house and studying the Bible. But the young boy's fascination with traditional music continued, and eventually blossomed into a lifelong pursuit. Kwesi gained admission into the University of Education in Winneba, where he graduated in music education. He eventually moved to London , where he served as artistic director of the Osagyefo Theatre Company and continued to teach African music and dance in various schools throughout Europe. His intellectual journey led him to the United States, where he earned a master's degree in ethnomusicology at Ohio's Bowling Green State University. He went on to become involved in several community service programs, in which he worked with children to acquaint them with the transformative power of music and artistic expression. Kwesi is now a PhD student, studying Folklore and Ethnomusicology at the Indiana University-Bloomington.

David Cofie
Dancer/Storyteller
Graduated from the University of Ghana in 1996 as a Theatre studies (Dance) Major. Since then, he has distinguished himself as a total performing artist; dancing, singing and acting with the same level of excellence. He has featured in a number of Ghanaian movies and landmark stage productions. He is also a poet and aspiring novelist. He has written and told children stories around some school s in Maryland, Vermont and the New York city area.

Sheetal Gandhi
Dancer/Choreographer
Sheetal Gandhi is currently a first year MFA in UCLA's World Arts and Cultures Department. As a professional dancer and choreographer, skilled percussionist, singer and actor, her credits include: Original creator and performer of a main character in Cirque du Soleil's Dralion, Original American cast and recording of Children of Eden, leading role and dancer on Broadway in Bombay Dreams, and Co-Artistic Director of the modern dance company California Contemporary Dancers. In 1993, she spent a year in Ghana West Africa studying the traditional music and dance of that region. She performed as a guest artist with the National Ghana Dance Ensemble and traveled throughout villages of Ghana performing with the Novisi Cultural Troupe. Within her own culture, Sheetal grew up folk dancing and in 1995 moved to India to further study the north Indian classical dance form Kathak. Proud of her South Asian heritage, she continues to explore the intersection of east and west.

Habib Iddrisu
Choreographer/Dancer/Musician and Costume Designer
Habib Iddrisu, PhD student in Performance Studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He had both his M.A. and B.A. degrees in African History and Africana Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio respectively. Habib was born into a well known family of court historians and musicians in Northern Ghana. As child he was inspired by his grandfather and great uncles, both famous musicians. As a teenager he learned traditional music and dances from a variety of ethnic groups in Ghana, including: the Ewe, Ga, Akan, Fon, Malinke, Baga and Mossi. In 1993, Habib won an award as Ghana's Best Dancer. His work in Ghana is remembered for his leadership of the Novisi Dance group, Bomukasa Dance group and choreographer at-large in Ayawaso and Arts Center areas in Accra. Habib also teaches African Dance Class at Northwestern University.

Maria
Dancer
Maria is a Boulder/Denver area professional Belly Dancer. She is one of the main dancers at the Mataam Fez in Boulder, and Casablanca in Denver Maria currently teaches bellydance at The Core Movement Studio and Mosaic Studio in Boulder. She was also Director of World Dance at former dance studio "Dance West". At the festival she will perform a piece entitled the Wings of Isis, celebrating the joy of life and womanhood. boulderbellygrams.com

Abu Mohammed
Dancer/Musician
Abu is from Tamale in the northern region of Ghana. He joined the Ghana Dance Ensemble and toured nationally and internationally with them for 8 years. In addition he has been a prominent member of Norvisi Dance Company of Ghana. He was recently a visiting dance instructor at the Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Abu is currently the Co- Director of the "Atimevu Drum and Dance Ensemble" in Madison Wisconsin.

Ernest Kwame Obeng
Dancer
Ernest 'Kwame' Obeng was born in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. He joined the Ghana National Dance Ensemble in 1995 and spent five years mastering traditional and contemporary African dance forms. He also performed in a number of fully staged shows such as Musu - the Saga of the Slave Triangle and participated in tours to the UK and Germany. Since 2000, Kwame has been teaching and performing African dance for cultural groups and at traditional events throughout Ghana. In 2002, he was the choreographer on an award winning HIV/AIDS educational video. In 2002, Kwame relocated to the UK and has since taken part in a vast range of projects, including community workshops, corporate events, educational programs in schools, and has performed with various choreographers and dance troupes.

Edi Kwasi
Dancer/Singer
Edi studied dance and music at the University of Ghana and later joined the Ghana Dance Ensemble. Edi is now the Director of a drum and dance company appearing in Madison called, Atimevu Drum and Dance Ensemble.

Patience Bright Sewor
Dancer/Musician/Singer
Patience has 15 years professional experience in performing and teaching Ghanaian dance worldwide. She performed as a senior dancer and was an assistant director with the Ghana Dance Ensemble. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon where she teaches dance at Lewis and Clark College and performs the Homowo African Ensemble.

Georgina Yesutor Adzo Kotoka
Dancer/Singer
Yesutor was a principal dancer at the Center for National Culture in Ghana. She later joined a Senegalese dance group based in Spain. In 1998 she was invited as a guest artist by Syracuse University in New York where she continues to teach dance.

Festival Photos © Neil Parker
303-926-1353 neil@artmill.net
www.artmill.net

baobaofest.org © BaoBao Fest 2003-2007

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