Drum Retreat – Camp Afro Foli 2018

It is drum retreat time! Camp Afro Foli is just around the corner and we are super excited to announce we are sponsoring Bassidi Koné directly from Mali this year! With his phenomenal djembe, dundun and balafon skills we can’t wait to have him at Camp again. Clair Okamoto from Japan will be joining us this year with her incredible Guinean dance and Pape Mbaye who lives in Sydney, is from Senegal, and will be bringing us his beautiful Sabar dancing and drumming.

Drum Retreat – International Artists

Bassidi Koné has been the cornerstone of nearly every yearly event we have created since we moved to the Sunshine Coast 6 years ago. It was only a few months after we moved in that his beautiful wife Freya visited us on Bassidi’s first ever visit to Australia. We ran some last minute workshops and did a performance at the old Upfront Club in Maleny. Six years on he is still mesmerising us with his world class djembe and balafon teaching and performance. This drum retreat would not be the same without him!!

Bec meet Clair Okamoto at Camp Samatou last year and then travelled to Guinee, Conakry to Clair’s house. Here she studied with Bintou from Les Merveilles de Guinée. Clair is from Japan but she lives in Guinée, Conakry for six months each year where for many years she has run drum and dance retreats. Clair’s high energy and exuberant style will be a real treat at Camp this year!!

Drum Retreat – Interstate Artists

I first saw Pape Mbaye perform many years ago in Melbourne and just remember dancing and laughing. It was so much fun!! Pape is from Senegal where Sabar drum and dance comes from. If you have never heard of it before it is incredible fun and energetic as you try and get you legs and arms to fly this way and that, oh yeah and jump at the same time!! We feel very honoured that Pape is coming to share his culture with us. It will be the first time we can experience Senegalese culture at Camp Afro Foli drum retreat.

This year there is something for everyone and we absolutely love that we can have three different countries representing drumming and dancing at Camp Afro Foli drum retreat 2018.