Street party with National Ballet of Mali

[Michel]

A street party in Bamako with members of National Ballet: Lamine Kouyaté jelidunun, Modibo Konaté solo djembé, Oumar Diabaté, Boubacar Diabaté, Madou Fané and others.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bilibiliba? ... VM0MWN3Se0

[bubudi]

wow, modibo and lamine's dialogue there is beautiful!

[rachelnguyen]

Oh, LOL
@ 0:59. I have so been there. No one wants a Malian djembefola pissed off at them....

[Djembe-nerd]

Why do they have to make a stare and face when they do this, can't they do this in a better way, like Mamady or other similar polite djembefolas corret mistakes.

One time a djembefola did this to someone, and the person got so upset, just quit the djembe playing and sat with hands folded after that for the class.

[Michel]

They? I'm sorry, I know all of them quite well, and I just saw one guy with a little high testosteron-level correcting another alpha-cock. Some background-info. 'They' don't do that in my opinion. But when you look at the kind of education 'they' had, 'we' are treated with fur gloves compared to that. Ask some African djembefola how he is trained, he was most likely hit. So when in a heat of a moment someone looks a little angry at you (didn't happen this to you at football-training?) there's no need to fold your hands and do nothing. But I'm glad to hear saint Mamady is polite. Sorry for that.

[Djembe-nerd]

No offense meant to anybody.

Some people don't take it as is. Like you are advising me/us (westerners/educated) folks to understand where they are coming from, I would expect them (the djembefols) to be smarter about understanding where their students are coming from. Afterall it has a business angle too, so why not.

I know my opinion will not change anything probably, but its my side of viewing things. I would not like to be hit on the head for something I want to enjoy and learning is a process of enjoying too. Why should it be made any harder than learning a new thing already is. Does that mean I have less passion for the art or learning, no, does that mean I respect these djembefolas less for their talent, no because I have passion for this art and will sacrifice to learn it, but there may be people who would like to learn it a softer way too.

[Michel]

Of course, nerd. It's nice to be treated nicely. And luckily there are so many nice djembefola's, and I was happy to meet some of them. But sometimes it's good to realize it's a hard job to be djembefola, and the education is with ups and downs. And the djembefola's who want to make some money with teaching to toubabs, they better be nice to their students, but this was real life. No soft approach this time. Don't you still get it, he wants to say. And Rachel recognizes, and still is a fanatic student, I presume....

[rachelnguyen]

Yeah, my guess is that the guy getting corrected is one of Modibo's students. I would assume they have a relationship already. I just had to chuckle because I have been on the receiving end a few times during performances. It's not for the feint of heart, that's for sure. But, as Michel says, I want to learn... so however I get corrected is ok, as long as I do, in fact, get corrected. I don't want to persist in mistakes. And while it is tough when my teacher gets frustrated, I try and keep in mind that his frustration may be because he knows I am capable of doing better.

[e2c]

Even the most patient teachers get frustrated at times... we're all human.

[Michel]

It's something like that indeed Rachel. By the way Modibo Konate is the small guy, who comes after the tall one with the locks, Oumar Diabate, who also plays dunun with Ibrahima Sarr. Modibo is a great djembefola. He plays with the National Ballet. A really clean technique, you can hear it very well in the video. We had great laugh with him because of his hands. He really was hardly capable of bending them, so much callus he had. He said he was washing himself with the back of his hands because the inside had such a rough surface! We all felt sorry for his wife....

And while it is tough when my teacher gets frustrated, I try and keep in mind that his frustration may be because he knows I am capable of doing better.

Of course it is!

[rachelnguyen]

Oh, I misidentified the cranky djembefola!

I think for me, one of the most challenging parts of playing African drums is the fact that I have to let go of the need to be 'good' at it and just be open to learning. Taking an ego hit is part of the process. Allowing myself to fail is hard, but has been an important element of stretching myself as a player.

So, really, good for that student for even stepping into the ring with the big guys. And he did a good job of hanging in, correcting his mistake, and continuing to play.

[e2c]

I think for me, one of the most challenging parts of playing African drums is the fact that I have to let go of the need to be 'good' at it and just be open to learning. Taking an ego hit is part of the process. Allowing myself to fail is hard, but has been an important element of stretching myself as a player.

Very true... and not just of W. African drumming.

So, really, good for that student for even stepping into the ring with the big guys. And he did a good job of hanging in, correcting his mistake, and continuing to play.

I think so, too.

[bubudi]

i agree the djembefolaw that want to teach toubabs would do well to learn better pr skills mamady is a great international ambassador for the djembe and businessman, so he has got that down pat... but if you come to west africa, you would expect to have many authentic cultural experiences and a little bad-eye when you mess up is part and parcel of that! i think oumar's a bit on the soft side compared with some of the reactions i've seen before...

[James]

Another video of the Ballet of Mali from the same user.

[James]

Regarding this teacher / student thing .. a good teacher knows what each student needs, at what time.

A scared person is a focused person Just my 2 cents from my experience