One of the last activities we did in Richard Toll was a village celebration at a Wolof village about 30 minutes away by car. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into- when we arrived the drums were loud, and all of the children surrounded the car and greeted us as we got out of the car. When I say greet, I mean they were all screaming and laughing and shaking our hands, which sometimes got a little out of hand with the more aggressive kids who tried pulling our arms a little too hard, or who got a little too handsy.
Once we made it through the overwhelmingly friendly crowd, we were given seats in the large circle surrounding the drummers. It was obvious that our presence was the focus of attention- the drummers kept asking us to get up and youssa (the latest popular Senegalese dance) in the center of the circle, and other women would dance across the circle just to flay their peignes at our cameras.
Once we made it through the overwhelmingly friendly crowd, we were given seats in the large circle surrounding the drummers. It was obvious that our presence was the focus of attention- the drummers kept asking us to get up and youssa (the latest popular Senegalese dance) in the center of the circle, and other women would dance across the circle just to flay their peignes at our cameras.
The music was powerful and unrelenting, and the dancing was fervent. My jaw dropped at the intensity and passion with which the women moved their bodies. The spirit was infectious, we did end up getting pulled into the center of the circle and making fools of ourselves awkwardly bumbling around compared to the Senegalese. And it was awesome!!
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