Performances tell of the spirit of Senegal

In Dakar, the capital of Senegal, a man introduced himself to
Giavanni Washington, asking her whether she was married or had
children. Washington, a world arts and cultures graduate student,
was not in Africa to find her mate, however; she was there for
WAC’s first summer program to Senegal.

On Tuesday at noon, Washington and other students who attended
the Senegal session last summer performed in the Kaufman Garden
Theater, giving a testimonial reprise of their experience.

The Senegal program began when Germaine Acogny, a Senegalese
Regents scholar, taught a seminar at UCLA in 2005. Her students
coordinated efforts to study in Senegal at Acogny’s
L’Ecole des Sables, also called the International Center for
Traditional and Contemporary African Dance.

The plan for the program went through several phases, eventually
finding a home in UCLA Summer Sessions, where it now is available
to anybody who has an interest in Senegal and wants to dance.

“This was very special because it was the first summer
program abroad through WAC,” said Vanessa Verdoodt, a
fourth-year world arts and cultures student who helped plan the
program.

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Esther Baker-Tarpaga, a WAC graduate student who speaks fluent
Wolof, Senegal’s primary language, also teaches the de facto
prerequisite for the Senegal program, WAC 174, “Making Dance
an Offering.”

While anyone can attend the summer program, Baker-Tarpaga highly
recommended this class.

“You don’t have to be a straight-up dancer, but you
will be dancing,” she said.

Baker-Tarpaga also suggested taking a French course beforehand
since much of the Senegalese population speaks French as well as
Wolof.

According to Hayden Dick, director of international programs, 24
UCLA students attended last year and joined 15 African dancers in
Dakar.

The collective dances that the WAC students performed Tuesday
were the ones they learned in Senegal: everybody simultaneously
threw up arms, thrust shoulders, waved off nonexistent flies and
stomped bare feet.

When students went this summer, they not only got the chance to
learn modern and traditional African dance, take drum studies and
learn about Senegal culture, they also got the hands-on social
encounters that make a summer travel session a life-changing
opportunity.

Verdoodt, who acted as a translator in Senegal for other
students because she speaks French, thought the considerably
personable greetings of Senegalese men are normal.

“It’s a way of greeting ““ to ask someone if
they’re married or not. Sometimes it is OK, sometimes
it’s not,” Verdoodt said.

Washington traveled in Africa on several occasions and still
found Senegalese personalities unusual.

“I don’t think this happens between Senegalese men
and women. I think it’s because we’re Western women and
we’re perceived to have a lot of money,” Washington
said. “If an American guy says to me, “˜I love
you,’ I get freaked out. When someone there says, “˜I
love you,’ they just mean, “˜I want to get to know you
better.'”