Drumming It Up

An expert in the dances of Guinea and Senegal, Amusa was invited to a friend8217;s bhangra party in 2004. 8220;When the dhol started to play, I woke up with a jolt,8221; she says. Soon the similarities between her West African dances and bhangra began to fascinate her. 8220;Both are closely related to the harvest season and dominated by drum beats,8221; she says. After looking up bhangra on YouTube, she decided 8220;that come what may, I would save up to come to India, the home of bhangra8221;.

Despite the packed schedule of her dance company Harambee, which performed before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Manhattan in 2007, she found time to pick up the basic lessons in bhangra in the US.

In Delhi, she works with Bollywood Naach and is perfecting the steps. 8220;Unlike West African dances, in which the body is bent forward, bhangra requires a more upright posture,8221; she says. And then, there are the jumps that define both forms 8212; Amusa leaps into the air, flaying her limbs in the celebratory gestures of West African performances. She began learning West African dance in high school as a 8220;way to connect with my own identity of being a Black American with a huge nose and nappy hair8221;, she says. Her father, who migrated from Nigeria in the early 1970s, never talked about his traditions and culture, so dance became a window to a faraway homeland. She started an African drum-and-dance ensemble at Northwestern University in 2005 and incorporated bhangra elements into her African dance troupe Orisha at Columbia University in 2007.

Bhangra is today as much a part of her identity, as the rhythms of Senegal, and Amusa is sure that 8220;India is going to be my third home8221;.