West African Dance from Mali with Abdoulaye Koita

Abdoulaye Koita

Abdoulaye Koita is a performer that specializes in dance and music that is from/stems from the traditions of Africa and its diaspora. He started performing at 14 after being inspired by dance legend Baba Chuck Davis to start an African dance group in his community. The group lead to intensive studying of the cultures, dances and music traditions of Africa and its Diaspora. After high school he continued his education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT) and joined the E Gwynn Dance Company; where he performed as a dancer and musician and started his costume construction and designing for the company for 3 years. After his first year at NCAT he got a internship in his hometown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) working with the Artistic Director of the DanceAfrica Festival Abdel Salaam. This internship allowed him to realize his love for choreography and then sparked him transfer to The University of North Carolina in Greensboro where he now has a Bachelor's degree in Dance, His work is a reflection of him... his work is unapologetically BLACK