Started by Robin Getter more than 25 years ago, the Steamboat African Dance & Drum Ensemble continues to grow as an all-volunteer artist group that studies traditional African dance and music under renowned teachers from Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Congo and Zimbabwe. Steamboat has become a regular stop for West African master dancers and drummers who come to teach wildly popular community workshops. The Steamboat African Dance & Drum Ensemble is an affiliate of the Steamboat Dance Theatre and a strong supporter in its efforts to bring dance education, performance and participation to the Steamboat Springs community.

Dozens of local artists regularly attend West African dance and drum retreats each year, including Bantu Camp in Santa Fe, N.M., and Camp Merveilles in Boulder, Co. Several of our dancers have traveled to West Africa for immersion studies with professional dancers and musicians as well. These local dancers and drummers help bring African connections back to Steamboat with new choreography, community performances like Art in the Park and the Steamboat Dance Theatre concert, an ever-increasing number of local workshops for kids and adults with our African mentors...plus ongoing weekly dance classes.

Here are some links to recent local news stories about the Steamboat Springs African Dance & Drum Ensemble and our workshops:

African drum performance troupe in town for classes, show, Aug. 3, 2009, in the Steamboat Today

Pah-tah-goon-doh-gob-goon, Jan. 26, 2007, in the Steamboat Today
Drums, dance and diversity, Oct. 12, 2007, in the Steamboat Today
Trying Out African Dance, April 26, 2008 in the Steamboat Today

The ensemble has had many exciting guest artists visit us in Steamboat this year, including a two-day West African dance, drum and culture festival with Pan Africa! Stay tuned to this Web site for all the details about upcoming master classes and regular class schedules throughout the year.