The month of November has brought several cultural experiences to the students, staff and parents of Lake City Elementary School.
On Nov. 17, the school hosted a family night featuring performances by fifth-grade students, Culture Splash artist-in-residence Rudolph Stephen Ferguson II, and world-renowned African drummer Fode Camara.
Ferguson spent the week with the fifth-grade students and taught them about African culture and dance. Camara then taught the students about African rhythms and how to play them on the djembe and other drums. Each student had the opportunity to try both dance and drumming to see which was the better fit.
At the performance, each class performed its African dance and drumming rhythm. Then the parents had the opportunity to experience a solo performance by Camara as well as a number featuring Camara and Ferguson.
Camara began playing drums when he was 5 and was considered a child prodigy. Camara, of Guinea, West Africa, has worked with the renowned African ballet, the National Circus of Guinea, and Senegal’s Ballet D’Afrique Noire. He has taught classes at Georgetown University, American University, Howard University, University of Maryland and University of South Carolina.
After the performance, the parents had the opportunity to complete a survey on workshops that they wanted to have during the second semester of the school year.
From November 16-20, sweetgrass basket maker Mary Graham-Grant taught the school’s third-grade students to sew baskets. The students learned about the process of creating a basket, the baskets’ origins in Africa, and the Gullah language.
Parent volunteers also had the opportunity to learn and start their own sweetgrass basket.
Graham-Grant was born in Georgetown and currently lives in Columbia.
These splashes of culture at Lake City Elementary were paid for through funding from the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Arts in Basic Curriculum Grant and by the Lake City Concert Series.
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