Kadodo Drum & Dance Camp 21-23 February, 2025
4pm, Friday 21 February - 3pm, Sunday 23 February, 2025
In Levin this year at the glorious
Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre
865 Gladstone Road
RD1 Levin
A rare opportunity awaits you to learn from the source, learning intensively from Koffie Fugah (Kadodo Music - Ghanaian West African Drum and Dance tutor extraordinaire), and with local tutors Simon Elwell (Djembe NZ/Kubatana) and Jenny Bloomfield (Moringa Dancers).
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!! ALL WELCOME!!
This years Kadodo Drum & Dance School will be set in the relaxing and inspiring natural beauty of Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre in Levin. At this stunning venue, you have the wonderful opportunity to go deeply into spirit-lifting rhythms and dances with Koffie and our team.
For the 9th year, Kadodo Drum and Dance School invites you to partake in this unique opportunity. Extend your current skills and grow your abilities by learning traditional West African drumming and dance! Immerse yourself in the rhythms and grow a deeper understanding behind the rhythms, dances, songs, and the cultures they originate from.
What are you waiting for? Come and join us!
Tutors:
Koffie Fugah (kadododrumanddance.co.nz) - Drum/Dance
Jenny Bloomfield (moringadancers.co.nz) - Dance/Yoga
Simon Elwell (djembe.nz) - Drum
Uber Early Bird = $400 until 1 November
Early Bird = $450 until 15 January at midnight
Full Price = $500 from 16 January until MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY AT 10AM (FINAL BOOKING DATE FOR FULL CAMP & CATERING)
You can hire additionally:
- Djembe drum $10 (reservations essential)
- Towel $5 Per person
- Bedding (sleeping bag & pillow) $15 per person
- What to bring:
- Djembe drum (if you have not booked a drum hire)
- Any instrument you might like to play in our jam sessions
- Togs for swimming in the river
- Comfy cool clothes to move and stretch in
- Yoga Mat (there will be 10 available for community use, but in case you want your own, or want to make sure not to miss out).
- Something you'd like to share for the Variety Show if you're keen - please email Jenny to discuss your ideas and get on the list for our performance eve!
- Sneakers/trainers
- Indoor slippers/dance shoes if desired (the indoor floor is concrete, so prepare yourself to have coziness and support, and we will hold as many sessions as we can outside in nature if it's fine and dry enough - there is a nice open flat grassy area that is absolutely perfect to dance in if we have good weather)
Lots of great dancing, drumming, morning yoga sessions! Get amongst it!!
Proposed Timetable (subject to change):
FRIDAY
4pm Arrivals (there will be some afternoon tea supplies you can help yourself to, and relax, explore and enjoy the lush surroundings and settle in)
4:30pm-5:45pm Drumming w/Koffie
6pm-7pm Dance w/ Jenny
7pm-8pm Dinner
8:30pm Jam Session
SATURDAY
7:30am-8:30am Yoga w/Jenny
8:30am-9:30am Breakfast
9:30am-10:45am Drumming w/Simon
10:45am-11am Morning Tea
11am-12:30pm Dance w/Koffie
12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm-1:45pm Group Photo
1:45pm-3:15pm Drumming w/Koffie
3:15pm-3:30pm Afternoon Tea
3:30pm-5pmDance w/Jenny
5:15pm-6:30pm Singing w/Koffie
7pm Dinner
8:30pm Variety/talent show - all are welcome to contribute, bring something you would like to share if you are moved to!
SUNDAY
7:30am-8:30am Yoga w/Jenny
8:30am-9:30am Breakfast
9:30am-10:45am Drumming w/Simon
10:45am-11am Morning Tea
11am-12:15pm Dance w/Koffie
12:15pm-1:15pm Lunch/pack up
1:15pm-2:30pm Drumming w/Koffie
2:30pm-3pm pack up and go - 3pm departure time
Any questions or queries please contact Jenny: [email protected] 0276996918
About the tutors
Koffie is the primary tutor for this school/retreat, and will be bringing us the chance to learn from the source and really delve in deeply to these traditional art forms. He has a gift, challenging all levels of ability, and making everyone feel comfortable and confident. He brings his students to the next level while bringing a smile to their faces and leaving them all wanting more! A highly skilled facilitator and a talented and passionate artist, we are so lucky to have him here in NZ.
Koffie grew up in a village called Abor in the Volta Region of Ghana where traditional music and dance is part of daily life. He undertook his training Ghana's capital, Accra. Before coming to New Zealand, he taught African dance and drumming for 15 years both in Ghana and abroad.
Since making New Zealand home in 2013 he has established a network of drummers through drumming groups and running workshops around New Zealand. Kadodo represents his desire to connect with people throughout the country and unite them through their love of West African drumming and dance. Through Kadodo he has developed a supportive team of talented musicians who have a genuine desire to support him in his mission to share the joy and passion of his culture.
https://www.kadodomusic.com
Simon's love of African drumming, rhythm and song started 12 years ago upon meeting and experiencing the amazing rhythms of Africa through Mohamed Bangoura at the Organic River Festival. His passion for African percussion led him to community music leader Julian Raphael who teaches African rhythms, song and world music in Wellington and throughout New Zealand.
During his 6 years of drumming with Julian, Simon also learned inspiring and uplifting African rhythm and music face to face from several other drumming masters and percussionists including Mohamed Bangoura, Chris Berry, Robert Fugah and King Marong with whom Simon had the privilege to perform with. He has also been influenced by the teachings of Mamady Keita, Babara Bangoura and Fara Tolno.
Simon has been teaching and facilitating drumming groups in and around Wellington since 2011. He performs regularly with his percussion ensemble Kubatana, leads the drum group for Jenny Bloomfield's African Dance class in Newtown, and is currently studying the magical sound of the mbira.
Simon’s quirky sense of humour, attention to detail and fun nature make him a very popular tutor.
djembe.nz
Jenny has been dancing her heart out, performing, teaching, and creating community in and around Wellington since 2005. She is the founding director and teacher of Moringa Dancers West African Inspired Dance performance group. She has a passion for collaborating with drummers, often co-creating performances with Kubatana percussion ensemble and with Kadodo Music, and more recently also with Ooh Lala Music, Ollin Yoliztli Life and Movement, and Flying Jaranas! She will be bringing her fun and engaging style of teaching to this retreat, empowering students to find freedom through the connection of rhythm and movement. Her joy in dancing will leave you uplifted!
Jenny's love of West African dance began as a teenager, and now she has been dancing for most of her life! Fortunate to have grown up in northern California, where there are many amazing African dance tutors, she had the great privilege of being exposed to a lot of different styles of West African dance in her formative years. This led her to visiting Ghana in 1996 and studying intensively with Maputo Mensah. The cathartic experience of the welcoming West African culture and the warmth shown to her by everyone she met there blewJenny's mind, and changed her life forever, and she just returned to Ghana for more adventures and dancing with Koffie on the Kadodo Tour in 2019, was on the organising team for the 2024 Kadodo Ghana Tour and joined in, and is now assisting Koffie for the 2026 tour! (Join us!) Jenny has recently studied West African Dance with Anastasia Apetor, Jimmy Akiti, Koffie Mawuli, Edwin Yao, Seny Bangoura, Mohamed Bangoura, King Marong, Chris Berry, Naby Bangoura, Maputo Mensah, Oumou Faye, Claire Okamoto, Mami Hirayama, Kwame Tosuma, Mitzi McRae, and of course, friend/mentor and collaborator - Robert Koffie Fugah!
Jenny is a Dance/Movement Therapist (DTAA Prov. Prof), has a 350hr Dru Yoga instructor qualification, has studied Postural Patterning, and is a serious student of Polestar Pilates. She brings a knowledge of therapeutic dance, anatomy and alignment into her teaching. Jenny has developed a philosophy of natural movement and listening to your own body to create a sustainable, expansive and nourishing dance practice. .
moringadancers.co.nz
