|
|
Nzinga Metzger
|
|
» Back to Artist page
|
|
Nzinga Metzger has been a student of traditional West African dance since 1991,
when she began to study dances from the Old Mali Empire with Nia Love at the
Florida State University. From 1991 to 1995, Ms. Metzger’s study was focused on
the dances of the Old Mali/Senegambian region of West Africa with a special interest
in the historical and present day contexts of these dances and their socio-religious
functions. During this period of her dance career, she also acted as
dancer/choreographer with the Orchesis Contemporary Dance Theatre at FAMU in
Tallahassee, Florida. Later, Ms. Metzger joined Barefoot Ballet in Atlanta, Georgia
where she studied the dances of Senegal under Linda Faye Bayo. Ms. Metzger joined
Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1997,
and, as a member at large, is
|
part of the ensemble’s newest generation of performers.
As a proud member of Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble she widens her
knowledge of dances from Old Mali/Senegambia and has added Afro-Cuban dances
from the orisa tradition to her repertoire.
Ms. Metzger is also a student of another aspect of the Afro-Cuban culturaltradition,
namely the singing of oriki or songs dedicated to the orisa of the Yoruba faith. Her
journey with song started in approximately 1998 when she began singing oriki, with a
congregation of which she was a member. There, she began to learn songs associated
with both the Egungun (ancestors) and the orisa (divinities). In 1999 she studied the
oriki until she made the acquaintances of master bata player and Pew artist Greg
‘Peachy’ Jarman, with whom she continues to apprentice, and akpon Olufemi
DeWindt, a very well-known akpon from New York with whom she also apprentices.
Ms. Metzger has also augmented her study and knowledge of African history, art and
culture by receiving her Master’s degree in history from Temple University in 1999.
Ms. Metzger has decided to further deepen her intellectual development by studying
cultural anthropology at Florida State University where she is in pursuit her doctorate.
|
|
