So, I reached out to 6 dance schools: 3 Greek folk, and 3 African. The African presence was prevalent on the internet, and I enjoy the vibe tremendously. Although it was not on my radar at this time, I though “why not.” A couple of days later, I received responses from 2 African teachers and zero Greek. OK!
I attended an African dance class at Yeleen. The location was more out-of-the-way than I liked, so I knew I would not be returning there even before the class started. It was an awesome class, though, and for a number of reasons. Firstly, there were the expected live drummers in attendance. Live drumming adds a burst of energy to any dancing, even while learning is going on. There was the unexpected surprise of Sissy, the beautiful teacher, a tiny Greek woman who knows her stuff, and also knows how to communicate it well. I guess I expected the teacher to be African — that’s all I had ever known when attending African dance in the US. Finally, the warmth of the participants was palpable. We were mostly women, and the vibe was that we just wanted to learn and express something from within. In fact, one of the women hooked me up with a Greek dance teacher that panned out.
I was advised that there would be some kind of “carnival” in some square the following Sunday at 12:30 pm, and that my classmates would be performing. They were unable to tell me much more and nothing was available in writing. But I learned enough to get myself over there.