NGOMA ENSEMBLE
Ngoma; meaning both drum and dance in Swahili, was formed in 1995 by a group of young performing artists. This group united with the community, to educate, empower and embrace their audiences with the majesty of who they were, who they are, and the limitlessness of who they could become.
This generation of young artist’s remains committed to continue the work of sharing their African ancestry through the musical discipline and skill development of drum and dance with the community.
This ensemble is taught and coached on traditional and cross over pieces of music by local and international professional artists. The ensemble promotes mentorship within the art community by organizing young professional artists who were first generation Ngoma members to teach and choreograph the current participants.
ABOUT AWA NIAGARA FALLS FESTIVAL
Founded in 2011 by international artist Sonia Aimy, African Women Acting (AWA) is an incorporated non-profit organization. The organization aims to empower, promote and preserve African cultural arts of all modalities in Ontario. These include vocal and instrumental music, theatre, dance, visual arts, spoken word, story-telling and poetry.
In order to comprehensively achieve our goal, we ardently support female African artists and those of the diaspora and champion related issues. As we are a community of women, the agenda of addressing social activism for social issues such as sexism, discrimination, racism, homelessness, gender-based violence and mental health are some aimed at to eradicate. Through artistic expressions, AWA brings these issues to light and offers knowledge, support and solutions.
Although AWA prioritizes promoting female African artists, we strongly believe in inclusivity in the arts community. We encourage partnerships and collaborations with artists of all genders, ethnicities and religious or spiritual beliefs.