Derrell Walker
African Percussion and Dance
Derrell Sekou Soumah Walker is a talented dancer and drummer from Portland, Oregon. Derrell made his professional debut in 1998, when he began performing and touring with the acclaimed Northwest African American Ballet in venues as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland where the ballet headlined for the Fringe Festival.
In 2000 Derrel began apprenticing with several of Guinea West Africa’s finest traditional drummers and dancers: Alseney Soumah, dancer of Les Ballet Africans; Moustapha Bangoura, dancer of Les Ballet Africans and founder of Le Bagate School of Drum and Dance; and Mamady Keita, founder of the World Wide School of Tam Tam Mandingue. With these masters, Derrell developed both skill and a deep respect for the music and culture of Guinea West Africa. The same year, he was made an honorary member of the Soumah family and given the name Sekou by his elders in a naming ceremony.
Because many of Derrell’s students are female, he acquired the influence of a feminine dance style. He began studying in 2003, with Mouminatou Camara, the fiery, legendary, principal dancer of Les Ballet Africans. In 2005, Derrell joined a small group of elite percussionists by becoming an accredited professor for the Tam Tam Mandingue School of percussion. Since then, Derrell has continued to study and tour with these teachers and many others, both in Portland and abroad . In his effort to bring African culture to the Northwest and Northern California regions, Derrell continues to organize tours for his master teachers and other acclaimed African artists annually.
Derrell has performed along side some of the greatest Guinean artists to come out of West Africa since the founding of Les Ballet Africans in 1954. He has performed with the acclaimed Les Mervilles D’Afrique and the internationally acclaimed Les Ballet Africans. In the United States, Derrell has performed with FaraFina Kan, based out of Washington D. C. He has been commissioned to teach throughout the United States: in Boise ID, Seattle WA, Baltimore MD, Winston Salem NC and in San Diego CA,. In Portland he has taught drum and dance classes since 2001, and served as lead percussionist for the Kukatonon Children’s Dance Troupe since 2003.
In 2004, Derrell founded Sébé Kan (“Serious Sound”), a drum and dance performance group for which he is the director and choreographer. For the past five years, Derrell has performed and taught at more than 70 schools, universities, and artistic camps throughout the United States. He continues to share with students and audiences his love and enthusiasm for the traditional drum and dance of Guinea West Africa.
-
Connect with Ethos Connect with Ethos!
