Concerts & Events

Old Town School of Folk Music is delighted to present Africa Out West in partnership with DCASE and the Kehrein Center for the Arts. The free of admission event will feature New York-based Asase Yaa, one of the premiere traditional West African performance ensembles in the United States, Chicago's own Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, local youth djembe orchestra Azania Drum, and Finding Ijeoma. The event is part of World Music Festival Chicago.

Building on the success of our past two events in 2023 and 2025, Old Town School's Africa Out West will celebrate Chicago's legacy of West African and African diasporic culture. The event will include a pre-performance reception with complimentary food and beverage service along with local vendors.

Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation

The Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization established in Bed-Stuy, NY in 2001. They are celebrating their milestone 25th anniversary this year with the theme "We Strive to Thrive." Its African American Dance Theater is making their sixth appearance (2005, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022) at DanceAfrica 2026, with its revamped production of The Revival: Djembe in the New Millennium. The ensemble is also presenting the show on its current national concert tour, its first since 2017. The show fuses traditional West African music and dance with urban music genres from the 1990s to present day New York.

Asase Yaa and its Dance Theater were founded by Yao Ababio, a master Djembe drummer, director, and choreographer who serves as its Artistic Director. K. Osei Williams, his brother, serves as the Foundation's Executive Director. The Foundation is dedicated to preserving African American and African diasporic dance and drum traditions through performance, education, and community engagement. In addition to the Dance Theater, they oversee several youth programs; School of the Arts, (youth 2 –18); Youth Ensemble; Children's Summer Arts Camp, (4 – 13 years old); and Arts Outreach Program, which performs interactive entertainment for schools throughout New York.

Since its inception Ababio and Williams have collaborated on creating 35 original independent productions. The Dance Theater was the first US-based African dance company in history to be nominated for a coveted Bessie Award for the initial production of “Djembe in the New Millennium” (2014), just one of their numerous accolades. More than 1000 performers have graced their stages for over 5000 performances domestically and internationally. This includes appearances by their abbreviated ensembles (dancers and drummers) as featured performers at corporate, private events, music festivals, schools, and collaborations with dozens of the most prestigious African dance companies in the nation.

ABOUT THE REVIVAL: DJEMBE IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM NATIONAL TOUR

The Bessie Award-winning Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2026-27 (founded in 2001). This milestone will be marked by their first national concert tour since 2017, and it will be their largest yet. The tour will feature performances of The Revival: Djembe in the New Millennium, which premiered at their 3rd Annual Rhythms & Movements Festival in February 2026 in New York, NY. The original production was initially developed in 2010 by master Djembe drummer and revered choreographer Yao Ababio, the founder and Artistic Director of the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater. The show is among 19 of the original productions that Asase Yaa has produced and presented over the past three decades. Its success led to Asase Yaa becoming the first US-based dance company in history to be nominated for the highly coveted Bessie Award in 2014 (which was their second nomination).

Ababio has re-teamed up with his brother, K. Osei Williams, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, who serves as Executive Producer, to revamp the original production and add several additional elements to The Revival. This electrifying production traces the journey of the Djembe drum from its origins in West Africa to its influence on contemporary music and dance in Brooklyn since the early 90s and beyond. The performance fuses traditional rhythms and movements from Guinea, Mali, and Senegal with the pulse and energy of modern-day New York, creating a breathtaking narrative of resilience, creativity, and unity.

https://www.asaseyaaent.org/

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, led by Artistic Director Nicole Clarke-Springer and Executive Director Makeda Crayton, reimagines and diversifies the aesthetics of contemporary dance by uniting modern, classical, American, and African American traditions in dance and storytelling. Founded 30 years ago by Kevin Iega Jeff and Gary Abbott, this renowned Chicago treasure collaborates with nationally renowned choreographers, across the spectrum of modern, ballet, and African dance, to reflect contemporary voices.

https://www.deeplyrooteddancetheater.org/

Azania Drum

Azania Drum, a local youth djembe orchestra with a focus on leadership, discipline, and teamwork. Started in 2000 by the late Baba Meshach Silas and Mama Ann Ward, and housed at Betty Shabazz International Charter School, Azania added an entirely new element of culture, creativity, and history to Chicago catering to children wanting to learn to play djembe orchestra music. Now under the direction of Baba John Chapman and Baba Desmond Owusu, Azania is soaring to new heights, making ways for young musicians to learn traditional West African music and use it as a tool to create brighter futures for themselves and their community!

http://www.azaniadrum.com

Finding Ijeoma

Alexandria Eregbu is an independent curator and cultural practitioner working at the intersections of art, music, and community.

As a visual artist her artwork engages a combination of archival images, symbols, proverbs, and folklore to invoke ancestral memory in African-American existence. She creates textiles, paintings, sculpture, and performances to bridge nature, design, healing, and ecology. She uses materials like beads, indigo, cowrie shells, wood, and feathers and processes like embroidery, appliqué, natural dyeing, drawing, and quilting to make meaning with the unseen.

As DJ FINDING IJEOMA, Alexandria blends distinct methods of sampling, mixing, and archival audio to amplify femme voices, invoke Black memory, and honor the tradition of storytelling within global dance music culture. Rooted in Chicago's rich sonic legacy, her practice embodies a deep reverence for rhythm, ritual, and collective gathering.

https://www.findingijeoma.com/