Testimonials
“The Yeli Ensemble and Windship Boyd provide an incredible and immersive experience, celebrating West African dance, drumming, and culture as a whole. Whether it is performing, teaching a master class, or holding a lecture or roundtable, they have a wealth of knowledge to share and our students and community members were excited and engaged to receive. In particular, it was such a joy to see young members of the African American community in Huntsville collaborating with the Yelis, and by extension, exploring their diasporic identity connecting to their African roots. Moreover, Windship Boyd is a skilled organizer who can adapt to all of your campus programming needs. The Yeli Ensemble will transform your campus life, community, and your students.”
- Dylan Baun, Associate Professor of History, University of Alabama in Huntsville
When I first discovered the Yeli Ensemble I was most impressed with the cultural significance of the instruments and the dance style. In contacting Windship Boyd, she was most helpful and helping create a program that would fit the needs of our school. The School of Creative and Performing Arts at Northwestern State University of Louisiana has a huge music program and a newly formed BFA in Dance. What worked out great was having the artist visit classes such as Rhythmic Analysis & Dance Accompaniment as well as the Percussion Studio Class. Besides classes the artists taught a master class in dance and later that same evening performed a lecture demonstration for the community to learn more about the artists and their culture. The student’s eyes lit up with joy and excitement. I haven’t seen the dancers have so much fun in a master class, they were all sweaty and smiling. The Yeli Ensemble created an amazing program for our students and faculty, and we will definitely be booking them again!
- Brett Alan Garfinkel, Chair Department of Theatre & Dance, Northwestern State University of Louisiana
(The HBCU) Tennessee State University has hosted several performances by the Yeli Ensemble, a remarkable group of top-notch world music artists presenting traditional dance and percussion music from West Africa. The AfricaNashville collaborative provided unfiltered access to the Yeli musicians, fostering cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of West African performing arts through performances, workshops, and individualized lessons. Balafon player Sory Diabate, along with the other Yeli members, engaged students in a challenging and exciting experience of immersive “deep learning” through hands-on emulation of intricate mallet patterns. As the roster of the Ensemble expands to include string instruments such as the kora, a staple of West African musical and oral histories, new possibilities open up for integrating indigenous knowledge into our formal music education programs. AfricaNashville is to be commended for bringing the Yeli artists into local communities, enhancing the richness as well as the international standing of Nashville’s music scene.
- Ljerka Rasmussen, Associate Professor of Music, Tennessee State University
I’m thankful for an organization like Africa Nashville. Providing unique groups like the Yeli Ensemble is a huge plus for Music City.
- Victor Wooten / bassist (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, 5x Grammy Winner, Rolling Stone Mag. Top 10 Bassist of ALL TIME!)
Africa Nashville is doing amazing things with gathering communities of musicians together to educate, celebrate, and perform music from around the world. The beautiful thing about music is that we can come together to meet each other on common ground as soon as the groove kicks in!
- Cory Wong / guitarist (Vulfpeck, Jon Batiste, Fearless Flyers, Dirty Loops)
