Sidi Mohamed Camara, popularly known as “Joh,” was born in Bamako, Mali in West Africa, and from the age of 5, trained in music and dance from his mother Fanta Kamissoko, a well-known Jali (Jalis, also known as Griots, are highly venerated in their traditional society as skilled oral historians who are not only singers, storytellers, and musicians, but also advisors and mediators). Camara has toured with companies Troupe Mande, Troupe Sewa, Troupe du District de Bamako, and Percussion Fabla throughout the Republic of Mali and West Africa, presenting hundreds of shows. He was chief choreographer for Troupe Mande and Troupe Sewa and led them to become among the most renowned and competitive companies in the world of West African dance and drumming.

Camara came to the U.S. in 1995 with the renowned guitarist Zani Diabate and Troupe Mande. He has taught and presented his work at universities across the country including Brown, Princeton, Brandeis, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Berklee School of Music, Boston University, Washington University, and Olympia (Washington State). He currently teaches in numerous Boston Public Schools and other public and private schools and community centers and collaborates with Boston Ballet, Boston Symphony Youth Orchestra and Choir, Upward Bound, Planet Aid, and others. Camara teaches traditional Mande culture, language, music, and dance as well as those of neighboring Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal at various community centers and instructs dance and drumming classes at Boston University, Harvard University, and the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA.

A multi-talented artist from Dakar, Senegal, Alioune “Pape” N’Diaye is a seasoned performer (song, dance, and percussion), instructor, and choreographer in Djembe, Kutiro, Sabar, Modern, and African contemporary dance forms. He has been a member of numerous acclaimed Senegalese traditional and contemporary dance companies, including the National Ballet of Senegal, Cinquihme Dimension, Ballet Sinomew, Forêt Sacrée, and Manhattan Dance School. Pape N’Diaye is also a former lead dancer for Jant-Bi where he choreographed pieces for the award winning FAGAALA, Jant-Bi’s most recently toured production. In the United States he has choreographed and performed with the Kinodance Company, Maimouna Keita School of African Dance, and the Harvard University Pan-African Dance and Music Ensemble. He is the lead singer and founder of the Mbalax Music Band, Doomou Africa, and the director of the recently acclaimed African Dance Company, Les Enfants du Soleil – African Dance Theater. This company is made up of dynamic artists and musicians from various West African countries and the United States. In addition to singing and directing Les Enfants du Soleil – African Dance Theater, Pape N’Diaye is the founder of the Ndaje School of African Arts, Inc. which hosts the Annual Ndaje Festival of African Music and Dance, the largest African dance and drum celebration in Boston. Pape currently teaches a weekly beginning African Dance class at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA.