SOME STEREOTYPES ARE TRUE: WHITE MEN CAN'T DANCE (or at least this white man)

Just a Little Background

Today was the D-Day of performing arts here at the University of Ghana. I had two back-to-back final examination performances in front of two separate panels of judges. As luck would have it, they scheduled my Traditional African Drumming final at the same time as my Traditional African Dance final. So, immediately after dancing I had to run over to the music department and take the drumming final. Those of you know me well know anything music or dancing-related is simply not my forte'. I can’t even clap to a beat, so as you could imagine, I was pretty nervous for my performing arts examinations. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any whiter in Africa – I did.

Setting the Stage:

DANCE FINAL
The clock struck 7AM and I put on my dance uniform and went over my three dances and reviewed for my drumming performance. When I arrived at the examination room, the setting was exactly like American Idol. One of the judges called, “Next... Jaaassson Holley," and placed the number three on my shirt. I was told to enter the room. My heart raced as I entered. There were just four other people and myself standing in a line. The room was dimmly lit and in the front sat 5 intimidating judges and about 6 professional drummers that provided the music for the dances. At that moment, it hit me. What in the hell am I doing here? Have you ever felt that feeling that you are not at all where you are supposed to be – completely out of your element – completely out of place? Here I was about to give a performance for 3 real semester units of transferable grade and I was about to be graded on the one thing in life I am worst at… dancing. All of a sudden without warning the drummers started pounding away and since I was the first group to go I had no idea what to do – do I start dancing or wait for some sort of signal? After an awkward pregnant pause I decided I should start dancing… so I began. For some unknown reason, maybe it's genetics, I can never stay on the same beat as everyone else. I definitely have "White Dancer Syndrome." I just can’t stay on rhythm no matter how hard I try. After I completed the first dance and made several mistakes I knew I had to step it up for the second dance. I danced harder than I ever had before and even saw a few of the judges laugh. Hopefully a laugh of approval but not likely. Overall I knew I gave it my all – a valiant effort. I’m taking the course pass/no pass so I just have to get a C or above in order to get a Pass grade so dance class doesn’t ruin my GPA. On the way out of the examination room the professor placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Great effort but you looked a little tense." This is the same professor last week that asked me if I was just walking around or dancing – so I was glad that she knew I was dancing this time.

DRUMMING FINAL
Immediately after my dances I ran over to the music department and prepared for my drum final. This setting was even more intimidating than the dance because I was told to enter a small dark room in front of 3 judges and immediately was asked the origin of the music "Gota" that I was performing and when it was used. Luckily, I prepared for questioning so I spoke for 4 minutes about the piece until one of the judges interrupted me and said, “Just play the song.” in a frustrated voice. So after that rough start it was game time. I thought I performed flawlessly because I had practiced it about 400 times prior. It sounded correct to my ear but at the very end of the performance the professor said, “Son you are very good, but you left your babies behind.” I don’t know what in the world that even means. Maybe, I played too fast. Possibly I was off beat from the other 4 people in my group and doing my own thing? I’m not quite sure. Anyway I was kind of disappointed in myself for playing off beat because I had practiced so much but I had to keep it together and move on. Next, I had to play the bell. The cow bell mind you is the bain of my existence. It makes it very loud and clear that I don’t have rhythm. The only problem is that the drummers depend on a good bell rhythm in order to stay on track. I thought I was doing just fine until one of the judges shook his head, stood up from the panel, walked over to me – took the bell out of my hands and started playing. I just hung my head. I’m sure this didn’t help my overall grade. I tried to finish the rest of the music the best I could and hold it together with the supporting drums, etc. All the judges looked angry. One judge answered his cell phone during my performance and I’m pretty sure one judge was asleep. That was definitely one of my rougher final examinations. I just pray I performed well enough to get a pass on my transcript. At least I can say I faced my greatest fear of dancing and performing a musical instrument in front of judges for an academic grade.

A Look Into My Last 4 Weeks
I’m now officially done with classes and am about to embark on finals month. Yes, finals take an entire month here. I have about one final per week and then depart on May 16th. Since my last final is May 10th I intend to travel for about four days. Maybe out of Ghana and into some surrounding African Countries. Thanks so much as always for reading the blog.

J