Sankofa Drum and Dance Ansemble was first formed in 1997 from Kofi's community drum circles in Allentown and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Members of Sankofa came, and keep comming, from all walks of life and from around the whole tri-state region. Sankofa has played with such nationally known drummers as Babatunde Olatunji , and his Drums of Passion, Mickey Hart, Arthur Hall, Sikiru, and Camara.

The roots of Sankofa go beyond genetic and cultural ones. They are the roots of what it means to live as a human being. In the Twi language from Asante kingdom in Ghana, Sankofa means "going back to the roots". Literally, Sankofa means it's not a taboo to go back and correct or make up for mistakes, in values or culture.

Snkofa's performances create an atmosphere of an indigenous African village where everyone gets involved. When the drums are playedthere is a dialogue between them, it's like a language, which is completed by voices raised in call-and-response, where one voice calls out a phrase and other voices answer back with the same phrase, a chorus repeated throughout the rhythm. The marriage of polyrythm and chants leads the way for other instruments, like sheakeres, flutes, and xylophones. Dancers complete the performance giving additional meaning to already powerful experience. The close dialogue between all the instruments and performers generates feeling of connectedness and togetherness. The spirit of community, sharing, oneness, joy, peace, and love calls everyone alike, breaking the barriers of race, color, or gender. It breaks the isolation between people and gets the audience involved. At the end of the performance everyone is dancing up a storm!

In accordance with the legacy of his grandfather, Kofi starts and ends every performance, workshop, lecture and demostration with an ancient ritual, like pouring of libation. In African cultures, there are rituals and accompanying them drum rhythms and dances that celebrate almost all events of daily life, like marriage, initiation, birth of a baby, harvest, even death, or war. This art form and culture is trully indigenousm, passed from generation to generation in an unwritten form. Kofi did not study that, he grew up with it. This has always been a part of him even away from home.

Kofi not only plays different kinds of drums (kete, arumpan, kpalogo, ashika, djundjun, kenkene, bells, akasa and djembe), but he also tells stories with his xylophone (gyil) and bamboo flute (atentenben). Some of the rhythms include:

Amanko - A call to invigorate warriors going to a battle. This if symbolic for facing and conquering fear.

Agbadza - Means "exodus". This rhythm and dance tell the story of an ancient West African community (Sotheastern Ghana) that migrated from northern Africa to West Africa.

Fanga - Means "welcome and thank you". This is a Liberian rhythm that is often,but not only, used by children who welcome their mother who comes from the market and brings them all sorts goodies.

Sankofa's appearences are based on promoting diversity in different cultures, apart from African culture. Sankofa is performing at colleges universities schools preschool programs, as well as the community, frin conferences, to festivals and fairs. Sankofa is also available for private performances or parties. For more information about performances, please, visit our schedule of upcoming events. If you are interested in scheduling a performance, please, call 845-355-8329 or email kofi@bak2roots.com