artist bios

2011-08-28T17:10:00.002-07:00

Elizabeth Mazyck "Zyck" Baggett: Zyck, the General Manager of Jeh Kulu, is also known as the queen of Jeh Kulu or “Bintu”, and has been a member since 1994. Zyck, has been dancing all her life, she studied ballet, tap, jazz and modern and danced with a classical ballet company in college for 3 years. She never took a West African dance class until she moved to Vermont in 1994. When she took her first class she knew “I had come home and that this was the dance I was destined for.” Since then she has traveled to Guinea, Senegal, Ghana and Mali to study dance and drumming. She is dedicated to honoring the culture by learning as much as she can. Though managing Jeh Kulu requires hours of her time, Zyck is also a Project Manager for ARD, Inc., an International Development Company that implements USAID projects worldwide. This seemingly tireless woman still finds time to dance, dance, dance, travel as much as possible, enjoy the outdoors, spend time with her friends and visit family in North Carolina…to make sure she doesn't forget her southern roots!

2011-08-28T17:10:00.001-07:00

Jamaica Rose White: Jamaica, Assistant Artistic Director, joined the Jeh Kulu in 1996. She came to the company with years of training in modern, jazz, and ballet. She began dancing seriously at age 6 and attended several prestigious dance studios including Boston Ballet. Jamaica came to Vermont for a visit in 1993, but charmed by its rural beauty and wacky charm, shenever left. Ever the dancer, she frequently could be seen at clubs showing the locals how it’s done. A friend of hers, admiring her dance style, relentlesslyurged Jamaica to try a West African dance class. After being inspired at a local reggae show, she finally relented and has been at it ever since. She studies from master artists in the US and West Africa and lived in Senegal for 3 months. Jamaica lives in Burlington with her Husband, Michael White and her two daughters Jr. Jeh Kulu members, Awa and Eslyn.

2011-08-28T17:09:00.001-07:00

Autumn Bangoura: Autumn has been drumming and dancing since the age of 15. She grew up in Warren, VT and studied under "D'Moja" for several years. Autumn founded and directed the creative dance company "Earth Expressions" based out of Evergreen State College and performed and did artist in residencies in different venues all over Washington State. She currently plays drums weekly for dance classes and has been an active member of Jeh Kulu for over 10 years and represents for all the woman drummers out there. She is also a gifted teacher, and tireless mother to three children. She has endless energy and patience as a performer and company.

2011-08-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

Lois Trombley: Lois has been a member of Jeh Kulu since its inception, and has generously contributed her talents for performance, choreography, direction, and set design. She has studied West African Dance in Senegal and teaches classes in Jazz, Modern, and Hip-Hop dance through the Flynn Theater and at The University of Vermont. She is also the co-creator, director, and choreographer of The Spielpalast Cabaret and has performed across the state of Vermont, the NYC Burlesque Festival and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. She is a dynamic dancer, a multi-talented artist, and mother of lovely Zora.

2011-08-28T17:07:00.002-07:00

Erin Star Hughes: Erin has been dancing since she could walk, infamous in childhood for impressions of both Janet and Michael Jackson, and endless dance shows. She performed with various ensembles throughout high school and college, but never found her true niche until a friend brought her along to a West African Dance class. She began studying West African Dance intensively by 1997 and has traveled to Senegal on a study tour with members of Le Ballet National du Senegal and then returned to Dakar for an intensive study with a smaller ballet, Le Ballet de Songomar. She first joined Jeh Kulu as a performing member in 2002, and in addition to performing, coordinates Jeh Kulu’s community outreach. She works for ARD Inc, an international development firm in Burlington Vermont and is the proud mother of future superstar, Mafali Sene.

2011-08-28T17:07:00.001-07:00

Jamilah Vogel: Jamilah's love for West African music and Dance began when her mother, Aviva Gabriel began studying Djembe in the 1980s and became a role model for women in the drum and dance community through her musical achievements. Jamilah dabbled in Djembe and Conga drumming and studied Haitian and Cuban dance on and off for several years. She has been studying West African dance seriously since 2001 and has become a dynamic performer. She is also an educator and contributes these skills and many others to the daily operations of Jeh Kulu.

2011-08-28T17:06:00.002-07:00

Alexis Kamitses: Alexis graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Biology and Dance in 2002 and enjoys studying and teaching many forms of dance including West African, Hip Hop, Modern, and Jazz. She has been dancing with Jeh Kulu since 2003 and during that time has also had the privilege to travel and study in Senegal. She received her Masters in Education from UVM in 2009, lives in Burlington and hopes to furthur her study abroad, but is kept busy dancing, teaching Biology and Forensics at BFA St. Albans, and raising her son Liam.

2011-08-28T17:06:00.001-07:00

Ali Beddoe: Since the age of 16 Ali has been a restless traveling soul who has often taken a less direct route, from point A to B. She has made her way from east to west in the U.S. and back again. Haiti, China, Tibet & Indonesia make up some of the detours. Hailing from New York, originally Brooklyn born to a mother of Ukrainian heritage and a father from Trinidad, West Indies- Mangoes, Roti, Perogies, Calypso music and dance has been a part of life from its start. The youngest of 3, Ali was the ever-willing assistant to her brother & sister's break dance classes. An ex-gymnast of 8 years and a former art school student, educator & painter Ali began her voyage into West African dance as student of Sidiki Sylla and Elhadji Mamadou "Pape" Ba in 2007.

2011-08-28T17:04:00.002-07:00

Dayna Scott: Dayna, Kicked out of ballet class in second grade; ascended to the level of "Advanced Intermediate" gymnast in sixth grade; discovered "African dance," and finally joined Jeh Kulu in 1994. Dayna traveled to Senegal, Guinea and Mali several times to study the form on African soil under the scorching African sun. During the day she works as the Connecting Youth Grants Administrator and is a professional facilitator for the Center for Health and Learning. Dayna's love of life an adventure shows in her energetic performance stlye.

2011-08-28T17:04:00.001-07:00

Bijoux Bahati: Bijoux was introduced to Jeh Kulu by a family friend Annemiek upon her early days after arriving in Burlington in 2004. “If it was not for this woman whom I admire greatly, I wouldn’t have gotten to know Jeh Kulu and its great cultural riches that early” she said. She was born and raised in the Republican Democratic of Congo “The Heart of Africa” and lived in Tanzania for several years before resettled in Burlington, VT in 2004. She graduated from Burlington High School in 2008, enrolled at The University of Vermont, graduating in 2012. At UVM, Bijoux studied West African Dance under Lois Trombley and later was the TA for the class with Seny Dafe. Prior to Jeh Kulu membership, Bijoux did not have any “formal” dance training, however, rhythm is naturally ingrained in her. She enjoys dancing, drumming and acting, which is evident when you see her perform as she has great passion, style and energy for dance. As in her childhood doing elementary school plays and theatrical performances back in Tanzania, she was surrounded by different traditional dancing and drumming and now, being in Jeh Kulu reminds her this time.

2011-08-28T17:03:00.001-07:00

Amy Agbodzie: Amy discovered West African dance in Colorado in 2003 and has been addicted ever since! From Colorado she moved to New Mexico to study at the former Blue Tribe School of Music and Dance, which was focused on Zimbabwean traditions. Still on the search for more, Amy travelled to Ghana to both volunteer and to study the Ghanaian style of drumming and time-honored dances. After returning from Ghana, she studied with various teachers in the Boston and New Mexico, eventually finding her way to Vermont and the West African Dance community here in 2010. She joined Jeh Kulu in 2011 and is very excited to be able to learn and dance with such a wonderful group of people!

2011-08-28T17:02:00.001-07:00

Michael Holmes: Michael first learned of the infusive beauty of African rhythms while living among the Luo of western Kenya, where he spent a year teaching English, math, and science at Nyasanda High School, in Ugunja. Originally from New Hampshire, Michael moved to Burlington area in 2003, where he began studying dance and music informally under DJ Craig Mitchell at 135 Pearl until a friend finally convinced him to try a West African class. Instantly hooked on the form, he has since danced with devotion, and has now joined Jeh Kulu, for good. He has a lovely daughter named Zora.

Jeh Kulu Apprentice Members

2011-08-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Marlena Tucker: Marlena was born in Queens, New York and moved to New Jersey. She began her dance career doing Step at the young age of 4 at North Stelton African Methodist Episcopal church. She has been involved in theater and dance for most of her life, attending Middlesex County Arts High School for Dramatic Improv and Theatre and performing in numerous theatrical productions. While pregnant with her son explored the North African art of belly dancing, traditionally called 'womb dance'. Upon moving to Vermont with her husband, a djembe player, her interest was sparked in West African dance and Marlena joined Jeh Kulu.

Molly Moerdyk: Molly was essentially blind to the art form of dance until joining dear friends to see Jeh Kulu perform at a school local to Rutland Vermont in 2005 where she was living at the time. Inspired to give it a try she started taking Belly Dance and West African Dance with Shelby Jones at Studio Bliss in Rutland. After a year she left family and friends to move to Burlington to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Transpersonal Psychology at Burlington College and spend her spare time absorbing all she could about West African dance and culture under the tutelage of Jeh Kulu‘s Master Artists. Molly works as an Insurance Specialist at Visiting Nurse Association and aspires to travel to West Africa to learn the art form from the masters of Guinea and Senegal.

Amber Palladino: Amber started taking West African dance classes with Jeh Kulu in 2008, and joined the company as an apprentice in 2011. She also takes Zumba classes and is an active performer with Nightmare Vermont. Though much of Amber's time is spent working at her two jobs, she has a hard time turning down an opportunity to dance!

Dawn Palladino: Dawn started taking African Dance class with her sister Amber in January of 2008, and has been hooked ever since. She also started learning the Djembe drum, as well. Dawn didn't have any formal dance training before Jeh Kulu, but has had lots of experience dancing in the clubs and in her living room. She is also active in the community's local haunt attraction, Nightmare VT, where she acts and performs stage combat. Dawn has her Master's degree in Social Work and works as a case manager at the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging.