Meet Daunté “KINGTAE” Fyall of DAANSEKOU Cultural Arts Collective in South LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daunté “KINGTAE” Fyall.

Daunté “KINGTAE”, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m an Army brat born in Frankfurt, Germany and raised in a single-parent household in SE, Washington, DC. with drugs, violence, and the prospect of being another Black male “statistic” in the community. Thankfully at that time, my Mother was truly focused on protecting me from the unfortunate circumstances of this environment. Mother made sure that I developed strong desires for divine spiritual connection, education, art and humanistic love regardless of the environment that I would find myself in. I was the kid that attended local Bible discussion meetings, took occasional piano lessons at a low-cost Saturday community “college” course offered by Howard University, had dance contests to songs on the radio with my cousins, expressed my feelings through drawings/random words written on contact paper affixed on my bedroom wall and I occasionally traveled locally whenever my mom had the means to do so; I would later learn that these are and would be the key components of the foundation of my life! I was 19 years old on a summer break from College, broke, ambitious but yet slightly aloof to what it meant to be legally “of age” as a young Black Man in the DMV (DC, Maryland & Virginia). I trained and became certified as a Lifeguard through the DPR (DC Department of Parks & Recreation) and was placed at Randal Recreation Center in the then challenging neighborhood of SW, Washington, DC.

Everyday Saturday at work, we would hear loud drumming, joy-filled laughter, and see numerous individuals from all walks of life (some with their bodies adorned with beautiful pieces of fabric) joyfully walk into the gates of a neighboring compound (with a high brick fence) to be with the sounds that we’d been hearing at the pool. Still truly oblivious to what was actually happening behind that fence, I felt an energy “pulling” me to investigate further. My supervisor at the time urged all of her employees to attend stating that it would “…change our lives…”; this made me truly determined the next Saturday to discover the source of the energy that was pulling me. On a 15min break, I headed for the gates of the compound and you’d be surprised what I saw…

I saw Men, Women & Children stretching, juices and goods being sold, and the most smiles I’ve ever seen in my life; there was also a sign that read: “KanKouran West African Dance Company” this was a Dance class fam! With feelings of ignorance to what had been happening all this time, I asked a tall African gentleman (who appeared to be the King in charge) sitting on a park bench near the entrance in my heaviest DC accent: “This is a dance company, how do I audition for this or whatever?” (my DMV folks will get it lol) The African King responded: “We don’t do auditions, you come Tuesday, we’ll see what you can do…” (he turned his head and continued to smile at the packed class preparing for his instruction! I would later learn on the following Tuesday that this King is the one and only World-Renown Master Teacher: Assane Konte of Senegal, West Africa. He’s the Founder/Artistic Director of the Nation’s Premiere Traditional West African Dance Company (Kankouran).

With butterflies in my stomach, I walked up to the studio doors on Tuesday and saw beautiful Black athletic Kings & Queens stretching and preparing for a major upcoming International conference/showcase hosted by Kankouran. I was truly unsure of this movement in my mind but it felt “familiar”; as if part of my being had experienced the transformative language in a past life or realm; in short, I WAS HOOKED! Over the next few months, I fought to consistently train several times per week with Pappassane while balancing a full-time course load in College, I would begin to understand the existence and importance of the Djembe, Dun Dun, Griot, Song, Dance, Ritual, Rhythm, I was able to learn the TRUE history of my Ancestors.

Now, As a Senior Company Member, my performance venues/credits with KanKouran include: The Kennedy Center of Washington DC, the Trinidad & Tobago Emancipation Festival, The Smithsonian Museums of Washington DC, and The White House of the United States of America to name a few (Apr. 2007)! It has now been 14 amazing years in the Traditional West African Drum & Dance Culture! I’ve truly been fortunate to obtain countless hours of continuing education with West African Master Teachers and even the opportunity to study and perform abroad in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa as a Cultural Arts Ambassador.

Entrance into the understanding of my Cultural Roots and hard work led me to receive the privilege of studying and performing with dance Pioneer: Debbie Allen at her prestigious dance academy located in the heart of Los Angeles. My dance performance credits with Mrs. Allen include: “Debbie Allen’s: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” and Performing at “Debbie Allen’s: All-Star Gala”. The Ancestors really cleared the path for me to share my Traditional West African Dance talents in music video projects with amazing artists such as Pharell, Khalid, and in a Major Motion Picture film project coming soon!

As the Founder of DAANSEKOU Cultural Arts Collective in the heart of Los Angeles, this journey has taught me that “…true healing starts with Pure Heart and Positive Intention…” I am honored to study and share the value of this living tradition while simultaneously encouraging people to experience their infinite potential. This is my quest as a Black Man to collectively empower others to “Walk through the Gate” just like I did.

Has it been a smooth road?
IT HAS TRULY BEEN FINANCIALLY CHALLENGING! In the beginning, I noticed that young artists in the community needed a West African Dance class that they could attend and pay what they could; I struggled for the first three years to rent studio space, pay drummers, and even to pay West African Master Teachers their full value. I personally maneuvered my funds to make all payments on-time while mustering the determination to keep creating this space! As the knowledge of our community family grew, understanding, appreciation, we started to see an increase in community donations at the beginning our fourth year! We’re still growing as an organization that truly is in need of the support of our global community leaders to help this village grow!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
DAANSEKOU Cultural Arts Collective (est. March 15, 2015) in the heart of Los Angeles, CA. We host the Largest West African Dance Fundamental Class in Southern California. My life’s work is dedicated to creating nurturing educational spaces for inner-city youth/adults, collaborative workshops with community organizations, maintaining private, corporate and individual group lessons. I’ve personally developed an affinity for traveling, leading retreats and teaching specialized workshops. With the present state of our World, the support received from our Global family is safely needed. In addition to our DAANSEKOU “In The Park” West African Dance Fundamental series, we’ve started using electronic methods to register clients for class/private lessons, collect client data, post promotional footage on social media, and to connect with Master Teachers & students worldwide!

DAANSEKOU is rapidly growing in the City of Los Angeles and is on the united path to creating judgment-free spaces for individuals to progressively usher our prestigious Culture into the next generation.

What sets us apart from others is our unique ability and determination to put the needs of our community before our own; we invite All to experience the DAANSEKOU #LoveTribe.

We’d Love To See YOU at Class Fam!

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the perfect place to for a business like ours! It can be stressful and difficult to thrive in a city of millions of people, and if you’re new here, you’ll need a Family to call your own. Our village allows folks from all walks of life to exchange contact info, collaborative ideas, dance moves, and it even creates a safe space for local entrepreneurs/small business owners to thrive.

LA is a huge city which can deter someone from traveling to a West African Drum or Dance class! In an effort to improve the living experience in Los Angeles, we constantly urge our participants/clients to support ALL Cultural events statewide! Growing the social morale and nurturing engagement efforts among our #LoveTribe and global community is of the highest priority.

Pricing:

• Private/Group Socially Distanced workshops starting @ $500
• DAANSEKOU Traditional West African Drum/Dance Presentations starting @ $1500
• We Always Accept Donations To Support Our Work Via: CashApp- $DAANSEKOU & PayPal- daansekou@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Phone: 310.906.7404
• Email: daansekou@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daansekou/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daansekou/

Image Credit:
Photo Cred: @netflix, @higherlevelvisuals, @maathewjamesphotos, @daansekou, @rhythmartsalliance

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