meet duniya
The Bay Area's Only South Asian and West African Dance & Drum Company
Formed in April 2007, Duniya Dance and Drum Company creates dance and music from Punjab, India, and Guinea, West Africa, as well as unique blends of these forms and beyond. The word duniya means “world” in a wide array of languages, including Punjabi, Arabic, Susu and Wolof. Duniya’s work embodies this word, as it explores the forces that have brought together the members of the company and their dance and drum styles, including, but not limited to, colonization, globalization, immigration, art, dance, music and love.
Artistic Director
joti singh
Joti Singh is a dance creator and innovator, sprung from the U.S. American south to parents from northern India. She is the Co- Artistic Director of Duniya Dance and Drum Company. Joti began her dance training in Punjabi circles, carrying through her body the culture that’s in her blood and memory. As an adult, West African dance entered Joti’s purview, transforming her body’s imagination.
Artistic Director
alpha oumar 'bongo' sidibe
Bongo Sidibe is a musician from Guinea, West Africa and moved to the Bay Area from Guinea in 2008. He studied drumming from master djembe player Mamady Keita beginning at age 9 and is a culture bearer preserving the rich musical traditions of West Africa. Bongo believes in the power of music to unite people and create a more inclusive world.
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West African Choreographer
Alhassane
"papin"
da camara
Alhassane was born in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa. His mother, Dah Camara, was a dancer. Alhassane has been blessed with the same innate talent. He followed this calling, and by 11 years of age, he was fully immersed in Ballet Tayely in Guinea, studying, and performing traditional Guinea dances. Alhassane continued to excel, not only as a dancer, but as a fully trained musician, knowing all of the musical rhythms of the drums and accompanying instruments of the traditional Guinea dances. He proceeded to become the lead dancer and choreographer of his ballet company.
Bhangra & Bollywood Choreographer
Riddhi kapoor
Dancing makes me the ‘happiest’. My motivation to learn dance started at the age of three. My mother’s need to instill a sense of hobby in me led me to embrace dancing as a creative form to express my emotions. Dancing is the greatest connect one can have with the self and it gives me the adrenalin to learn, perform and grow every day. I have been teaching Bollywood dance in the Bay Area for more than four years and to me dance is a way of celebration, frolic and happiness!!
Apart from dancing, I love making earrings and am a complete foodie!
Originally from Bangalore (India) and been in the bay area for over 5 years now.
MEET Our TEAM.
uzo nwankpa
Dancer | West African
Originally from Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa, Uzo has infused her education as a Registered Nurse with her passion for music and dance to create opportunities that promote health. Uzo is a storyteller, dancer, choreographer, researcher and an advocate for healing through indigenous practices. She is an advocate for using the arts as a healing tool for individuals and communities.
Shabnam Sigman
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Shabnam Sigman lived in Germany, England, Iran, and Libya before moving through the American Midwest and East coast. She finally feels at home in the diversity and beauty of the Bay Area, where she works in nonprofit management and dances barefoot in as many different classes as possible. Shab has been studying Bhangra and Bollywood dances since 2007 and is excited to be a part of the Duniya community.
SABRINA HAGER
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Sabrina Hager is a Bay Area native, who has danced and performed various types of dance since her teens. She happily joined DDDCo in late 2009, and enjoys continuing to learn new forms of dance and movement. She is a Physical Therapist working in Home Health in the East Bay. In addition to her Physical Therapy training, she is also Pilates trained and enjoys integrating and teaching strengthening and safe body mechanics for injury prevention.
STEPHANIE CHEN
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Stephanie grew up doing ballet and gymnastics, she has since branched out to many other types of dance, having performed modern, tap, break dancing, Bharathanatyam, swing, and aerial dance. She has choreographed and performed at many venues throughout the Bay Area including the de Young Museum, Zaccho Dance Theater, Danceground Keriac, and the Russian Center. Stephanie also performs circus arts on flying trapeze and aerial hoop.
VISali ramanathan
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Visali trained in Bharatha Natyam as a child growing up in Lexington, MA. Since then, dance has created a sense of home in each city Visali has lived in from her introduction to Bhangra, Bollywood, and Hip Hop as an undergrad, to being a member of Navatman Dance Company in NY, to now being a part of the Duniya family in SF.
TIYAMIKE
Tisatayane
Dancer | West African
I grew up in Malawi in a small town called Kasungu. As a child I grew up seeking my mother and members of our village dance every where and from there I have not been able to stop. Dancing has helped me through both difficult and exciting times and overall helps connect me to not only my culture but as well as others. I am so excited to being part of duniya as it reminds me of my childhood and connect with different cultures through movement.
MAURA WHELEHAN
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Maura moved to the Bay Area in 2009, she studied with local artists from West Africa and joined DDDC, with whom she performs and teaches students of all ages. Maura has been a Teaching Artist for The San Francisco Ballet’s Dances in Schools and Communities program (DISC) since 2013. She also teaches at the Bay Club SF where she offers West African inspired dance classes weekly.
JEssica pfisterer
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Jessica has been dancing with Duniya since 2013. Growing up, she trained in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Salsa, and Musical Theater. Before joining DDDC, she performed Brazilian Samba for several years with Energia do Samba and Zezeh Brazil. Her focus is on dances of the African Diaspora and India, including Samba, West African, and Bhangra. Jessica has a JD from Georgetown, and works in People Operations when she’s not dancing!
raminder singh
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Raminder was born and raised in Ohio, moved to DC for her studies, before finally finding home in the Bay Area over five years ago. She first discovered her love for Bhangra in the typical Punjabi way - through the dance floor at many Indian weddings. Through countless classes ranging from Joti’s wonderful bhangra and bollywood to Bay area hip-hop, dance became part of her identity. She is excited to be a part of the Duniya community!
JAMILA AMARSHI
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Jamila’s introduction to dance was through ballet by way of competitive gymnastics, then she added tap and jazz to her repertoire. Jamila credits her introduction to Bollywood and Bhangra dance to Dil Se, Stanford’s Hind Film Dance team. She danced competitively with Dil Se for 3 years, earning a spot on the national stage at Best of the Best in NYC. She’s delighted to have found a home in San Francisco with the Duniya community.
SONAL PAI
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
A Bay Area native, Sonal grew up dancing Bollywood and has performed with a few different California-based dance companies. In college, she founded and led her university's premier Bollywood fusion dance team, "Rice Riyaaz" for three years, competing across the US. Dance is Sonal's way of blending her Indian and American heritages, and she's ecstatic to continue doing so with the Duniya family!
KAMESHA FOFANA
Dancer | West African
Kamesha Fofana, a native of Berkeley, California, is a professional artist dancer, drummer, choreographer and educator with 25+ years of experience. From 1994 to 2001, Kamesha continued to dance and study West African dance under well renowned instructors born in Liberia, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal. She is dedicated to repairing minds and bodies through nutrition and African Dance!
Deepika tamuly
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Growing up in India, she trained in Bharatnatyam from Nrityanjali Dance School in Pune, India and completed her Arangetram (Graduation) when she was 15. She has performed Bharatnatyam, Bollywood, Semi-Classical and Folk dances styles in different cities in India and Sri Lanka, and had the privilege to perform alongside the Bollywood Actor Meenakshi Sheshadri.
Renuka
garg
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Renuka (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Berkeley. She has trained for several years in Bharatnatyam, and now enjoys experimenting with the interweaving of dance forms, contemporary and long-existing. She loves reading, hosting people, good chai, and every cat, but especially her cat child Pari .
kimi
Managing Director
Short: Kimi is a southern belle, lover of dance and theater arts and cultural ambassador of West African dance. Kimi studied Linguistics, Sociology and Dance Production at UC Berkeley. Then founded Alkimi Stage Management and co- founded Saa Saa Sistas Productions Collective to train BIPOC folx in stage management, dramaturgy, lighting design, program management and festival production.
kenta despe
Social Media Manager
Kenta is a digital marketer, he assists with leveraging social media, content creation, and audience targeting. He successfully funded his own Cat-related Kickstarter campaign, utilizing Facebook and Instagram Ads.
Priya Chatwani
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Priya (she/they) is a middle school computer science teacher in Oakland. She grew up in Southern California, where she first began dancing Bharata Natyam at a young age. They loved being on a Bhangra team in college and enjoy learning new styles of dance, practicing yoga, drinking coffee, and thrift shopping.
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komal kumar
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Komal loves doing bhangra and giddha as part of her cultural heritage! She has dabbled in hip hop, bachata, and various social dances, and is excited to join the Duniya family! In her free time, she likes to day dream about running her own dance company one day!
Vasu raman
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Vasu is originally from Mumbai, India, where she grew up on a steady diet of Bharatanatyam and Bollywood. A big fan of blending styles and influences, she has danced, performed and taught her way across the US, before making the Bay Area her home. By day, she is a roboticist working to make healthcare logistics more equitable and affordable.
Shilpa yadavalli
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Shilpa was raised in the Bay Area and credits her dancing abilities to the diverse cultural influences of her home state. She started training in Indian folk dance in high school and went on to explore several different dance forms in college including Raas-Garba, Bhangra, Hip-hop, and Bollywood. When she’s not dancing, Shilpa is most likely to be found hiking, studying a foreign language, or working as an Inpatient Clinical Pharmacist.
Gargi Patel
Dancer | Bhangra & Bollywood
Gargi (she/her) loves movement and learning about people, and she reconnected w Bhangra by taking Joti’s class. She now enjoys teaching and giving that energy and excitement to other dancers. Her non dancing vibes are reading sci fi, knitting, and city adventuring and she’s excited to be here :)
Tamika harris
Dancer | West African
Tamika is a renowned dancer who has dedicated over two decades to studying traditional Central and West African dance. She trained under esteemed instructors at the Malonga Center for the Arts and performed with prominent companies like Fua Dia Congo, Ceddo, Bantaba, and Merveilles D'Afrique.
She has showcased her talents through numerous performances, lectures, and workshops across the Bay Area, and internationally in Italy and Mexico. She also choreographed for the award-winning Karibbean Vibrationz MasBand carnival contingent.
Lamine Bangoura
Drummer | West African
Lamine has been lead percussionist, musical director, and choreographer for African ballets across West Africa and the Bay Area. He was founder/director of, “Association of Young Artists and Musicians of Guinea”, AYAMG, a network and resource organization for young artists that promotes collaboration and development of traditional arts in Guinea. From 2003-2008 Lamine was contracted with Air France as a music teacher and guide.
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Makhissa SANO
Dancer | West African
Makhissa Sano (she/her) is a Bronx-born interdisciplinary hip hop dancer and cultural practitioner, who grew up in Oakland. Under the lineage of Sano, she is a principal dancer of traditional West African Guinean dance and music. She has trained at Destiny Arts for 11 years, while studying at the Oakland School of the Arts and ODC Dance School. Sano graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a Bachelors in Dance and is now beginning her journey as a creative in film and dance. Sano is now ready to explore and demonstrate what makes her the artist she is.
nii Mantse Addy
Drummer | West African
Nii Mantse is a multi-disciplinary percussionist with a primary focus on West African and Afro-cuban traditions. Before joining Duniya, Nii played with Balandugu Kan in Los Angeles and has been a touring member of a number of R&B, soul, and funk bands. With his background in audio engineering and production, Nii enjoys mentoring young artists and blending musical styles in his own compositions..
LaKiesha Golden
Dancer | West African
LaKiesha Golden is a performing artist with a specialization in Congolese (Central African) Dance including Ndombolo, which she also teaches as well as Detroit Ballroom & Hustle (Line Dance). She is versed in many other styles of dance such as Haitian, Salsa and Afrobeats to name a few. LaKiesha is a skilled educator, teaching artist, event producer, community arts organizer and arts advocate. Artistic Director of the Congolese performing dance company, Nlolo Kongo and Director of arts presenting organization, Cultural Arts of Gold, she currently teaches workshops and performs for various events throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Ben Isaacs
Drummer | West African
Ben has played and continues to play with various touring international artists including: Bongo Sidibe and the Tontons, Massamba Diop, Djaily Kunda Kouyate, Tendai Muparutsa, Ibro Diabate, M'Balou Kante, Sekouba Bambino, Balla Tounkara, Karamba Diabate, Mohammed Kouyate, Pabobo Diabate, Duniya Dance and Drum Ensemble, Lokole West and Central African Dance Ensemble, Delou West-African Dance Ensemble, Panjea, Onye Onyamachi, as well as many local groups including, Macuru, Markus James and the Wassonrai, Juju Blues, the Miles Ahead Group, Ousseynou Kouyate, The Tom Finch Group, Say Bobby, Tracy Blackman, Antioquia, and the RhythmAddicts.
Eboni
Dancer | West African