Our History
Kúkátónón means, "we are
one" in the Kpelle language in Liberia.
Rolia Manyongai-Jones, Founder and
Director of Kúkátónón, was born and raised in rural Liberia, where the
village elders taught her traditional dance. She came to the United
States with dream of teaching African culture to American children. She
attended PSU and earned a degrees in Education and Health Education, and
extensive background in Multicultural Education.
For the last 25 years, she has
taught at Woodlawn Elementary School (second and fourth grades) and volunteered
6 hours per week as Kúkátónón's Director.
Kúkátónón Children's African
Dance Troupe was created in 1983 at Woodlawn Elementary School. We are
sharing the richnesss of the African cultures throughout Oregon and Southwest
Washington. The dancers promote pride and cultural awareness and foster
appreciation and respect for our similarities and differences as they perform
at Trail Blazer playoff games, at universities, schools and community
events. We recently received two grants from the Portland Public School
Foundation and the Portland Arts and Culture Council. We are also a
partner with SEI.
"It takes a village to raise a
child." Here the villagers are a very big part of the dance
troupe. Mr. Hakim Muhammad has been with use for the past twenty-one
years. He is an outstanding percussionist and teacher. Ms. Dana
Ingram is Kúkátónón's dance instructor and choreographer. She has toured
internationally as a core dancer for twenty years. She is presently the
Co-owner and Director of the Urban Arts. Mr. Sekouba Soumah D. Walker has
been the lead choreographer and percussionist for the Kúkátónón since
2003. He founded Sebe Kan ("Serious Sound"), a drum and dance
performance group that tours throughout the United States. He has
traveled to Guinea in West Africa for a month's long traditional training.
Mrs. Manyongai-Jones is also a
co-founder of the African Women's Coalition, which is a community-based
organization funded by the Office of Refugee and Resettlement. She served
as Chairwoman for two years and also as Co-president. Presently, Mrs.
Manyongai-Jones participates in a leadership pilot program with the City of
Portland's Vision PDX Project. Mrs. Manyongai-Jones' passion in life is
to always nurture, sjupport and serve children and women to help them reach
their highest potential through guidance in educational and cultural
opportunities.
