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.
