Fantastic performance by Roots of Life

African drumming and dance group, Roots of Life, gave a crowd-pleasing, high energy performance Wednesday night as part of Schlow's 2011 Adult Summer Reading program, Novel Destinations. Led by a stirring drum beat, the talented dancers first demonstrated their moves, then asked members of the audience to join with them in the dance. Many of the children took them up on the invitation and had a great time participating, while the rest of the audience clapped along with the beat. For the finale a "community circle" was formed where everyone was welcome to move as they were inspired to by the music. Some of the attending adults took the opportunity to really shake their stuff! You can see Roots of Life again this weekend at the Mojah Fusion Dance Festival.

Videos from the performance are on Schlow Library's Facebook page.

Founded by Penn State Assistant Professor of Dance Kikora Franklin in autumn 2010, Roots of Life is a performing arts ensemble of middle and high school students from the State College Area School District.

Franklin's passion for dance, evident in her work educating Penn State students in a variety of dance forms, also inspires her teaching traditional African dance to State College Area District students from third-graders up to high school seniors.

The creation of a ‘master' class with about 25 young students has enabled Franklin to work more intensely with this small group, creating productions for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, International Children's Festival, and other schools in the district.