Afro-Pop

Every Wednesday night Natalia has been going to “Afro-Pop”. I began to wonder if this was a nickname for a local boyfriend until I dropped her off and realized this was a dance class to African popular music. It is not a place a man should be.

But I am a little curious.

I had a peek at the class a month or so ago and noticed a lot of girls gyrating, stretching and getting sweaty in tight Lycra. So I thought it would be a little creepy of me to take a video of the class. So I asked Natalia to shoot a video at tonight’s class at Club Inferno in downtown Lilongwe: Afro-Pop Dance Class.

Originally recommended by our friend Paola Masperi, the Founder of the Mayamiko Foundation, it’s obviously a lot of fun (the “pull your pants up” and “check your watch” dance moves have become legendary) as well a vigorous workout and Natalia has recruited a number of characters in our story (Juliana, Isabel, Sally and Mem) to attend a class.

The instructor Chisomo (Anadzo Chinyama) even came to our house to give a private lesson to Natalia and Juliana on our driveway, much to Ruben’s (our gardener) horror who ran off and hid.

Chisomo is not only quite a dance instructor but also a very accomplished businesswoman; here’s one of her instructional videos.

I’m almost tempted to suggest the men of SunnyMoney produce our own video to raise money for our solar cause here in Malawi. I think I can find a pair of Lycra shorts somewhere…