Students can discover what Macru dance pieces are this Saturday evening when the Concert Dance Company of UW- Eau Claire hosts an African dance workshop.

Yankadi and Macru dances, from the Sou Sou tribe in Guinea, will be taught by Fode Bangoura, a drummer and dance master originally from Guinea, said Tracy Miller, Concert Dance Company secretary.

Bangoura now resides in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

He has choreographed pieces for Kothi Dance Company in Milwaukee, along with another dance company in Chicago, said Gene Kulbeck, the community adviser for the West African Music Society on campus.

Kulbeck said he was part of a joint effort with the Concert Dance Company to introduce a new professional this year.

A few people, including Kulbeck, had actually taken lessons from Bangoura before.

There is no prerequisite to participate in the introductory dance Saturday in McPhee 105. There is also no charge.

Miller said that the class will consist of a warm-up, a master class and a drumming lesson.

Anyone interested in performing these pieces in the Concert Dance Company’s show in spring also can attend Tuesday night classes from 9-10 p.m. in McPhee 105, the dance studio.

The Tuesday night follow-up classes will be led by Tracy Miller, along with another teacher, Chris Asuquo.

This is Miller’s fifth year as a member of the Concert Dance Company and her second year as the company’s secretary. In addition, this also will be her second year co-teaching the African dance class.

Anyone interested in the event should meet at 4 p.m. in the McPhee dance studio. It is expected to last until about 8 p.m., Miller said.

“It is an opportunity to experience how African culture, the music and the drums, come together forming the rituals of Africans,” said Kulbeck.