Fara Tolno, President and Executive Director
Fara has created a successful career, despite challenges as a professional West African dancer, drummer, teacher and director in the United States. He is well known as a leader, creator and organizer in the African dance community as well as in the professional music industry.
Self-Motivated, Visionary, Creative, Perseverant, Entrepreneur, Community Outreach, Energetic, Dedicated, Producer, Director, Choreographer and Accomplished Musician
Born in Guinea, West Africa, Fara spent his youth in the village of Kissidugu and Guinea’s capital city, Conakry. He began playing the djembe drum at the age of nine, performing in ensembles at the age of 15, including nine years as the lead drummer for Les Merveilles de Guinea (The Wonders of Guinea) under the tutelage of West Africa’s most influential director and choreographer, Kemoko Sano. This national ballet performed all around Africa and Europe, bringing Fara to the United States to perform in major theatres in 1998.
For the last fourteen years Fara has been in the United States sharing his culture, teaching, earning a MFA, and playing with musicians of all kinds. He has founded two different performance ensembles and teaches at numerous colleges and universities as well as teaching community drum and dance classes for students of all levels.
Fara founded Project Drum, which is an organization focused on bringing West African music and dance into schools (and other organizations) by working with students, training teachers and performing in schools. Fara has provided access to the rhythms and dance of Guinea through the Rhythm Reference Project (an online library) and Camp Merveilles, an annual nationwide music and dance conference, both of which he founded.
Fara completed his Master of Fine Arts in dance at the University of Colorado in 2012. He has taken this knowledge and found ways to relate and merge the art forms of dance and music from West African and the Western world. Fara shares this new and innovative perspective when teaching in community and university classes, and training members of his ensemble and companies.
His energetic and compassionate teaching style makes him one of the most sought after drum and dance instructors in the United States. As a solo artist, Fara has performed with many of the world’s premier musicians including Mamady Keita, Burning Spear, Neil Young, Sekouba Bambino, BB King, Otis Taylor, Joe Cocker, Youssou N’Dour, Salif Keita, Habibe Koite, and many more. He has been a member of many different bands and assisted with many musical recording projects and shows throughout the nation. Fara’s performance style has been described as “mystical” as he dazzles audiences around the world.
Angela Carroll, Vice President, Director of Colorado Programs and Events
Angela has been working in education for over 25 years. She has her MS from Western Colorado University in Exercise Sport Science and is passionate about movement and wellness for all people. She has run a wide variety of programs for youth and adults as well as teaching courses for the pre-K, elementary, secondary and university levels. She originally co-founded the Kissidugu Foundation with Fara, and remains steadfast in the vision to provide sustainable opportunities for the people of Guinea while simultaneously providing enrichment programs in the US. She is an athlete and avid outdoors woman and currently resides in Crested Butte, CO with her son.
Anissa Lucero, Secretary & Breadfruit Project Director
Anissa Lucero is an avid breadfruit agroforestry advocate with over 5 years experience working with breadfruit in farm production, processing, and sales and marketing and has played an integral role in
building the growing breadfruit industry in Hawai’i. She is passionate about caring for the environment and providing healthy, nutritious and sustainable foods in her community near and far. She enjoys connecting with nature and community through farming, surfing and dance.
ACTIVE BOARD MEMBERS: Jan Salerno, Brenda Evans
OUR GUINEA OUTREACH TEAM:
School Director and Project Overseer: Valy Bore
On site Director: Moussa Yansane
On site Manager: Mohamed Lamine
Head Chef: Maman Yimbe Camara.
Kissidugu Ensemble: Papa Zito Bangoura, Sekou Tolno, Moussa Yansane, Mohamed Sylla, Djiba Kouyate, Alhoussain Bangoura, Fada Camara