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New
York Times, June 17, 2003
Malonga
Casquelourd
Internationally
renowned Congolesedancer Malonga Casquelourd died Sunday in a car crash.
Hewas 55.
Casquelourd, was returning from his niece's graduationparty when his vehicle
was hit head-on by a car going thewrong way on a one-way street, police
said.
Martin Burgermyer, 35, was arrested for suspected drunken driving and vehicular
manslaughter, Oakland Police Officer Michael Nichelini said. Burgermyer
was jailed after being treated for his injuries.
Casquelourd, a dancer, drummer and choreographer, had spent half his life teaching
the moves and music of his Congolese homeland at the Alice Arts Center.
He developed a following at an early age, as a dancer for Community Fetes,
a network of indigenous cultural centers near Brazzaville, central Congo,
where he grew up.
By 1965, he was a principal dancer with the National Congolese Dance Company.
He toured Africa, Europe and the United States and later moved to Europe
as choreographer and principal performer with Le Ballet Diaboua in Paris.
In 1972, he went to New York and co-founded Tanawa, the first central African
dance company in the United States, and taught at several New York-area
schools.
When
Casquelourd moved to Oakland in the mid-1970s, he joined CitiCentre Dance
Theatre to teach Congolese dance and drum classes. He created his own dance
troupe, Fua Dia Congo, which practices in the Alice Arts Center
.
Fua Dia Congo has about 25 members, including Casquelourd's
four children.
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