She Works Hard For the Money
Issue #29
The 56-year-old queen of West African dance gets jiggy with it
By Amber Drea
Published: September 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
NAME: Nzingha Camara
LOCATION: Kansas City, Missouri
OCCUPATION: West African dance instructor and choreographer
JOB DESCRIPTION: Camara teaches classes on West African dance and choreographs performances incorporating all styles of black dance, including tap, ballet, jazz, modern, East and South African, Haitian, Brazilian, and Cuban. She has influenced choreographers Fatima Robinson and Debbie Allen, taught actresses Jada Pinkett Smith and Maia Campbell, and worked on films and TV shows such as The Color Purple, Poetic Justice, and A Different World. Her dance company recently appeared in the video for Senegalese-American R&B singer Akon’s single, “Pot Of Gold.”
HOW SHE GOT STARTED: “I used to teach some of my friends how to do the new street dance that was out,” recalls Camara, who began taking lessons when she was 8 years old. “So I was always teaching people how to dance.” In 1978, Camara joined a Los Angeles-based West African dance company and later married one of her instructors, Les Ballets Africains veteran Ibrahima Camara, who gave her dance as a wedding present. Her first Hollywood break was Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” video, which led to more gigs through referrals and word-of-mouth. “People would ask me how did I hear about such and such audition, what management company did I use,” says Camara. “I said, ‘God is my manager.’”
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: In her hometown of Kansas City, Camara works as a librarian, a job that allows her to research West African and Caribbean dance. On Saturdays she teaches a class for people over 40 and a regular class on West African technique for anyone who wants a good workout. “[Dance has] kept me strong and maintained my health,” Camara says. “Even times when I had surgery, I got back on my feet and strengthened myself through the dance.”
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