Our Mission

Magbana Drum & Dance NYC was established as a professional company in 1998 by founder and artistic director Michael Markus. With the belief that music and dance transcend boundaries of race, culture and class, the troupe promotes the power of unity and understanding through musical performance and education. Magbana's company members are from diverse cultural backgrounds, and fuse contemporary percussion and movement with traditional West African drum and dance rhythms.

We offer performances, workshops, corporate team building facilitations, trips to Africa, retreat weekends, DVD's, CDS, School assembly programs, Build your own drum sessions and weekly classes. Our mission is to entertain and educate people from all walks of life about the power of the drum and the movement it inspires.

COMPANY HISTORY

The explosive skill of the drumming, joined by the ecstatic energy of the dancers, has audiences all over the country jumping out of their seats. Titled after the Guinean nickname for taxi, Magbana is in a class by itself, celebrating with world-class talent the power of the drum to uplift and connect us all. Magbana performances are a celebration for everyone!

Available for any size performance, festival, or event, our presentations can be adjusted to suit the needs for any type of venue or length of show. We also offer educational outreach programming such as drum and dance workshops, build a drum program, trips to Africa and weekend retreats.

The ensemble has performed and taught at theaters, schools/universities, community centers, museums, festivals and private/corporate functions. These have included Zocalo Music Festival in Mexico City, Skylands Arts & Music Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, New York City Parks Foundation, Dancers Responding to AIDS, American Museum of Natural History, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Children's Museum of Manhattan, the Epilepsy Foundation, SUNY Purchase, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (NY), Venetian Hotel (Las Vegas), Wall Street Journal, and The National Library of Canada, to name a few.