Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Masankho Banda leads a group of students enrolled in his Rhythms of Life dance class at the Saratoga Community Center.
Dance instructor is an unsung hero
By Shari Kaplan
From a disenchanted young man leaving his homeland of Malawi, Africa, as a political refugee, to a happy and successful multidisciplinary artist and activist, Masankho Kamsisi Banda has certainly come a long way.
An instructor with the Saratoga Recreation Department, the Santa Rosa resident's Rhythms of Life intercultural dance classes are so popular that he's been commuting to the West Valley area once a week for several years to teach them.
On May 16, during a ceremony organized by the nonprofit Wisdom in Action, the performing artist, dancer, facilitator, shaman, peace activist and masseur received an Unsung Hero of Compassion Award from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The awards ceremony, which took place at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose, honored 50 individuals from around the world for practicing and encouraging acts of compassion, kindness and peace. Every Unsung Hero of Compassion received a parchment certificate, a silk scarf blessed by the Dalai Lama and a chance to meet the Dalai Lama.
"There really aren't words to describe him," Banda says. "He is compassion, and compassion is him. Being in his presence is just amazing!
"For me, it was a watershed moment. I was able to look at the last 10 years of my life and realize all the people I've been touching. Even though I don't do it to be noticed, knowing that someone is noticing sends me a great message," Banda says.
He referred, in part, to the classes he gives via UCanDanc African Performing and Healing Arts, and the community outreach and education he pursues with Pathways to Peace. His activities with these organizations, both of which he founded, take him around the country and the world.
The path leading him to his current positions and recent award began among the bonfires his family and fellow tribe members lit along the shores of Lake Malawi. Banda recalls Malawi as being "a country of dancers" during his childhood, and the art of dance quickly lit its own fire within him. That fire burns to this day.
"I told myself, when I was a kid that dance was going to be my life. Malawi was the perfect classroom for me as a child and a teenager. My dream and joy in life is to find out about all the ways that people dance and express themselves," he says.
Banda says his grandmother recognized this, even before he could put it in words: "Your destiny is to bring peace and healing to people, young and old, through your talents as a dancer, singer and storyteller," she said. He's doing just that with UCanDanc and Pathways to Peace.
Indeed, Banda teaches not only traditional African dance, but that of many other countries. As a seasoned storyteller--another art he first learned in Malawi--Banda teaches children and adults how to value the spoken word, improve their speaking abilities, increase their self-esteem and learn the magic of weaving words into vivid pictures that hold their audiences rapt.
As if he wasn't busy enough dancing and storytelling his way through schools, recreation departments, workshops and other venues throughout California and beyond, Banda is also a shaman.
He conducts rituals for welcoming and healing, clears and recharges the energy of people's homes and conducts body-centered focus sessions. Another hat Banda wears is that of certified Thai massage practitioner. Thai massage is a 2,500-year-old healing art based on Ayurvedic medicine, yoga and Buddhist spirituality.
The Rhythms of Life dance class is scheduled to return to the Saratoga Recreation Department in mid-August. For more information about classes, call 408.868.1248 or 408.868.1249. For information about Banda's other projects, call him at 510.290.0483, or visit www.ucandanc.org on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
