Demba Raps All Over Burlington

Perhaps you remember Demba Sene at the SpielPalast Cabaret where he tore the house up in the first scene of Act 2. If you missed it, you should be sorry.

Demba turns to fire when he dances, he is a marvel to watch as flies up into the air over people's heads and shoots down the stairs and into the audience on his stomach. And did I mention that he is wearing tiny gold lame underwear when doing this?!

Inspired by his mother, a Senegalese musician, he recently recorded his first rap track. The song is a call out to his mother, who is no longer alive, and a message to his friends and family in Senegal about his experiences living in America.

We spent this hot HOT Friday traipsing around the VCAM studios, the railroad tracks behind the studios, over message-covered trains, in the water at Oakledge and searching for back up dancers on Church St. Watching Demba perform is always a treat, he managed to ignore the heat as he repeated his song over and over again in different locations, each time it felt fresh.

We spent a lot of time down on the railroad tracks and a nice gentlemen let us climb all over his idling, graffiti-covered train Cool!

It is interesting spending the day with someone from another country. I started to see America through his eyes, foreign and strange. Dimba has been here a couple of years and speaks pretty good English. Some things still stump him, like the ATM at Shaw's, but he is so friendly that he figures everything out. Even if the fish at Henry's Dinner was a little bland for his taste, some salt made it ok.

Want to dance with Demba? Hit up the Memorial on Thursdays. Thank me later.