Sundjata Keita - The Lion King

                          This is the story of how I became a dancer.

Sundjata Keita, or as it translates to English, is The Lion King. Sundjata is an epic hero from Africa. He was a crippled child who wished to walk like the rest of the other children, but was mistreated and scorned by pretty much everybody, even his family. Everyone except his mother who always loved him. Through his own strength of will, and a drive to protect his mother, Sundjata learned to walk, and in the process gained superhuman abilities.

I am Sundjata Keita.

Well, that's my dancer name anyways. The name my alter ego takes on when he dances. In the dancing world it is custom to have a nickname or a name that represents you. Now it can be your real name or an edited version of it, a nickname, or something completely different and abstract. People tend to choose things that represent their style, example: Liquid or Zoom. Others choose their nickname and add on their crew's name, example: Tre Lotus.

 I am a bboy, a certain type of dancer, and when referring to a bboy, you generally say Bboy "insert name here".  Unlike most bboys, I wanted my name to stand alone, like a first and last name. You wouldn't have to call me bboy sundjata all the time. You would just say that's Sundjata, or Sundjata Keita. One of my favorite bboys goes by Kid David. and I think that's just the coolest.

Anyways, why "Sundjata" you say? Well, when I first started dancing, I had the hardest time coming up with a name that suited me, my style, my personality. I believe some early drafts of my name were Trade Mark and Bboy T.M. Not overly creative(TM were my initials). Not  long after I started dancing more seriously, I realized I wanted a name that had meaning to it and represented me and where I come from. For a while, my name became Anansi, the African god of illusion and storytelling. You can see how that translates to dancing. Unfortunately, there was already a Bboy Anansi, who at the time I would say was much better than me from the videos I saw.

A few weeks or so ago, I was online. I'm not exactly sure what I was up to, but I stumbled across African Epics. I ran across the Epic of Sundiata. This vaguely tickled my memory from world history in high school, so I clicked on it and read through it. I immediately thought, this is it, my dancer name. I am Sundiata.

When I was little, I was a very sickly little child. I frail and weak, and scared of everything. And I mean everything.  I was uncoordinated and not very athletic. Then I moved this country and stayed pretty much the same. This wasn't very good considering that being a little boy in this country required you to bond with your friends over sports and outdoor games. I spent my time reading books and watching british period dramas on PBS.

 The older I grew, I eventually came to realize that I didn't have to be always scared, and avoid everybody by being book and that I can adapt and be with people. When I got to highschool, I decided that I was going to change myself. I wanted to be......better. The best me I could be. I picked up sports, became coordinated, in good shape, and all that. And then one day at summer camp, I was practicing a dance move I had picked up. A friend of mine commented saying "Hey T, that's pretty good, I didn't know you danced." That comment meant the world to me. It meant I was finally taking a step away from being that frail little weak child who was always afraid.

When I read the Epic of Sundiata, I immediatelybrealized that this was me. Through my own force of will I became who I wanted to be. Against all natural odds(believe me), I became a dancer. And a bboy at that, which if anyone knows what a bboy is, is a superpower in itself. Now your saying, "but the title of the post is Sundjata". Well, Sundjata is the natural African pronunciation of Sundiata. Keita was Sundjata's last name. I just decided to adopt the whole thing.
I am Sundjata Keita (Bboy Sundjata).

Well, that was a lot of words for one post. I hope I didn't too terribly bore you. Oh and please, keep the African and Lion King jokes to a minimum in the commentary. Yes I understand, I am an African, going by the title Lion King, whatever. Moving on.