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.

A Griot is an African Storyteller

                           

Ladies and Gentlemen, Griot Studios

 Hey everyone. This is Griot Studios. That's our logo up top. I mentioned in the prior post the origins of Griot Stu and it's purpose for the most part. Griot Stu is a collaborative effort with my roommate Tre, the artist. It was born out of the need to do more professional work within our field of interests, and seeing how they were so closely related, we decided to join forces.  The name Griot Stu comes from me and Tre. Griot is the part I came up with. A griot is an african storyteller, and that's basically what we are trying to do, tell a story, our story, someone else's, a fictional character. Anybody. Plus, I'm african. Stu comes from the abbreviated version Tre likes to say studios. Whenever he came back from art class or from doing the project he'd always say, "Just came back from the stu guys." We think it's clever, but what do we know. We're not that cool.

As of right now Griot Stu operates as a name brand of sorts. We sorta kinda just stick the label on whatever work we do, but our main main function is producing videos for youtube. The videos are anything and everything, from short films, to dance videos, to comedic shorts. Our other productions include visual art, blogs, and music, although the art and music will take a little time to set up. Tre is working on his first mixtape now and is almost done with it. He goes by the rap name Tripp Maximus, so be on the lookout for that. Also, this blog is now under the production of Griot Stu. It's post are now promoted by the studios. Which is also why I will be blogging more heavily now. Gotta produce material for the team. 

Right now, there are four main facets to Griot Stu: GriotMusic, GriotArt, GriotFilms, and GriotWorks, which includes blogging and other social media. We launched with our first video about a week ago and will be keeping updates between our main videos with a video blog.

I personally think we have something amazing on our hands. I mean, not many people put in this kind of work for something they love to do, or I guess they do, since they love it. Anyways, I feel like it's a step in the right direction. The videos we make are something that I want to put on my personal portfolios as an actor. It's something I want to leave college saying I did, that will help further my career. 

I don't know, sometimes it feels like a dream, and I am always half a step from waking up and other times it feels like I'm about to fall asleep.....I think that makes sense. I don't speak cryptically often, but I am pretty good with my analogies, haha.

                     Well, time for some selfless promoting. Check out our first production: Mobbin

and subscribe to our youtube channel. It's a dance short film. I know you have one if you're on blogger. And also like our Facebook page: Griot Stu

You know, when boils down down to the core of why we made Griot Stu, it's just that we are just two artist trying to make it in the world. We understand that our road is longer and harder than most, yet, we still persevere to trying and make it. And not just because we seek fame or fortune or the superficial things, but because we can't imagine our lives without doing what we do. So, give us a chance to tell our story, show you our work. We promise you won't be disappointed.