Also called Talking Sticks, Kusema Vijiti is a beautiful African-American rhythmic stick art form. A rhythmic stick dance born out of martial movements and African and African-American cultural rhythms and sensibility.
Kusema Vijiti provides an excellent vehicle to blend the African and African-American cultures.
A student of Kusema Vijiti not only learns the culture, but becomes part of and participates in the culture.
The art of Kusema Vijiti, once learned, can be applied to any culture and to any music, i.e. classical, opera, pop, country, jazz, rhythm and blues.
Bill and Mary Owens, the Directors of the Kusema Vijiti Institute, have been working for more than 25 years to establish Kusema Vijiti as an African-American contribution to the arts and to develop a strong core from which Kusema Vijiti can be taught as an organized art form. To support their efforts, they have received a grant from the California Arts Council to teach the Talking Sticks to the children of California. They have also developed a grading system that ranks and gives credibility to its practitioners by levels according to the length of time of study and the knowledge gained.
If you would like further information or you would like to study Kusema Vijiti, contact Sifu Bill Owens or Mary Owens at the Kusema Vijiti Institute at 7421 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94605; Phone: (510)638-9990 or email them at [email protected] or [email protected].