Print  email 

A passion for samba

South Sound woman puts her heart into dance group

By Molly Gilmore | For The Olympian • Published April 26, 2007

• Comments (0)

She's always been musically inclined. "My parents were not music people at all, but somehow they sensed that I was, so they gave me lots of opportunities to have musical instruments and to hear music."

But back in '97 - the first year Samba Olywa included dancers - Kelen wasn't dancing, although she'd been an avid jazz dancer when living in Seattle.

"It felt like a risk to me," she said. "I wasn't sure I could 'dance well enough.' I was hesitant about putting myself on display ... but the group was very welcoming. In short order, I felt like I fit in, I belonged, I didn't have to be self-conscious for anybody."

Now, she's key member of the all-volunteer organization, which is a fixture at Procession and a common sight at summer festivals.

"She's been a strong leader," said Lynn Hicks, who drums with the group and maintains the Web site. "In volunteer groups, sometimes things get a little shaky as far as carrying things through. She's always willing to step in and make sure things get done."

This time of year, year-round members double up on rehearsals to prepare for shows while working with the flood of dancers and drummers who join just for Procession.

"I'm dancing for three and a half hours on a Sunday pretty typically," Kelen said.

No fair-weather sambista (although most Samba Olywa gigs do take place in summer), Kelen drums as well as dances, and she studies in depth at a samba camp in Northern California.

"I'm a drummer, and not very many of our dancers or drummers swing both ways," she said, laughing.

"I've worked with some of the best Brazilian teachers in North America, and they all are great drummers. When they don't feel the drummers are supporting them in the way they want to be supported, they'll run over there and grab the sticks and yell at them and start drumming the way they want it to be done."

Drummers also should be able to dance, she said, but the music comes first. "There's no dancing without the drumming, whereas there can be drumming without dancing."