Originally published December 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified December 20, 2008 at 9:13 PM

Workout from the heart

Seattle Times staff photographer

CHRIS JOSEPH TAYLOR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Shanetta Brown, of Seattle, takes part in a West African dance class at the Velocity Dance Center on Capitol Hill. Teacher Awal Alhassan is taking 15 of his students to the city of Tamale in his native Ghana to experience the culture and to perform before a tribal leader.

CHRIS JOSEPH TAYLOR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Marletta Boyd II, center, and others practice a spinning jump during a class at the Spectrum Dance Theatre in Seattle.

CHRIS JOSEPH TAYLOR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Dance teacher Awal Alhassan, of Seattle, demonstrates a move. His West African dances offer an aerobic, full-body workout.

CHRIS JOSEPH TAYLOR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Mobility is key as a student shows the movement and color of the West African dance tradition.

Gallery | Sohoyini West African Dance

As African drums echo through the studio, dancers synchronize syncronize their bodies with the beat and follow the voice of West African dance instructor Awal Alhassan. Alhassan, born and raised in Ghana, lives in Seattle now and teaches two dance classes a week, one on Capitol Hill, the other in Madrona.

Fifteen of his students have been practicing to take this traditional Sohoyini dancing to Alhassan's hometown of Tamale, Ghana. They were to leave today left for on the three-week trip Friday. Once in Africa, they will not only absorb Ghana's culture, they will perform for Ghana's Dagomba tribal chief.

Sohoyini means "one heart" in Dagbani, the language of the Dagombas in Northern Ghana.

The full-body-workout dance class will resume in Seattle when Alhassan returns with his students in January. Class information:www.sohoyini.com

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