Cultural evolution: Somali Museum Dance Troupe redefines tradition in Minnesota

This story is from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for their free newsletter to receive stories in your inbox.

---

In the basement of the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis you might find yourself transported to a different land. As you walk toward the Somali Museum of Minnesota, you might hear the joyful sounds of the jaandheer, a traditional dance from the Sanaag region of the Somali peninsula. To many listeners, particularly those from the Northern Somali region, the music says, Welcome home.

On a recent day, a group of young Somali Minnesotans practiced the dance as their instructor replayed the past 30 seconds of music over and over until they got it right. The instructor, Abdurahman Muhumed, a young man with braided hair, had recently performed with the Somali Museum Dance Troupe at the “Star of Unity” concert at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul. As a more experienced dancer, he was training the others as part of the troupe’s leadership training component. 

A few days later, several members of the 20-member Somali Museum Dance Troupe – Bashir Ismail, Ayan Furreh, Harun Mohammed and their coach, Mohamoud Osman Mohamed, who is also artistic director of the Somali Museum, talked about their work and their passion for celebrating Somali culture through dance. 

Mohamoud helped found the Somali Museum Dance Troupe nearly 10 years ago to share his love of that culture and to elevate its artistic expression. His father, Osman Ali, had told him about the importance Somali performing arts held before that country’s long-raging civil war, and the two of them combined efforts to create the Somali Museum Dance Troupe. 

In its early years, the troupe consisted of young recent immigrants who knew a lot of dances from back home and wanted to share those same dance styles and techniques in Minnesota. 

Now many troupe members are U.S.-born Somalis looking for ways to build connections to Somali culture – a different dynamic from that of their predecessors.

Abdi Yusuf was the troupe’s first instructor. He taught dances from several regions and was able to share his expertise about dances from southern Somalia. The first dance the group learned from him was the xariireey, performed when someone is jealous. 

In the troupe’s early days, Mohamoud said, there wasn’t much of a place for it in Minnesota’s social and cultural fabric. In their first year, in an effort to gain exposure and experience, they volunteered at festivals and events across the state. By 2016, the group had achieved local recognition and was asked to perform more often. Then, two years in, they started touring across the state. Demand soon grew and they began traveling across the United States. 

The group initially had limited resources, but was fueled by a passion for their culture and dedication to their art. Early on, many Somalis from their generally conservative religious society weren’t keen on engaging with the troupe. Some chastised it for having men and women dance together on stage. But over time, those earlier pain points have eased, and the troupe has performed at more than a thousand events since 2015.

Mohamoud credits TikTok for helping the group gain popularity. For many younger Somalis, learning these cultural dances is now seen as “cool”  rather than offputting or indicative of an inability to integrate into America. 

The dance troupe now consists of young Somalis born and raised in the diaspora who are looking for ways to engage with their culture – as well as bring their own creativity to the troupe. The three dancers interviewed for this article all said they were keen to be part of the highly competitive group. 

Bashir said he was willing to drive hours from Wisconsin to try out for the dance troupe. He would also come whenever he could to take part in their events and dance sessions. He says, “when you’re around people that have the same interests as you, your true self comes out and you shine a bit brighter. For me, this (engagement with the troupe) made my creativity and confidence grow.”   

In addition to its performances, the troupe hosts dance classes with up to 96 students in spring and summer, an opportunity for anyone from the larger Minnesota community to engage with the dances and Somali culture. 

The dances are lively mainstays at Somali weddings and cultural events. Mohamoud said the troupe has performed 15 styles of dances through the years. Some are linked to particular regions and tribes across the Somali peninsula; the dance group will perform them when asked. 

One of the most popular dances is the dhaanto, a dance from the Somali Ethiopian region that mimics a camel. The group discussed the creativity and ingenuity that they’ve added to this traditional dance. Harun says “we started adding the jabis” – an up and down hand movement they do at the same time they move their neck like a camel back and forth “to the dhaanto dance that is unique to us and now other dance groups have mimicked our style. It’s cool to see the way we have influenced and created new cultural norms” he says. 

Still, the three young troupe members said the jaandheer remains their favorite dance. (Watch the troupe perform it here at 15:34 minutes in.) This dance, which hails from the Sanaag region, features women and men showing off sophisticated footwork and spins.

The jaandheer requires a dancer to be fully engaged, but is not as rigid or systematic as some other dances, allowing a performer to express his or her personality, the young dancers said. 

Despite some initial shyness,  the young dancers came to life when talking about their journey and the dances. 

Bashir, who has been a part of the troupe for less than six months, said he is a different person on stage – confident and unapologetically expressive. He might grunt or make various noises that the rest of the group feeds off of as they perform. 

He recently performed the harimadee, a traditional dance from Djibouti, at the “Star of Unity” show. You can see his performance here; at 0:59 seconds, he holds up another dance member as the rest of the group performs around them while wielding swords. 

Harun, who was on stage with Bashir for that performance, said he built off of Bashir’s energy to add additional swagger to the performance. His face was full of emotion as he also verbally emoted a strong sense of power and authority while dancing. 

All said being part of the dance troupe gave them confidence.

Ayan, a young woman who was part of the troupe for a year, comes from a musical family and is known to her peers as the queen of the buranbuur. Although she was very shy during the interview, she and her colleagues reinforced that she was expressive on the dance floor. She comes from a musical family – they are musicians and singers from Djibouti. When asked why she joined the dance troupe, she said “it was like a song (engaging with this cultural heritage work) and she wanted to continue the song.” She now hosts her own buranbuur classes. 

Bashir credited their coach, Mohamoud, for instilling confidence in him, saying his mentorship is motivating, protective and encouraging, but also incorporates supportive critiques. 

In a community with strong hierarchical norms, Mohamoud allows the dance troupe members to act as creative individuals, the dancers said.

The troupe is not just a conveyor of dance traditions, but a thriving modern cultural entity that is changing the rules on how to engage with culture and community and who can be creators and innovators. 

The Somali Museum Dance Troupe’s talents will be on display at its anniversary event on Oct. 31 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

More to read: The troupe was among several groups that performed at Eden Prairie’s PeopleFest! Party on July 27.

---

Editor’s note: This story was originally published Aug. 7 in the Sahan Journal. It was written by Amina Isir Musa, a writer, researcher and community builder who produces ISIRKA, a blog and podcast dedicated to exploring identity, culture and belonging in a Somali context.