About Ahmondylla

Ahmondylla Best composes, sings, plays : the flute; several African percussion and woodwind instruments including hand drums (conga, djembe etc.); umuduli (berimbao); mbira; steel pan; balafon; hindewhu and didjiridu. Her specialty is the Shekere, a beaded gourd rattle, as played in Nigeria. She has taught workshops in: percussion and alternative vocal techniques; Shekere design and construction at: Williams College; The University of Pittsburgh; Bates College; the Artists Collective in Hartford Conn. and The New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Arts in Education Program. She is a jewelry designer/ manufacturer; visual artist and craftswoman. A graduate of SUNY's Fashion Institute of Technology, she earned her degree in Jewelry Design.

Ahmondylla has performed in: Africa; Europe; South America and across the USA. A featured percussionist in: US poet laureate Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth ; performed at NJ's Crossroads Theater and The Kennedy Center;The Warrior Ant by Lee Breur and Bob Telson; The Spirit Moves by Trazana Beverley; solo musician for Harriet's Return by Karen Jones Meadows; NoWhere Now Here by choreographer Beverley Prentice. Conceived and co-produced : Kinswoman and Wogbledoe performed at Dance Theater Workshop, which were collaborations with choreographer Sandra Burton and Tony award winning actress/director Trazana Beverley, with the support of Meet The Composer and Lila B. Wallace grants. She has performed with: jazz violinist John Blake; drummer Horacee Arnold; vocalist Rachelle Farrell and the a capella singing group Sepia . Composed for choreographers Sandra Burton and Chuck Davis' African American Dance Ensemble. A former member of Women of the Calabash for five years her composition helped them receive The Monarch Merit Award. Co-starred in an award winning video by Skip Blumberg for PBS's Alive from Off center. Co-founder of LadyGourd Sangoma who traveled to: Sardegna, Italy; Martinique and South America. Ahmondylla traveled to Ghana with the support of DTW's Suitcase Fund. She directed the Glenfield G.O. program for teen girls in Montclair, NJ. She is a teaching artist with the Wolf Trap Program and Dance Academy, sponsored by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, taught rhythm at Sharron Miller's Academy for the Performing Arts summer camp.