Nana Korantemaa Ayeboafo

Nana is a master drummer and shaman. She uses the drum as a sacred tool for healing and teaching. Her goals are to reconnect people to African values and rhythms and also to empower women. In 1972 she formed the first female percussion ensemble in Philadelphia and has been a powerful role model for transgressing gender/sex-role boundaries in traditional drumming. She served as the female lead drummer for the Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble, played congas in the 1996 film Watermelon Woman, and in 2003 became the first female in the United States and Ghana to play the atumpan drums. Nana is on a mission to share the healing power of indigenous African cultural expression with communities of African descent all over the world and in the process help to erase stereotypes about women's roles.