Masai Warrior Chant Opens 53rd TADW

In keeping with recent tradition, TADW students learned the "Masai Warrior Chant" on the first day of the workshop, June 28, 2010. Doug Kaback began the tradition of singing this African chant on the first and last days of the workshop, when he took over the program more than a dozen years ago. Here, you'll hear him teach students the opening verse "Ya fa ah ya yea lay; Ya fa ah ya yea lay; Mmm dogo jiggy zo." With their typical exuberance, both the new and returning students took part in the call-and-response style song with Kaback. Kaback says the Masai Warrior chant is "about youth, community, continuity and prosperity."