Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Wall Gee’s “Roots of Rhythm: An Introduction to West African Dance” includes digital music, song tutorials and an animated avatar that guides users through dance moves.
An interactive online textbook published by Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Wall Gee blends tradition with technology, inviting users to learn West African dance moves along with the stories, music and culture behind them.
“Roots of Rhythm: An Introduction to West African Dance” includes digital music, song tutorials and an animated avatar named Amma that guides learners through choreography. It was published this fall by Great River Learning and complements African dance courses Gee teaches in Elon’s Dance Program. The textbook’s cover image features Elon alumna Kayla Spalding ’23, and accompanying images within the text feature Khairi Morrow ’25.
“West African dance has always been passed down orally and physically, but with digital tools and AI, like Amma, students get to see and practice the moves whenever they want, while learning about the culture behind them,” Gee said. “I wanted to make it easier for everyone — whether you’re totally new to dance or already have experience — to connect with this powerful art form and understand how deeply it’s tied to the history and rhythms of the people.”
Gee used AI to create and animate Amma, which she realized would be a powerful teaching tool for a dance form that is less widely studied. She began the textbook as a way to enhance her courses, where students are challenged to retain movement and sequencing as they build skills from class to class. She already uses video recordings of class sessions to support learning, but discovered the Krikey AI platform and began the exploration process that led to Amma.
“West African dance is for everyone, so my hope for this book is that it can serve as an accessible and inclusive resource for individuals with varying abilities,” Gee said. “I want to make the material approachable for a wide range of readers by presenting concepts in ways that encourage diverse approaches to learning and interaction.”
It also advances Gee’s mission of raising the prominence of West African dance and traditions within higher education. That work aligns with Inclusive Excellence at Elon by recognizing and uplifting underrepresented and marginalized cultural knowledge, elevating global perspectives and — through technology — making learning more inclusive. Gee is also the coordinator of Elon’s African and African-American Studies Program.
“This textbook brings a form of dance that isn’t always considered ‘academic’ into higher education in a way that respects its traditions while making it accessible to more people,” Gee said. “It opens up new ways of thinking about how we can use technology to preserve culture and make learning more engaging and interactive. It’s not just about watching and copying—it’s about really understanding and embodying the meaning behind the moves, and that’s what makes it both fun and important.”