Madeleine Yayodele Nelson

Person
Biography
Madeleine Yayodele Nelson was the founder and longtime leader of Women of the Calabash, a group that was dedicated to music from the African diaspora. She had discovered her calling almost by accident, after several unsatisfying years as a teacher in her native Pittsburgh and then in New York City. After abandoning her teaching career, she was working as a hairdresser on the set of a film when she met some West African musicians who were performing in the film. They showed her how to create and play a shekere, a gourd covered in shells, which is also known as a calabash. She was instantly hooked, and she formed her first performing group in 1978. The ensemble toured Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, and it came to Jacob’s Pillow twice—first as part of the Season Opening Gala in 1985 and then for a shared program in the Pillow’s Splash Festival in 1988. Paul Simon featured her on his hit 1990 album, The Rhythm of the Saints, and she created shekeres for the Broadway and London productions of Fela!, which was choreographed and directed by Bill T. Jones in 2009. She was still active with Women of the Calabash when she died of a heart attack in September 2018 at 67.
Source of Biography
Written by Norton Owen for Jacob's Pillow Remembers.
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