Jasmine Star

Jasmine Star grew up around drumming and dance and performed with her family in the The Big Sur Natives. At the age of six, she was introduced to African music, song and dance by the great Nigerian master, Babatunde Olatunji. She studied and performed with Baba by-annually for ten years. She performed with Higher Movement Dance and Drum Ensemble in the San Luis Oblispo area. Star also trained as a dancer in Santa Cruz with artists such as Alseny Soumah and Mandjou Kone. In 2002 and 2003, she studied in West Africa in the Republic of Guinea with Moustapha Bangoura at Le Bagatae School of Dance and Music. After returning to the U.S. in 2002, she formed Panther Percussion and Dance Company As artistic director, she produced Marafanyi Hkorohko, a West African style ballet. She also studied at the International Center for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana. In addition, Star also studied the 5rhythms Ectatic dance work with Gabrielle Roth and Areal dance with Miranda Janeschild.Jasmine began writing at the age of nine. She was mentored by poet and jazz musician, Myrtle Franklin, who brought her to the Rouge Valley Writers Conference at Southern Oregon University at the ages of 13 and 14. She also performed with the Big Sur team at the West Coast Championship Poetry Slams. She was a guest in San Luis Obispo Writer’s Guild and she studied with Ellen Bass in Santa Cruz. She produced her first spoken word CD in 2006 entitled Rhyme, Rhythm and Revolution (c), and is currently working on her second recording project. She received a B.A. in English and Writing from Southern Oregon University in 2008.