Sala Adenike is the artistic director and dance instructor of ABATSU Dancers and Drummers Inc., an African cultural performing arts group based in Augusta.

1. Have you been a dancer your entire life?

"Basically. I was like everybody else whose parents put them into basic ballet and kiddie dance classes. Then, as a teenager, there was a cultural center called The East in Brooklyn, New York. I studied dance there, and that's where I learned most of what I know about African culture."

2. What does ABATSU stand for?

"Abatsu is an acronym for my husband's name: Ali Baba's African Tribal Sounds Unlimited."

3. How did ABATSU get started?

"My husband and I have been into African cultural performing arts since we were teenagers growing up in New York, and we had a group there. We moved to Augusta in the early '80s and had a little business on Broad Street that took up most of our time. But in the '90s we got back into our art, and brought our dance group back to life."

4. How would you describe the type of dancing you do?

"I would describe it as traditional, African, spiritual dance. Part of our mission is not only to entertain, but to be spiritually uplifting."

5. Is it hard to teach the dance to people who have never done it before?

"No. There's an old African proverb that says 'If you can walk, you can dance,' and that's my philosophy."