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Lovers Fall for Each Other on the Dance Floor
 Sunday, October 2, 2016 
Office Manager Mama Kelly Kouyate, sister of director Baba Jahi Awakoaiye, and former Ile Omode dance teacher Baba Ousseynou Kouyate are celebrating their 15th year as a married couple.
Mrs. Kouyate has been with the Ile Omode community for a number of years and currently has 2 children attending Ile Omode (Seynabou, 7th grade and Ababakar 3rd grade). Before the two first met they were both star dancers and traveled internationally, performing West African dances. Kelly and Ousseynou first met in 1998 at a dance class hosted by Ousseynou, who at the time was living in Baltimore, and was in Oakland teaching a dance workshop.
Kelly was just a student in the class that Ousseynou taught and the two of them “became very good friends”, says Mama Kelly. In fact, the two of them were such good friends that when they went on their first date at Hilltop Mall in Richmond they did not even realize it at first. They fell in love, and had their first kiss in the summer of 2000. The two dated for nearly 3 years before Ousseynou proposed to young Kelly on March 28th, nearly a year after the first kiss, on Ousseynou’s birthday.The proposal occurred at the San Francisco Airport before his return flight to Baltimore and was “completely unexpected”. “Everything just happened so fast”, Kelly says.
Six months later Kelly and Ousseynou married and the couple spent their honeymoon sunbathing to their hearts content off the coast of Senegal, where Ousseynou is originally from.
Today, the two are still happily married and will be celebrating their 15th anniversary September 16, 2016. Mr. Kouyate had a reason for this date, since this was the day that Ousseynou’s mother passed away.
Kelly no longer dances professionally but from time to time she would make special exceptions for the benefit of Ile Omode School. Dance is a significant part of West African culture, and is one of the things that ties them together. Their passion for dance is something that they will always share with each other.
By Orisegun Origunwa
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