You Groove Me - Musica

Kemdi Amadiume Stayed A Dancer To The End By Sonia Scherr Valley News Correspondent "So Who'll Take A Chance On Me Now/who's Left To Love Me Now/oh I Know Yes I Know/that I'm Not The Safest Bet/but All My Chances Aren't Taken Yet/cruel Heart Love's Not The Only Answer/cause In The Dark You're Still A Dancer." Nkemdilim "Kemdi" Amadiume Recorded Still A Dancer At Her Mother's Home In Hanover After She'd Been Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis A Disease That Would Take Away Her Ability To See To Stand And At Times To Speak. The Deeply Personal Song Reflects The Resilience And Joy With Which She Approached Life Even During A Three-Year Struggle Against A Rare And Aggressive Form Of MS. "Kemdi Always Kept Her Spirit And Her Spirit Was Kemdi " Her Father Kojo Sebastian Amanor Wrote In An E-Mail From Ghana Where He Lives. "Just An Incredible Sense Of Humor And Joie De Vivre Not An Iota Of Negativity " Said Her Mother Ifi Amadiume Now Of West Lebanon. Kemdi Amadiume A 1996 Graduate Of Hanover High School Died Of MS On Aug. 22. She Had Just Turned 26. She Was A Singer Songwriter Producer Former Track Star Dancer Poet Painter Knitter Scrabble Enthusiast And Creator Of Such Novel Dishes As Garlic Cashew Pesto. "She Was Really Trying To Experience Life To The Fullest " Said Darnele Liautaud A Friend And College Roommate. "That's What She Preached And What She Did." She Had A Special Ability To Connect With People And Make Them Part Of Her Life Including The Stranger She Talked To On The Train And The Homeless Person She Met On The Street. "She Had No Prejudices Off The Bat " Said Sandi Higgins Also A Friend And College Roommate. "There Was Something Universal That She Touched In Her Music And Her Life. She Could See Past What A Lot Of People Don't." Kemdi's Own Beginnings May Have Helped Foster That Capacity. She Was Born In London Where She Lived Until Her Teenage Years And Spent Time In Nigeria As A Young Child. Part Of A Musical Family She Got Her First Piano At Age 6 And Soon Began Writing Songs. She Composed A Christmas Carol One Year That Her Family Played At Church Said Her Aunt Suzanne Amanor-Wilks Who Now Lives In Lakeville Minn. "She Was Bright. She Was Noble. She Was Strong And She Was Very Protective Toward Her Young Cousins And Her Brother " Amanor-Wilks Said. Kemdi Accompanied Her Little Brother Amadi On The Walk To School Each Day Confidently Holding His Hand As They Negotiated The Streets And Lanes. The Walk Took The Siblings Through Some Rougher Neighborhoods But Her Brother Then 6 Or 7 Was Unafraid. "It Was Like A Journey " Recalled Amadi Amadiume-Cisse Now A Junior At Bates College In Maine. "I Never Didn't Feel Safe With Her." Kemdi Moved To Hanover In 1993 At Age 13 When Her Mother Took A Teaching Job At Dartmouth College. Although Nearly Two Years Younger Than Her Classmates At Hanover High She Skipped Freshman Year Based On Her Academic Record She Was Physically Stronger Than Most Of The Boys In Her Grade And Could Leg Press Around 600 Pounds Her Brother Recalled. She's Still Listed On The High School Sports Wall Of Fame As The Record-Holder For Triple Jump And Long Jump. It's A Feat She Repeated While A Freshman At New York University When She Smashed The School's Record In Both Events. Her Spring Track Coach At Hanover Called Her A Role Model Who Was "quiet In Her Greatness." "She Was A Quiet Ray Of Sunshine " Said Su Langdon Who Now Lives In Falmouth Maine. "She Had This Gentle Smile That Made You Feel Good And I Don't Think I Ever Saw Her Unhappy Even When She Wasn't Competing Well. She Just Had This Quiet Determination." In Addition To Track Kemdi Sang With The High School Chorus Footnotes The Auditioned Chorus And Highlights The Girl's A Cappella Group . Her Performances Included A Bluesy Duet Arrangement Of Swing Low Sweet Chariot With Kemdi Improvising Harmony Above The Melody Said Hanover High Choral Director Jane Woods. Kemdi's Complete Absorption In The Music Made Her A Fearless Performer. "She Was Able To Connect Directly With The Audience Woods Said. "Her Stage Presence Was Really Something." After College She Held A Variety Of Jobs -- Waitressing In A Club Working For A Record Distribution Company Doing A Little Modeling -- Which She Used To Support Herself While Concentrating On Her Music Her Mother Said. One Day While Walking In New York With Her Headphones On Singing She Ran Into Actor Eddie Murphy's Cousin Who Was Impressed With Her Voice Her Aunt Said. They Started Recording In Eddie Murphy's Basement While Murphy Was In California. Twisted A Record She Made With Producer Jared Dietch Of Brooklyn Rose To Number Five On The Dance Charts In The United Kingdom. It Played On BBC Radio For 12 Weeks And Was Named One Of The Top Ten Dance Records Of 2003 By DJ Magazine. Kemdi Wrote Mostly Dance Music But Her Compositions Included Song For Sion A Lullaby For Her Then 3-Year-Old Nephew And Happy African Which Explores Perceptions Of African Identity. She Created Pictures With Her Song Lyrics Sometimes Taking Serious Subjects And
presenting Them In Lighter Ways But Never Losing The Intensity Of Her Message Dietch Said. In An Artist Biography That Appears On The Web Site Of Coco Machete
Records Written By Kemdi In The Third Person She Discussed The Influence Of Her "Nigerian Ghanaian And English National Background " Adding That She Was "starting To Infuse The Rich Diverse Cultures And Sounds That She Grew Up With
into Her Music." Kemdi's Music Was Uniquely Hers And She Refused To Compromise Its Integrity. Before A Live Performance At An East Village Nightclub Friends Were Mixing Her Voice Electronically When She Realized Something Sounded Wrong. "She Stopped Them And Said 'This Is Not My Voice!' " Recalled Higgins Who Was There. "I Always Felt Like She Knew Her Voice. She Knew Who She Was. She Just Had Such Conviction. Her Spirit Was So Strong Always." That Strength Of Spirit Remained Intact After She Got Sick. It Began With Blurry Vision In One Eye When Kemdi Was A 19-Year-Old Junior At NYU Later She Experienced Numbness In Her Limbs. She Was Diagnosed With MS In 2002 Shortly Before Worsening Symptoms Led Her To Return To Hanover To Stay With Her Mother. After A Severe Attack In August 2003 She Was In A Coma For Two Months At Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Doctors Called Her Illness "Kemdi" Because It Was So Atypical Of MS Her Mother Said. She Emerged From The Coma And Spent Six Months At A Rehabilitation Facility In Concord. Both She And Her Mother Thought She Was Getting Better. Because Her Friends Were So Important To Her Kemdi Decided To Return To New York Where She Spent The Next Two Years In Rehabs And Hospitals. Those Are The Facts Of Her Illness But They Omit Much About Her Fight Against MS. "It's Like A Complete Invasion. You Can't Move. You Can't See " Her Brother Said
of The Disease. "Not A Moment Of Peace. The Machines Going. People Coming In To Do This Or That Or Not Coming In When You Need Something Done On Time. Just Utter Dependence." One Of The First Times She Was Hospitalized At DHMC After She'd Returned To Hanover They Were Both Crying. "She Was Like I'm Really Scared. I Don't Know What's Going On With Me. I Couldn't See The Person Who Was So Strong In My Life Worried And Scared ... But That Was The Only Time She Ever Expressed That " Her Brother Said. "She Had A Lot Of Courage. She Was Very Brave. There Was So Much She Put Up With As Far As Needles Getting Lines Put In." On A Video Shot In December 2003 At The Rehabilitation Center In Concord Kemdi Is Lying In A Hospital Bed And Has A Tracheotomy. She Dances With Her Arms And Cracks Jokes With Her Mother And Brother. She Demonstrates Her Remote-Control Fart Machine Which She Also Liked To Use On Unsuspecting Doctors. "Doctor I Can't Stop Farting!" She'd Say. Her Hair Is Very Short Because Of Chemotherapy She Received To Try To Treat The MS. "I Would Like The World To Please Notice My Beautiful Hair " She Says With Mock Seriousness. She Describes Various Hair Treatments. "My Favorite Is To Use Chemotherapy For My Hair. It's Done Wonders." Later In The Video She Reassures Her Mother Saying "Victory Is Coming Victory Will Be Ours." Then She Gives The Air A Few Punches. During Her Illness Friends And Family Would Visit Expecting To Comfort Her They'd Leave Feeling Uplifted And Inspired. "She Had A Lot Of Grace A Lot Of Style And She Brought That Even To This Part Of Her Life " Said Her Friend Geoff Kuffner. There Were Periods When Kemdi Couldn't Move Or Speak But She'd Still Find Ways To Communicate -- For Instance By Making A Sound Or Trying To Squint Her Eyes -- So That People Knew She Hadn't Given Up And That She Was Glad They Were There Higgins Said. Kemdi's Brother And Mother Were With Her In New York On Her 26th Birthday. Two Days Later She Died. "She Fought Till Her Lungs Collapsed " Her Brother Said At The Memorial Service In Hanover. "Life Was Too Precious To Her." People Filled Rollins Chapel For Her Farewell. Woods Her Former Chorus Teacher Played The Piano. Friends And Relatives Spoke. Everyone Listened To Recordings Of Kemdi's Songs. Among Them Was Finally It's Over. It's About The End Of A Relationship But It's Also Lively Playful Exuberant "You Used To Be Inside My Room/with All Your Footsteps/you Used To Live Inside My Mind/ You Used To Fill Me Up Fill Me Up Fill Me Up/and Now You're Gone/I Thought I Would Be Able To Go On. "But Darling I Can Say Finally It's Over..." read less