In the Community
The Original West African Dance Marathon
5 The Hard Way is a collaboration of five professional dancers whose mission is to maintain and perpetuate traditional African culture, and to create a supportive, noncompetitive, positive, and nurturing environment for the expression of that culture. The most recent instance was the 15th Annual, held December 27, 2025, in Mount Rainier, MD.
One event, five instructors, six back-to-back classes — five different traditional Manding and Akan rhythms taught five minutes apart, closing with one final collaborative class. The Village anchors a series of class events and panel discussions that run through the year, along with a marathon ticket, a separate concert ticket, a dance scholarship, a marketplace, recordings, and a media gallery of past years — all detailed on the event's own site.
5 The Hard Way is run by its own collective of dancers, independent of Farafina Kan. We're proud to point our community toward it, and the exact shape of Farafina Kan's connection to this year's concert is being finalized — check back, or visit the link above for full, current details and tickets.