Sunday, February 15, 2026

Altadena’s Rhythms of the Village Brings African Folklore to Kidspace Today

[photo credit: Kidspace Children’s Museum]

A family cultural group displaced by the Eaton Fire performs drumming, dance, and storytelling for Pasadena families during Black History Month

Kidspace Children’s Museum is hosting Rhythms of the Village, an Altadena-based African cultural group, for live drumming, dance, call-and-response storytelling, and hands-on exploration of African instruments and artifacts this weekend.

The program, with performances at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, brings the Chukwurah family’s decades-long tradition of sharing African folklore to Pasadena’s 3.5-acre children’s museum as part of its Black History Month programming.

The Chukwurah family lost their storefront at 2279 N. Lake Ave. in Altadena when the Eaton Fire destroyed it. The group has since continued performing at venues and community events across the region.

Families attending the Kidspace event can expect call-and-response storytelling, live drumming, song, and dance, along with hands-on exploration of instruments and cultural artifacts, according to the museum’s event listing.

A separate jewelry-making activity inspired by African culture runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The program is included with general museum admission.

Rhythms of the Village began as a performing arts company founded by Onochie Chukwurah — known as Baba Onochie — who came to the United States from Nigeria in 1969 as a bass player for the musician Fela Kuti, according to PBS SoCal.

The retail store and cultural center he opened with his family on Lake Avenue in 2013 became a fixture in Altadena, offering drumming classes, language instruction, and biannual community art festivals before the fire.

The group’s profile grew after the Eaton Fire. Grammy-winning Anderson .Paak appeared alongside Emeka Chukwurah and Baba Onochie in a commercial for the business that aired during the 2025 Grammy Awards. The father-and-son team also appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show, according to the group’s website. Emeka Chukwurah, who now runs the group with his partner Andrea McInnes, was among those featured in the documentary “Beneath the Ashes: The Past Reimagined,” which premiered February 2.

“The drum is a symbol of the heart beating,” Emeka Chukwurah said in a 2025 interview with PBS SoCal, describing the significance of the group’s Saturday drum circles in Altadena. When people heard the drums, he said, “it would give them a sense of the pulse of Altadena, that we were alive and well.”

Kidspace Children’s Museum is at 480 N. Arroyo Blvd. in Pasadena. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $15.50 for adults and children, $13.50 for seniors 62 and older, and free for infants under 1. Free parking is available in Rose Bowl Lot I. Tickets and information are available at kidspacemuseum.org or by calling (626) 449-9144.

“We love Altadena because of its diversity and his community,” Chukwurah told PBS SoCal. The Kidspace performances mark another step in the family’s effort to keep sharing that tradition from a new stage.