African Dance & Drumming

The African Dance and Drumming concert took place on Thursday October 24th, 2013, at 8:15 pm. The concert was divided into two sections, the first was several performances done by the African Dance and Drumming freshman seminar, and the second was performances by the campus African Dance and Drumming ensemble. The first number began with males in costumes, I assume, are African cultural traditions, on stage playing an assortment of drums. Then, the females in the group entered the stage in similarly cultural costumes, and began dancing while one member sang a variety of long notes. For me, the entrance was not the most striking aspect of the concert. The next number was a traditional war dance, done by the males in the seminar. The soloist performance followed and, personally, I disagreed with the opinions of those around me. The solo was done by Shannon Frier who played an instrument which I, unfortunately, forget the name of. She learned how to play this instrument when she studied with a group in Ghana over the summer. There were two other performer with her on stage, one playing a cowbell and the other playing a simple drum. Shannon was amazingly talented and knew how to play the instrument very well. That being said, I did not like the sound of the instrument I don't think it's Shannon's fault I don't like it, I believe I would have disliked the sound regardless of who was playing it; it was grating and had an edge to it I didn't enjoy. One of the performances I did enjoy was "Sinta," a dance originating in Papua New Guinea. The drum section on this was incredible, it began fast and loud and steadily continued at the same ferocious pace. It was upbeat, fun, and helped rekindle my enjoyment of the concert.

The guest performer at the concert was a good friend of the teacher of the seminar class (who is also the leader of the African Drumming and Dance Ensemble) from Ghana. Before the first number performed by the ensemble, the professor told us the next dance was ruled as illegal to perform in Ghana several years ago and the guest performer's family were the ones to bring it back to the nation. They did not announce the name of the significant costume piece the performers wore for this dance, so I will try to describe it as best I can. The dance was performed by the males of the ensemble who wore only pants and a waist accessory I can most accurately describe as a large, pillow- like, fanny pack shaped belt with four or five half circles of white rope attached to the front. The goal during the dance was to push these ropes up so they bounced off their lower torsos. This was achieved by the men in this dance thrusting their hips forward. The guest performer's hip thrust was barely noticeable, it seemed as if he was effortlessly able to make the ropes bounce off of his chest. However, the less experienced performers made it evident how difficult this task really is. It was evident they needed a large thrust of their hips to make the ropes rise and fall. Although this was not exactly how the dance was supposed to look, I am sort of glad their effort was evident, so the audience and myself could appreciate how difficult this seemingly simple act is.

The numbers were, overall, fantastic, but my favorite part of the entire performance was the action on stage, it was what was going on behind me. While the seminar class was performing (keep in mind, the seminar has only been practicing this since the beginning of the semester), the more experienced ensemble was seated in the back of the auditorium. Throughout the performances, the ensemble group was yelling encouragement and support to their less experienced counterparts. They were saying things like "Woo!" or "You go girl!" or other similar expressions. It was amazing and awe- inspiring how supportive they were. When the roles were reversed, the seminar class did the same for the ensemble group. It reminded me of our class discussion and study of folk music, they were a welcoming community supporting each other. Although this would probably fit Nettl's definition of "primitive" music, because the only instruments involved were drums and the pieces did originate in African tribes, I could see the similarities between the communal support for one another at this concert and during folk performances and gatherings.