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Kekeli African Drumming and Dance Concert

When: Tuesday, December 6, 2016
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Angus Bailey Auditorium UMass Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747
Cost: see description
Description: A concert of African dance, drumming, and song directed by world renowned artist Kwabena Boateng and sponsored by the UMass Dartmouth Music Department and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The Kekeli African drum and dance ensemble performs the traditional music and dance of West Africa, including processional, warrior, court, social, harvest, and recreational styles. Guest artists will include master drummer Attah Poku and instrumentalists Ryan Loud, Logan Amaral, Ben Paulding and Stan Moore.

Parking is available in lots 4 and 5.

Tickets: $5 for adults, $3 for students, with seniors and handicapped free

Proceeds from tickets sales will be used for the Kekeli club ensemble’s trip to Ghana, West Africa in the spring. CD sales will be donated to the Save Darfur fund to help the victims of genocide in the Sudan.

About the performers:

Kwabena Boateng is a dancer, dramatist, and musician who has toured the world extensively, recorded, given master classes, and appeared in films about African Culture. He was a founding member of the African jazz-highlife ensemble Talking Drums . An authority on African dance, language, culture, and drama, Kwabena continues to perform, direct, consult, and lead dance groups throughout the United States both individually and with Talking Drums .

Attah Poku is an internationally renowned master drummer, scholar, teacher and performer, who teaches in the World Music Programs at Tufts University in Medford MA, and Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

Ryan Loud is an alumnus of UMassD’s music program and is an accomplished professional classical percussionist, Afro Cuban drummer, vibraphonist, and drum set artist.

Logan Amaral is a recent graduate of UMassD’s music program and is an accomplished drummer, tabla performer and percussionist who has gained fluency in a diversity of global styles. He is completing his Master’s Degree at Tufts University, speaks Twi, and has done intensive research on Asante drumming.

About African music:

We will be performing the traditional instrumental music, dance, and song of the coastal rainforest cultures of West Africa, including peoples from the present day countries of Ghana and Togo. The dance drama, which includes the three dimensions of instrumental music, dance, and song, is an expression of events in the life-, agricultural-, and seasonal cycles. It connects people as members of a community and strategizes for success in the individual and collective struggle for survival - the transcendence of physical, economic, and political limitations. Drumming, dance, and song are highly sophisticated, complex, and powerful means in oral tradition by which people remember genealogies, recall group history, and maintain personal connections with each other, ancestors, a spiritual realm, and the creator.

The historic global movement of African peoples since the 1500s has brought this African sense of community, transcendence, and spirit to many parts of the globe, resulting in new forms of expression shared by people of all cultural backgrounds. These include Blues, Shouts, Clapping Plays such as Pattin’ Juba, Gospel, Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Rumba, Samba, Candomble, Lucumi , Vodun, and numerous other styles, including much of the world’s popular music since the dawn of the 20th century. The music and dance of Africa is an ancient and contemporary expression that is a humanizing force in our paths through life.

Contact:

Professor Ryan Loud
loudryan@gmail.com

Michelle Cieto
(508) 999-8568
Topical Areas: General Public, University Community, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Music