Community members explore African dance and drumming styles in Cirque Kalabanté workshop
The following article was written by Center Stage High School Musical Theater Program Student Ambassador Norah, in collaboration with the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.
At your Fox Cities Performing Arts Center on Thursday, January 30, the community gathered for a dance workshop. The workshop paired well with the following performance of Cirque Kalabanté, which happened on January 31. The dance workshop was orchestrated by people who originated from West Africa who now reside all over, bringing their joy and culture for others to experience. Their team consisted of two drummers and one dancer.
At this workshop, they taught a high-energy dance in the style of KuKu. The dances were filled with lots of jumping and arm movements that brought smiles to everyone’s faces.
They did not dance to music, so much as a set of rhythms. It was important to listen to the drums because the pauses told the dancers when to change to the next dance move. The brightly colored drums played were large and echoed throughout Kimberly-Clark Theater. The drummers explained how to cup your hand in order to create a different sound. Back in Africa, people would play drums in the streets and people from all over would come and join in on the fun.
One member of the community commented saying how much she enjoyed the fun environment which was created while dancing.
“I learned about his culture and more about different styles of African dance,” The community member explained.
Another community member shared that her favorite part was the enthusiastic leaders.
The workshop wrapped up with time to ask questions of the artists.
The Center Stage High School Musical Theater Program is an educational initiative of the Fox Cities P.A.C. with support from corporate partner Fox Communities Credit Union. Additional partners in this program include Johnson Financial Group, Nicolet National Bank, Angelo and Jennifer Ninivaggi, Schneider Foundation, Star98, WFRV, and Wipfli LLP. Programs like the Center Stage High School Musical Theater Program are also supported in part by contributions to the Center’s Annual Partner Campaign.
