Since 2003, Paschal Younge, associate professor of multicultural music education, and his wife, Zelma Badu-Younge, have organized the African music and dance concert AZA! at Ohio University. But this year, the performance is part of something larger.
AZA! - which means celebration - highlights the positive aspects of African culture through the arts. This year the concert will be part of Mother Africa
an African performing and visual arts symposium.
AZA! has always had a theme, and has been part of a symposium in the past, but the last symposium was in 2007, Paschal said
Because AZA! falls on Mom's Weekend this year, Paschal and Zelma decided to focus the concert and symposium on celebrating women, particularly the contributions of African women to the arts.
Every time people mention African women they say they are in the kitchen making food but they actually call a lot of the shots Paschal said.
They actually have a lot more power than
people think
Zelma added.
The concert will be a way to introduce students' mothers to African music and dancing, Paschal said.
The symposium begins this morning with sessions on African women in theater, visual arts and music. Keynote speakers include faculty members from OU, Temple University and Ohio State University.
Tomorrow there will be several opportunities to meet the speakers as well as a workshop and demonstration of Ewe and Akan Kente weaving - which involves narrow strips of cloth and a horizontal loom.
AZA! is tomorrow night in the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium and will feature performances by the West Virginia University Women's Choir, the OU African Ensemble, the traveling group Azaguno and several
guest artists.
We're going to have an AZA!. It's like going to a carnival where the best of the community will be shown
Paschal said.
The symposium will end on Saturday with free drumming and dancing workshops for OU students and their moms.
The event will be a weekend full of drumming dancing and singing, Zelma said.
We have (the AZA! concert) every year and people look forward to it
she said. It's always nice to see that the (students) and local (residents) are very interested.
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Culture
Anna Sudar
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