What: AZA! African Dance and Music Concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium
Admission: Free with Student ID
The pulsing, and pounding of djembes, an African hand drum, has been audible through the walls of The Ridges auditorium this week, as students have rehearsed for the 10th annual AZA.
What started with a small-scale production in Kantner Hall in 2003 has become a full size production in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
The concert — led by Paschal Younge, professor of music education, and Zelma Badu-Younge, professor of dance — features the Ohio University African Ensemble, a group of students who are taking world music and dance classes with the two professors. It will also include guest artists, as well as a performance by students in the school of dance.
The annual show is the pair’s way of expressing to students and audience members the different perspectives of art in a cultural context, the duo said.
Culturally, Younge said, the view of music and dance in African tradition differs from that in America. In Western culture, music and dance are two separate things, while in Africa, music and dance are one and the same.
“When I say dance, it is also music,” he said. “Dance is the music.”
The theory is also taught to students who are participating in the concert.
“That was the very first thing when I first started, there is no word for music, there is no word for dance, it is the same thing,” said Bethany Taylor, a senior studying music. “What I’ve kind of gathered from there is that it is not just music and dance, it is intrinsically tied to their entire culture.”
Students curious about the concert and the culture it demonstrates will also have the opportunity to witness guest artists who have been teaching students how to play instruments including the steel drum, as well as a variety of dances.
For this year’s addition to the annual concert, Estelle Lavoie will be a featured guest. She plays the kora, which is a 21-stringed instrument that looks like a harp and lute combined. She will be performing two solos in addition to her contributions to two drumming segments and dance pieces she choreographed for the ensemble to perform.
Overall, Badu-Younge said that the concert is something that she and Paschal are happy to put on every year, and are looking for it to grow in years to come.
“Every year, we’re very proud of all of them,” Badu-Younge said. “Every year it is different … (The concert) is a highlighting of the different things, and reviewing the whole 10 years.”
ds834910@ohiou.edu
