The sounds and styles of African dance will make their way to Ohio University this weekend.
The Ohio University African Dance Ensemble, led by dance professor Zelma Badu-Younge, will present its second annual performance. Titled Creole Africaine
the OU African Dance Ensemble will perform with the West Virginia University African Ensemble and students from Hocking Middle School.
The performance will feature numbers reflecting various cultures, including Ghanaian, Cuban and Brazilian. Philip Lukayi, a graduate assistant to Badu-Younge, said the purpose of the show is to celebrate diverse cultures of Africa through dance.
Badu-Younge's husband, Paschal Yao Younge, is the director of the WVU African Ensemble and the director of the World Music Center at WVU. Younge's well-known group has performed all over the world.
Badu-Younge's dance ensemble lacks in drummers and members -WVU's group has 75 members compared to OU's 12 consistent members. Badu-Younge collaborated with her husband to provide her ensemble with drummers. After previously practicing only to Badu-Younge's count, the OU dancers recently practiced with the drummers for the first time. The WVU group also lent costumes to OU.
The OU African Dance Ensemble and Hocking Middle School collaboration was coordinated by Polly Sandenburgh, head of the outreach program for international studies at OU.
Badu-Younge went to Hocking after school hours to teach 15-20 students.
These middle school students will be performing their own piece in the show even though school flooding limited the students to only two dance rehearsals. Two middle and high school students are also part of the OU ensemble.
This year's ensemble performance will feature traditional pieces choreographed by Badu-Younge and Younge, an Egyptian piece choreographed by local dancer Rihab Bagnole and a Brazilian piece choreographed by student Christopher Whitney.
The Cuban guaguan co, a type of rumba, will also be performed. The guaguan co is a popular steel drum dance. It can be seen by other cultures as very flirtatious and provocative, but it is not seen as sexual in Cuba. The dance is performed in pairs and in Cuba it could be performed between people of any age, such as a six-year-old performing with a 90-year-old.
Intermission also will be a treat. Senior dance student Maura Gahan created the surprise piece, titled Carnival. The performance is a secret, but it will feature homemade 20-foot puppets.
This year's pieces will provide a better mix of contemporary and traditional dances, whereas last year's performance consisted mostly of traditional pieces.
Badu-Younge's interest in African dance started many years ago. She said her mother said she started dancing before walking. Her father was from Ghana and after he passed away, she thought studying their traditional dance form would connect her to his culture.
Badu-Younge's African dance studies began in high school in New Jersey. Teachers from New York City came to her high school to teach dances from Senegal. She continued her African dance studies as an undergraduate at Concordia University in Montreal. She got her master's degree from York University in Toronto and studied at McGill University in Montreal for her doctorate.
A free workshop in African drumming and dancing will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at Nelson's South Pole.
Tickets can be purchased at the Kantner Theatre Box Office at 593-4800. 17
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Caitlin Price
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In preparation for their two shows April 2 and April 3, dancers of Creole Africaine move to the beat as they practice the Atsiagbekor war dance in Putnam Hall Tuesday night. Creole Africaine, directed by Zelma Badu-Younge, also includes Paschal Yao Younge
