Experiencing African culture without buying a plane ticket, making any reservations or skipping at least a week's worth of classes might sound about as likely as the administration calling off finals. But this Saturday, March 31, the sights and sounds of several African nations will be present on Tufts' campus. Food, music and interactive workshops will comprise just part of the fourth annual Intercollegiate African Music and Arts Festival.
Titled "Journey through the African Spirit," the festival aims to educate the public about African culture, raise money for non-profit organizations, allow artists to learn from one another and offer participants an enjoyable weekend experience.
A day of culture, in detail
The festival will begin with a series of interactive workshops, all of which are free and open to community members as well as students.
"We encourage the community to come. The event is appropriate for middle school age children and older people as well. Anyone who wants to learn to dance or play the drums is welcome," said Angela DiBartolomeo, who is in charge of public relations for the event and has helped organize many aspects of the festival.
Led by the three performing collegiate groups and their respective guest artists, the workshops will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jackson Dance Lab. People who aren't too enthusiastic about singing anywhere other than the shower, dancing in a public setting, or playing instruments apart from "Guitar Hero" are welcome to come as observers.
Following the workshops, there will be an African street bazaar from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the lower levels of the Granoff Music Center and Aidekman Arts Center. The bazaar will feature a variety of vendors selling traditional African art, will offer many types of African food, and will serve as a tabling session for NGOs, featuring volunteer, charity and educational organizations dedicated to the African continent.
The festival will culminate with a "Grand Evening Performance" in Distler Performance Hall. Each collegiate group will perform for 20 minutes, showcasing their individual style of African music and dance.
From the classroom to the community
Each of the three collegiate groups involved in the African Music and Art Festival has its own unique type of performance focusing on music and dance from different parts of Africa, emphasizing different aspects of the two arts. Furthermore, each group will feature its own guest artist, a specialist in the field of African dance and/or music.
Kiniwe, Tufts' African music and dance ensemble, is a performance group that encompasses students from three classes taught by Associate Professor David Locke, who has spent several years doing fieldwork in Ghana as well as teaching African music and dance. The group takes its name from a traditional West African call and response. "Kiniwe" means "Are you there on the ready?" and the traditional response, "Yaa," translates as "For sure."
Locke's classes include African Music Ensemble, West African Ewe Dance and West African Dagomba Dance. They are hands-on and taught differently than traditional Western music or dance classes.
"I tend to teach [music] through oral tradition," Locke said, "Students rely upon their ears and eyes to emulate what they get from me. This trains you to listen." This emphasis on listening creates a sense of unity and bonding among performers.
"When you read music, you're internally focused on yourself, whereas, if you have to try a piece based only on what you can hear from your group, you have to be connected with others," Locke said.
Though most of the students in Locke's classes have had no prior experience with African music, they generally enjoy the feeling of community and the challenging rhythms that the music provides. "The same things that attracted me to it attract students at Tufts," Locke said. "They dig it."
Community among African dancers and musicians is reflected in the participation of two groups from other schools and three guest artists from around the world. Alhaji Abubakari Lunna, a Dagbon drummer traditionally trained, will accompany Kiniwe during the festival. Though he lives in Ghana, Lunna has been a regular guest artist at Tufts and collaborator with Locke.
Groups of students and professionals alike, The Berklee College of Music African Ensemble and JAG Drum and Dance Ensemble will be present at the festival this Saturday. The two ensembles focus on dancing and drumming. Their music and dance are rooted in West African tradition, but allow for modern artistic innovation. Their art reflects many elements of West African society, and seeks to connect its audience with traditional West African culture. These ensembles will be accompanied by Mohamed Kalifa Kamara, who began singing and dancing in Gambia and is now a professor at Berklee College of Music.
Finally, Nukporfe, the SUNY Binghamton African Music Ensemble, focuses on a style of dance-drumming native to Ghana. The Ensemble's name, "Nukporfe", references a "situation where people demonstrate an ability that defies expectations." Nukporfe will be accompanied by Pierrette Aboadji, a professional dancer on leave from the Ghana Dance Ensemble who is teaching African Dance at Binghamton University.
The Festival's Origins
Though there are many student groups around campus dedicated to cultural expression and international learning, the African Music and Arts Festival owes its existence not to students, but to a very dedicated and enthusiastic faculty member. As the organizer and director of the event, Locke researches, teaches and performs African music. He got his idea for the festival after watching other music groups at Tufts.
"I was inspired by my observation of what happens in other music ensembles in the university level. They typically get together with their counterparts at other universities," Locke said.
This observation led to the creation of the Intercollegiate African Arts Festival, which allows students and community members to experience this musical sharing first-hand. Furthermore, it raises awareness of African music, which has not been the most prominent art form on campus in past years. For a long time, the Tufts program progressed fairly unnoticed.
"We were flying below the radar. We weren't fully recognized in the curriculum as maybe we should have been," Locke said.
Thanks to the creation of the Festival, the public and musicians alike can learn from music and dance. "We get to see the approach taken to this music from different school, and our students get to compare notes," Locke said. "As for the community in general, the workshops give them a taste of the music which they will later see performed. [The workshops] help people understand how the music works and how it's organized."
The Power of Collaboration
Though this is the fourth time the festival has been held at Tufts, never before have student organizations collaborated with Locke to this extent. The African Student Organization (ASO) has participated heavily in the organization of the event, assisting in recruiting vendors and NGOs for the bazaar.
The festival is part of ASO's "Journey through Africa Week," which began last Tuesday and features lectures, a movie and cultural shows. ASO's participation and the inclusion of the African Music and Arts Festival into their "Africa Week" has strengthened both events.
"It just goes to show the power of collaboration," junior Elsie Mbugua, the President of ASO, said. "There are a lot of groups on campus interested in Africa, and we all have the same goal, but we try to reach it independently. The Music Festival shows what we can achieve when we combine efforts."
Music and perceptions of Africa
Most of the news concerning Africa is very negative. AIDS, dictators and seemingly endless civil wars grace the front page again and again, while the continent's positive aspects are often ignored.
"There are a lot of misconceptions and Tufts as a school doesn't really focus on Africa. It's often overlooked," Mbugua said, "I think that the Music Festival is a unique way to reach students that gives them a taste of Africa that's different from the mainstream media."
Both Mbugua and Locke agree that one of the most important goals of the African Arts Festival is to demonstrate the positive and beautiful side of the African continent. "The festival allows people to interact with things about Africa that are constructive, and to celebrate Africa from a positive standpoint," Locke said.
"Music has always been integral to our continent," Mbugua said. "It brings people together and allows them to discover a kind of happiness regardless of their different affiliations."
