Renowned Artist Kwabena Boateng to Direct Concert, Special Guests Include Abraham Kobena Adzenyah and Wes Brown
A concert of African dance, drumming, and song with the UMass Dartmouth Kekeli African Drum And Dance Ensemble, directed by world renowned artist Kwabena Boateng, will take place Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., at UMass Dartmouth's Main Auditorium. Guest artists will include Abraham Kobena Adzenyah and Wes Brown, with assistance by Professor Ryan Loud.
The Kekeli African Drum and Dance Ensemble performs the traditional music and dance of West Africa, including processional, warrior, court, social, harvest, and recreational styles. The dance drama is an expression of events in the life, agricultural, and seasonal cycles. It connects people as members of a community and strategizes for success in the individual and collective struggle for survival, transcending physical, economic, and political limitations.
Kwabena Boateng is a dancer, dramatist, and musician who has toured the world extensively, recorded, given master classes, and appeared in films about African Culture. Abraham Kobena Adzenyah is an internationally renowned master drummer, scholar, teacher and performer, who helped build the World Music Program at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where he has taught since 1969. Wes Brown is a bassist, flutist, pianist, drummer, and dancer who has toured the world with many groups, including the legendary pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines, Talking Drums, and the Black Rebels reggae ensemble.
Parking is available in lots 4 and 5. Proceeds from tickets sales ($5 for adults, $3 for students, free for seniors and people with disabilities) will be used for the Kekeli club ensemble's trip to Ghana, West Africa in the spring. CD sales will be donated to the Save Darfur fund to help the victims of genocide in the Sudan.