Festival Baobab
Roots, Rhythms & Reels from the African Diaspora
February 2, 3, 16, 17, 2007
at The WISE Hall
4 nights of music and dance, storytelling, film, and food, in celebration of African culture in Vancouver
Presented by: Alliance Française, The WISE Club, Zula Productions & BlueHouse
with kind support from: The Georgia Straight & Granville Island Brewing
Tickets: $18 Passes: $55
Available at WISE Club Lounge, Highlife Records, Sophia Books, & Banyen Books
Charge by phone: 604.737.8858
Cheers,
Cem Zafir
-----------------------------
Zula Productions
hey@zula.ca
www.zula.ca
-----------------------------
Friday, February 2, 2007
AFRICAN CABARET
(7 pm doors, 8 pm show; $18)
From Dakar to Djibouti -
music, dance, and stories
Jean Pierre Makosso
Jean Pierre comes from Congo (Brazzaville) and is descended from a long line of storytellers. He’s an actor, dancer, musician – and of course a fabulous yarnspinner who shares his cultural heritage with great simplicity through the use of movements, costumes, dance, drums and percussion.
www.makossovillage.com
Kocassalé Dioubaté
Kocassalé Dioubaté is a Guinean of the Mandingo tribe and a griot – a member of the traditional West African caste of storytellers and musicians. Since arriving in Canada two years ago he’s become a member of famed guitarist Alpha Yaya Diallo’s band Bafing.
www.beresanke.com
Kokoma African Heritage Ensemble
Kokoma African Heritage Ensemble is a Vancouver-based African dance and drum performance ensemble, founded seven years ago by Maobong Oku from Nigeria. Kokoma’s dynamic performances draw on a repertoire rich in mythological imagery and spiritual metaphors.
www.maobongoku.com
PLUS SPECIAL MYSTERY GUEST!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
HEART OF THE BAOBAB
(7 pm doors, 8 pm show; $18)
The wisdom of the old ways,
the energy of the new
Bérésanké Percussion
Under the name BéréSanké Percussion, Kocassalé Dioubaté and his wife Aimee manufacture and import West African percussion instruments, as well as leading drum and dance workshops. For ‘Heart of the Baobab’, Koca will not only play and demonstrate these instruments, but will display his work as a craftsman.
www.beresanke.com
Miyanda Dance Troupe
Miyanda, which means “roots”, is a youthful dance ensemble, comprising seven girls of African heritage who are trying to achieve a new connection and pride in their cultural origins.
www.masabo.com
Masabo Culture Company
Fana Soro, the founder and leader of West African music, storytelling, and dance company Masabo, grew up in the north of Ivory Coast and served an apprenticeship with a master of the marimba-like balafon. Fana moved to Canada in 1996 and created the dynamic and colourful Masabo, as well establishing a centre for African arts in New Westminster.
www.masabo.com
A Jam Session, led by some of the finest musicians in the African community, will close out the evening.
Nyala Restaurant will start serving dinner at 7 pm. Although dinner is optional their mouth-watering creations will be difficult to resist.
Friday, February 16, 2007
A NIGHT IN THE SAHARA
(7 pm doors, 8 pm show; $18)
The soul and spirit of the
great desert and its people
The Tuareg of Niger
(Photo exhibit)
These 34 beautiful and often moving photographs illustrate the work of geographer Edmond Bernus (1929-2004) among the Tuaregs of the Sahel. The exhibition comes direct from France, and comes with a DVD slide show of 135 more photos, accompanied by music from the Illabakan tribe.
www.ird.fr/us/info/expo/touareg
Adel Awad and Sahara
Adel Awad is a master percussionist from Cairo. Over the past decade he’s become one of the pillars of the roots music community - working with such artists as Alpha Diallo and Celso Machado. With his six-piece group Sahara - which includes a bellydancer - Adel plays music from many regions of North Africa.
www.dreamwindow.net/drummagic
Sudan'da
Sudan’da is built around the music of Aladeen Abdalla, a great singer and oud (lute) player from Sudan. Since coming to Vancouver he’s put together a quintet with several of the city’s leading roots and jazz musicians to perform his own songs, as well as a wealth of traditional material and works by other Sudanese composers.
Beats Without Borders with DJ Nils
The Beats Without Borders collective brings together Vancouver’s leading world-beat djs. They team up with musicians, dancers, and other artists to blend roots-based rhythms, contemporary beats, and electronica. For Festival Baobab, DJ Nils will conjure up the spirits of the Sahara and carve irresistible dance grooves.
www.beatswithoutborders.com
February 17, 2007
AFRICAN CARNIVAL
(6 pm films, 8 pm show; $18)
Hailing the end of winter
and the coming of spring
Films of Senegal
In Traces, director Katy Lena Ndiaye compares and contrasts tradition with modernity -seen through the intertwined portraits of three old women and their ''grand-daughter''. Xalima la plume, directed by Ousmane William Mbaye,provides a personal portrait of major folk figure Seydina Insa Wade's return to his homeland for two years after having left for France in the ‘80s.
Comfort Ero
Comfort is a storyteller and playwright who was raised in a Nigerian Bini chief’s household. She has sung and told traditional folktales and songs ever since learning to talk. Comfort is currently artistic director of Zibota Moonlight Theatre and a board member of African Stages Association of BC.
www.africanstages.com
Kutapira
Kutapira is an 8-piece group of young artists from Vancouver who came together in high school to create a unique and highly danceable fusion of Zimbabwean marimba music and Afro-Cuban percussion.. Last summer they went into the studio to record a fine self-titled debut album.
Aboubacar Camara & Doundounba
Guinean singer and musician Aboubacar Camara from Guinea and his dynamic sextet Doundounba perform amasumbou - a mix of ancient traditions his homeland and popular dance-driven Mandeng melodies. The band combines traditional instruments with electric and bass guitars, and Aboubacar is an extraordinary dancer, with the speed and agility of a leopard.
www.doundounba.ca
A Jam Session, led by some of the finest musicians in the African community, will close out the festival.
East African dinner prepared by Hinda Abdillahi will be available this eve, as well as, edible treats throughout the fest.
More information at:
www.zula.ca
www.alliancefrancaise.ca
Linear Mode
