Doors at 8:30 pm; Show at 9 pm
Tickets are $18 Advance / $18 Students / $20 Day of Show
The colorful dancers and musicians of Afrique Sogue bring a musical-cultural celebration that will literally spill off the Ashkenaz stage and into the audience. Afrique Sogue is a traditional West African performing arts company based in the East Bay. Under artistic director Mohamed Lamine Bangoura, Afrique Sogue (meaning “the Sun of Africa”) presents an evening filled with the musical culture of the Manding and Mandinka people, those descendants of the great pre-colonial empire of what is now considered Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. This concert features vocalists and dancers with an ensemble playing traditional percussion instruments: djembe drums, balafon, doudoun and kenkeni. This is the music that spread across West Africa with the creation of the original Mali empire established by 13th century warrior Sundiata Keita. Director Lamine says, “We invite all to sing, dance, and participate in an evening of celebration.”
The director, master drummer Mohamed Lamine Bangoura, has been lead percussionist and musical director for African ballets across West Africa and the Bay Area. He is a descendant of Sousou and Malinke ancestors from Guinea, and has spent much of his life traveling throughout Western Africa to study music and enrich his understanding of the many cultures and ethnicities of his continent.Unity has become the marker of his artistic style, influenced by the diverse number of artists and teachers whom he’s worked with in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, and Sierra Leon, among others.
Tonight's artists are
Mohamed Lamine Bangoura – Djembefola, Kirin
Mandjou Kone – Vocals, Dance
Mariam Bangoura – Vocals, Dance
Marietou Camara – Percussion, Dance
Fadima Traore – Percussion, Dance
M’mah Toure – Percussion, Dance
Tamika Harris & Africa We Dance - Dance
Mohamed Kouyate - Balafon
Alisco Diabate – Percussion
Amadou Daiwara – Percussion
Djamil Diop – Percussion
Ben Isaacs – Percussion
Richmond Wiggins – Percussion
Alseny Soumah – Dance
Naby Bangoura – Dance
