By Holli LeMarr-Wyett
Assistant A&E Editor
Imagine a remote country off the Western coast of Africa. Now imagine a ceremony with drums, singing, elaborate costumes and masks, storytelling and acrobatics.
The country is Senegal. The ceremony is the Kuuyumba, which acknowleges the growth from adolescence to adulthood and celebrates the freedom of the body that occurs at this transition.
Since 1960, Le Ballet National du Senegal, a 35-member dance company, has been inviting audiences to witness its sacred African culture and be enchanted by its genuine love and talent for song and dance.
Currently the tour is performing “Kuuyamba: The Spirit of West Africa in Music, Song and Dance.”
Each member of the dance company is exposed to extensive study and practice of the African rituals and dances before they entertain on stage. Preparation includes traveling around Senegal to become familiar with the 15 ethnic groups in that area, including the Mandingue culture where the Kuuyamba celebration originates from.
Despite the intense preparation, the show does not come off as rigid or meticulously practiced. In 1998, a critic from The New York Times said, “(Ballet Senegal’s works) are performed with such spontaneity and such clear love of dance that the program is disarming … This troupe of dancers, singers and musicians quite literally inspired spectators to ignore decorum and join in the fun.”
Senegal National Ballet will be performing at 8 p.m. in Smothers Theatre Oct. 12. Tickets are $35 and are available at (310) 506-4522 or TicketMaster at (213) 365-3500.
October 03, 2002