Workshops during this week will focus on African music

Factoid:For more information go to www.siu.edu/~shryock/azaguno.htm The showing will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are $15 for the public and $9 for seniors 60 and over. SIUC students get in free with their picture ID.

A multi-ethnic ensemble of 18 people will bring dance, drums, singing and other visual art forms to Carbondale this weekend.

Azaguno, which means “a master drummer” among the Ewe people of Ghana in West Africa, will perform traditional African music and dance Friday at the Shryock Auditorium.

Zelma Badu-Younge, the company’s co-director, said the show has been well-received worldwide. Azaguno has performed at the 2002 World Cup in Seoul, South Korea; in Taiwan, China; Canada; and throughout the United States.

“The response is very excited,” Badu-Younge said. “When we went to Asia, people came on the stage and danced. A lot of them have never seen African drumming or dancing before. They responded very positively.”

Kathleen Ginther, lecturer for the School of Music, said she would be attending the performance and wants University students to take advantage of the free show.

“They’re very authentic in their costumes, movements and styles of drumming,” Ginther said. “It’s more than just a performance, really. They’re kind of like a living museum of all these traditional music and dance forms.”

Pat Jones, Shryock Auditorium publicist, said Azaguno was kept in mind when scheduling the auditorium for Black History Month. The only other black performers scheduled to perform for this month were The Boys Choir of Harlem, which had to cancel due to financial and management problems on their end. They were scheduled to perform Feb. 17 at Shryock.

“Unfortunately this is the only performance that will coincide with Black History month,” Jones said.

In addition, the directors, Paschal Yao Younge and Zelma Badu-Younge, will be conducting workshops Tuesday through Saturday. The workshops will focus on African drumming and music and will take place at local schools and the University.

Ginther said Younge and Badu-Younge visited SIUC a few years ago and gave a workshop to the School of Music.

“It’s almost impossible just to sit there,” Ginther said. “You have to get up and move.”

Reporter Nicky Jacobs can be reached at [email protected]