Drum Roll from West Africa

Gütersloh, Germany, Feb. 27, 2009 - Fakoly, a Very Good Substitute. Without a doubt, a Guinean drum roll, like the thunderously loud ones produced on stage at the town hall in Gütersloh on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, takes some getting used to for European ears. And the “Drum & Dance Ensemble” around the djembe player, Fode Bangoura, knew how to bang their West African drums during their performance of his program “Fakoly” (Family). 

Actually, the “Ballett Intercontinental” series was supposed to be about dance and provide a glimpse into the culture of the former French colony and current dictatorship in the Atlantic. However, dance in Guinea has always primarily meant powerful music and drummed rhythms. Polyphonic structures are used to generate pure energy in the dancers and are intended to produce hypnotic states in the audience.

Still, the seemingly folkloristic event by the troop, which was in a very good mood, was far from magical. Nevertheless, the exceptionally well trained players made a journey through daily life in Guinea at breakneck speed. No more and no less.

Growing up was depicted as well as the work of farmers; there were strong men with their traditional performance dance, doundounba, and there were seductive women the day before their wedding. Using their various percussion instruments, the musicians heated up the dancers at breathtaking speeds. The dancers reacted with movements that could only be produced by boneless bodies at these speeds. Actually, it was more an athletic performance than an artistic one. 

Fode Bangoura, who lives and works in New York, sees himself and his ensemble as ambassadors from Guinea and its traditions. And so there was also some Q&A with the audience with a few tidbits of information on the West African country at the end of the performance before the audience was invited to join in the dance. Certainly, the dancers from the originally planned “Ballet Africain” would have done this as well had they not been prevented on short notice from leaving Guinea for political reasons. There were no drum rolls for that.