PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project presents The Akwaaba Ensemble, featuring traditional African drumming and dance, at Next Stage on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Opening will be award-winning performance artist, singer, musician, and author U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo.
The Akwaaba Ensemble's energetic and interactive performances are a reflection of their name, which means “welcome” in the Twi language of the Ashanti tribe of Ghana, according to a news release. The Ensemble “brings Highlife music, West African drumming and dance to vivid life.”
In keeping with Next Stage Arts' tradition of engaging visiting artists with area students, Akwaaba leader Theo Martey, a master drummer and educator born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, will be leading a workshop in the Next Stage theater for Putney Central School and Grammar School middle school students at 1 p.m., prior to the evening performance.
For the past 17 years, the Ensemble has toured internationally and performed on many stages in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. They perform at theaters, fairs, festivals, weddings, school settings, and drumming and dancing workshops in the community, and collaborate often with other musicians.
The group says its goal is to produce extraordinary music and great performances that enlighten the audience about African Culture and Music.
U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, whose Ndebele/Zulu name means “What are we waiting for?” is a Boston-based Zimbabwean-American performance artist and poet.
She has a master's degree in education from Lesley University and more than 15 years of experience teaching health and wellness in schools and communities. She is an adjunct professor in English at Endicott College.
Her poems have been used in film, TV, theater, and documentaries and published in Write On The Dot.
This performance and student workshop is supported in part with a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts.