8 -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 13, 2000
ARTs
Tribute to Mandinka breaks mold
By Nick Falzone
Daily Arts Writer
Hundreds of people gathered in
the Power Center to view a Sene-
galese dance company Thursday
evening in their premiere Ann
Arbor and University Musical Soci-
ety performance. Despite the
group's name, Les Ballets
d'Afrique Noire and its reference
to one of dance's most traditional
forms, the company's show broke
all the stereotypes of traditional
ballet.
"The Mandinka Epic" featured
not a single artist in a tutu, leotard
or pointe shoe. Instead, the per-
formers went without footwear and
wore vibrant, colorful costumes
that reflected upon the subject of
the show - the history of the
Mandinka tribe, a group in Western
Africa, and their rise to power from
the 12th to the 14th Century.
In addition to using unconven-
tional types of ballet costuming,
the show utilized a style of dancing
that most of the audience had not
previously seen in a ballet perfor-
mance. Instead of delicately traips-
ing about the stage, the performers
often gyrated across it, thrashing
their heads violently while quickly
moving their limbs. The dancing,
though wilder than the style found
in traditional ballet, still required
extensive choreography and great
skill on the part of the performers.
The dancers, due to their powerful
intensity and notable talent, suc-
ceeded in visually stimulating the
audience.
As well as being a spectacle for
the eyes, the vast majority of the
Les Ballets
d'Afrique
Noire
Power Center
Thursday, March 9
presentation
provided a
beautiful and
intense experi-
ence for the
ears. The
music and
songs, both
expertly per-
formed, were
delightful to
listen to. At
times, though,
the sound svs-
tem that
amplified the
performers'
two speakers at the sides of the
stage, greeting the audience with a
noise similar to a bee's buzz. At the
same time, a performer appeared
on stage and began speaking to the
audience in a voice that the sound
system only intermittently ampli-
fied. The combination of the errors
seemed to be a poor omen for the
performance's future.
Fortunately for the show, the
sound system was fixed quickly and
transmitted the performers' voices
well throughout the rest of the
show. The audience easily forgot
about the initial technical problems
as the performance progressed; the
intensity of the performers' voices
and music greatly outweighed the
errors at the beginning.
The standing ovation at the end
of the show was testament to the
incredible musical talent of the per-
formers. The entire audience
clapped vigorously during the bows
and during the encore when five
musicians brought their bongo
drums out on stage. The applause
continued in full force for five min-
utes as the performers filled the air
with vibrant rhythms. Providing an
excellent culmination to the perfor-
mance, the drummers amazed
everyone in the crowd with their
playing abilities. The audience left
the show, satisfied and invigorated,
with a new perspective on both
African history and ballet.
4
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voices and instruments failed to
transmit an enjoyable tune to the
audience.
The most obvious occurrence of
the system's faultiness took place at
the beginning of the show's first
act. The performance commenced
with the off-stage playing of a tra-
ditional African instrument that
would have produced wonderful
music, if not for the system's dis-
tortion of its tone. Instead of a mel-
lifluous sound, the instrument
blared extremely loudly over the
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