PERFORMANCE

'Flying Home' achieves moments of inspired creativity

Theater Review by Jeffery Kurz, Record-Journal (excerpts)

Racial intolerance and its assault on identity is the focus of 'Flying Home,' a collaboration of three performing arts groups that had its premiere Thursday evening at Trinity College's Austin Arts Center.

The piece is a collage of voice, movement, light and sound that uses the African diaspora as a vehicle to explore universal issues of racial identity and bigotry. The performance employs the personal experiences of the Hartford women who make up the cast. In doing so, it avoids the perils of didacticism and achieves moments of inspired creativity.... Together they have achieved a production that blends a diversity of experience into a focused, dramatic statement about racial tolerance.

...Particularly notable are the African rhythms provided by Sankofa percussionists Alvin Carter Jr. and Ayanda Clark, who supply the hour-long piece with a fierce energy. The dancing is fluid and evocative, particularly in the beginning which portrays the joys of people reveling in their culture and the tragedy of being uprooted. The diaspora is portrayed by dancers huddling against a storm. The sound of thunder becomes entwined with whip lashes and writhing dancers. It's an inspired moment of theater.

EDUCATION

Group Brings Music of Africa, the Caribbean to Prospect Street

by W.T. Kelsey, Naugatuck Daily News

Ever want to travel to Guinea? How about the Caribbean?

That's exactly what students at Prospect Street Elementary School did today, as they took in a performancde of the Sankofa Kuumba performing group.

The Sankofa Kuumba performance included music, dance, songs and stories from Africa, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean as well as those of Africans born in the U.S. such as swing, double dutch and liturgical movements.

"We are here to share some of our culture and our history," Abu, one of the drummers, told students. "So we are going to go to Africa to honor our ancestors who came from there."

Abu, along with two other drummers, five dancers, and the head of the program, Christine Dixon-Smith, got the students going early with a lesson on the language of Africa.

Saying that "Ago" is the term for "I need your attention," Dixon-Smith told the students that "Amé" would be the proper response - signifying that they were listening.

"Ago!" Dixon-Smith said.
"Amé!" the students chorused.

(cont'd)