Story in the making

The United African Ballet of Denmark has done what never has been possible before: Created a superior African performance, 'made in Denmark'

By Momodou Camara

Luckily I do not have long hair. Because as I watch this group on stage, the hair on my body stands stretched on end. This is a real adventure. The performance of 'The United African Ballet of Denmark' is an energy explosion of movements and rhythms. There is out of breath acrobatics and colourful costumes. There is drama, comedy, masks and large puppets. But also, this ballet - entirely based on traditional African dance, songs and music - has its very gentle and poetic moments. It is a spine chilling experience to watch the majestic kora player Basirou Suso from Gambia enter the stage, singing his first song, 'Aliman Njarrabi Jee' - I Haven't Seen My Lover. He is accompanied by Afro Moses - a Ghanaian musician who is indeed fantastic in the way he improvises, especially when you consider that Afro Moses does not speak Basirou Suso's mandinka language.

A common forum

At last the dream of a grand permanent African dance ensemble in Denmark is a reality. Or at least, I hope that it will become permament. Only time will tell. Trouble is that no matter how flamboyant its debut was in Vega, Copenhagen, on May 28, 1999, we all know that it is not an easy task to hold such a large group together. The United African Ballet of Denmark is the result of realising the wish to bring together artistic talents among the African immigrants here in the country into a common forum. To my knowledge, it is the first of its kind in Europe. It was Sayo Bangura from the National Ballet of Sierra Leone who brought the group together and wrote their first play, 'Mamboya & N'Falie'. With the assistance of Charlotte von Magius, he was able to secure the financial foundation for the project - with sponsorships from the Danish Ministry of Culture's Development Fund and the Municipality of Copenhagen's Cultural Development Pool. 'Mamboya & N'Falie' is a poetic composition about love between man and woman. Mamboya and N'Falie are the two main figures in the story. They are first attracted to each other as children when they meet in the forest looking for firewood. We then follow the two characters through their life. In between childhood and marriage in Africa is when one learns about society and how to respect people and the culture you live in. We see how the two and their friends in the village learn to play music, dance and how to go about their culture. Then comes the night, and we are confronted with spirits in various forms. There are long applauses from the public every time a part of the play ends. Young N'falie and Mamboya dance with their friends, and I must say, these people are very good dancers. All the musicians are master drummers, especially in playing djembe, kalimba, balafon and doun doun. Throughout the performance one experiences the forest and nature with sounds from birds, insects and other animals like the hyenas. Robert Badu, a very talented visual artist from Ghana featured in Djembe no 17, made the scene look even more realistic, as if one is experiencing the whole performance in Africa, because of his painting of an African landscape in the background of the stage. The positive side of Africa, the culture of sharing and togetherness is manifested in The United African Ballet of Denmark. However, not everything is milk and honey for United African Ballet because at the moment the main problem is finding a permanent place for rehearsals. There is still hope because the group is already receiving requests for them to perform in other cities in Denmark, Sweden and Germany.

One common language

The United African Ballet of Denmark consists of talented men women and children, from no less than 11 countries around Africa, mostly West Africa, all of whom are professionals in the performing arts of their various countries. The two youngest in the group are seven and eight years old, but otherwise, most of the others have a history as members of national ballets and theatre troupes in their home countries, and they have years of experience from tours around the world with these troupes. Now based in Denmark and Sweden, many of them first came here as participants in various dance and theatre groups to the festivals held here. Even though they come from different ethnic groups in Africa, they all understand one common language of communication. That is the sound of the drum.

The United African Ballet of Denmark gets its inspiration from the rich and lively African tradition, into a new African music and dance theatre

The members of the U.A.B.O.D are: Sayo Bangura (Sierra Leone), Bailly Blo (Côte d'Ivoire), Emmanuel K. Monney (Ghana), Fassidy Kouruma (Guinea), Maledje Jean Paul (Côte d'Ivoire), N'Fanly Camara (Guinea), Ramata Amtrup (Senegal), Michala F-H. Donkor (Ghana), Meire Santos (Brazil), M´Bossaran Cissé (Guinea), Hildenize Oliveira (Brazil), Elizabeth M. Mangoma (Zimbawe), Cynthia Danah (Ghana), Binta Nielsen (Gambia), Bosson H. Kakou (Côte d'Ivoire), Alhagie Bambou Cham (Gambia), Basirou Suso (Gambia), Salifou Bangura (Guinea), Samuel k. Bobie (Ghana), Selassie Dewornu (Ghana) Naby Soumah (Guinea) Afro Moses (Ghana), Sita Dagnogo and GuiBoris Kouadio (Ivory Coast) and painter Robert Badu (Ghana). The co-founders of U.A.B.O.D are Sayo Bangura and Charlotte von Magius. Tlf: (+45) 33 93 68 10, email: uab @get2net.dk

"The sound of the forest of Africa gives hope. It heals the people. When the sun rises you hear the songs of the birds. It gives hope to the farmers. When it rains, it is a sign of a promising year to come and the children sing and dance. And so the ballet gives hope to all of us in Denmark..." Sayo Bangura - in his introduction to the play 'Mamboya & N'Falie'

This article is published on print in Djembe Magazine, no. 29, July 1999. Feel free to quote or reproduce any article in Djembe under condition of stating source and obtaining permission from author. Photos are strictly copyright of the photographer. Contents of the article are purely the opinion of the author, and do not in any way reflect the official position or thoughts of Djembe on those issues. Consider Djembe an uncensored, open "bulletin board"