Online college life news November 24, 2010: Fort worth jumbies
Jumbies Fort Worth performed a stilt-dancing spectacle nothing short of dancing art six-feet in the air on Nov. 18 in Martin Hall.
About 30 D. McRae students and teachers were members of the troupe who performed a ritual African dance which calls forth the spirit Kakilambé, a protector against all evil entities.
Jumbies Fort Worth was begun by Amphibian Stage Productions in 2008. According to the Amphibian Stage Productions website, their goals for youth participating in the stilt-dancing troupe are:
• To foster cultural pride and encourage cultural tolerance and collaboration.
• To give children the opportunity to experience the arts free of charge.
• To encourage good health through joyful physical activity.
• To develop self-confidence through a sense of community
Artistic director and founder of Amphibian Stage Productions Kathleen Culebro said, "It was really something that we wanted to start including the children of Fort Worth in. While the experience of watching [stilt-dancers] is very exciting, watching the kids learn how to stilt-dance and the empowerment that comes to them from learning that they can do this and that they can connect with a culture that they never thought they'd have any interest in is really exciting to us."
Jumbie means "ghost" and the Jumbie's function is to scare away any bad spirits surrounding a town, Culebro said. The performer in the Jumbie costume is unknown. The sheer magnitude and strangeness of the being scares away evil spirits. Depending on the height of the stilt-dancer, some Jumbies can reach as high as 12 feet.
Kakilambé is an oracle-prophet represented in ceremony by a giant mask with many ropes hanging from it. Once a year the villagers ask many questions of Kakilambé as to the events of the upcoming year. Health of the family, prosperity, harvest quality. The ceremony begins with the slow rhythm to Kakilambé and dance. In chanting, they all praise and flatter Kakilambé and show their devotion. The more praise, the louder it becomes, the longer it sustains, this giant mask (Kakilambé) begins to levitate, higher and higher.
The performance featured four professional stilt-dancers, two native drummers and one xylophonist. Several of the dancers and drummers are native to West Africa, Guinea, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. They each head their own group of performers in independent dance or drum companies.
Moussa Diabate teaches at Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Dallas. He's also taught at the Yale School of Drama and choreographed for Broadway shows such as Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk.
Moha Dosso lives in Indiana. He began learning to stilt-walk at 6 years old. He's a dancer, costume-maker, drummer and fire-breather. His family comes from a long line of stilt-dancers.
Michael Saab is an anthropologist who has his own theater company in New York, Modern Gypsies. He is a jumping-stilts performer, fire-breather and sword-swallower.
Francis "Frank" Moka, a recent graduate of B.T.W. and student of Diabate, lives and works in Dallas.
Laurent Camara is the lead drummer, the one who sets the drumming tone for each performance.
Lamine Soumah is also a West African drummer. Soumah and the others have all performed extensively throughout the country.
Aboubacar Sylla, from Guinea, is the xylophonist and he was brought in by Amphibian not for the student-training, only for the performance.
Amphibian works with two Everman Independent School District schools, Dan Powell Intermediate and Baxter Junior High and one Fort Worth ISD school, D. McRae Elementary.
Each school was specifically chosen by Amphibian as the schools they saw needed new opportunities, Culebro said.
"Our focus is ultimately to connect children to history in a way that's exciting to them. I think kids tend to believe that history, culture and traditions are boring and have no place for them. We believe that's not true and kids actually become empowered when they understand their history and their identity. It makes children proud of who they are and what they come from instead of trying to change and become more like others they embrace their individuality," she said.
For more information, contact Kathleen Culebro kathleen@amphibianproductions.org or check out their website www.amphibianproductions.org
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Jumbies Fort Worth! 2010by AmphibianProd706 views
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