Lenfest Series: "Afrique en Cirque"

Afrique En Cirque: Lenfest Series

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Lenfest Center/Keller Theatre

Tickets are required.
General Public $35
Senior $32
W&L Faculty & Staff $29
W&L Student/Student $8
Taxes and processing fees included in ticket pricing.

Sponsored in part by the
Class of '64 Performing Arts Fund 

Welcome to the universe of Kalabanté Productions, and prepare for an unforgettable journey!Kalabanté was created by Yamoussa Bangoura, a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin. his dream was founding a school of circus arts and to direct his own multidisciplinary company specializing in African arts.

"Afrique en Cirque" is a show created by Bangoura and inspired by daily life in Guinea. This performance shares the beauty, youth and artistry of African culture.

Colorful beyond its scenery, costumes and staging-it makes any theater vibrate with energy and represents the strength, agility and the joys of Africa. The audience will see acrobats execute gravity-defying moves and human pyramids, all accompanied by the contemporary sounds of live Afro-Jazz, percussion and kora.

Bangoura first became interested in the circus arts as a young man growing up in Conakry, Guinea in the 1990's. He studied the circus performers he saw on European TV and practiced on the beach and dirt around his home. He also studied the Nyamakala tradition of circus, practiced by the Fula people of West Africa. Bangoura eventually joined Guinea's original circus company, Circus Baobob.

In the early 2000s, Bangoura was recruited to come to Canada with Cirque Eloize, a Montreal0-based Canadian cirque company. While in Canada he also performed with Cirque du Soleil and Cavalia (a cirque with horses). In 2007, he realized his dream and opened his own company, Kalabanté Productions in Montreal, Canada. He recruited many of his extended family members to join the company, including his twin sisters, brothers and cousins.

The company began doing shows in Quebec, and over the years expanded to all of Canada, the USA and now perform all over the world. In 2018, Kalabanté opened their own studio and school in Montreal, where they offer classes in African dance, cirque and drumming.

Kalabanté Productions is proud to be able to share their work, achievements and skills to inspire others and to assist with the humanitarian mission to help the Guinean community from which Bangoura and many of his company members come.

WINNER OF W&L STUDENT-BODY 2024-2025 LENFEST EVENT OF THE SEASON!

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