1/02/08
Story by Peggy Graham

Children Teach Survival in Music and Dance

Uganda01.jpg (2 MB) Uganda photo

Uganda2.jpg (209 KB) Uganda photo

The Spirit of Uganda, youthful ambassadors of East African culture, will present a colorful program of music and dance at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College.

Previously at the Carlsen Center under the name Children of Uganda, the Spirit of Uganda offers a stunning performance with a goal to raise awareness of Uganda’s dual crises, AIDS and civil war.

With a vibrant cast of 20 performers, ages 8-18, the concert features drums, dramatic choreography and gorgeous call-and-response vocals, which bring to life the sounds and movements of East Africa. Considered ambassadors for Uganda’s 2.4 million orphans, these children personify the resilience and promise of African’s next generation.

In bare feet and colorful native costumes, children play a variety of drums, xylophones, horn trumpets and harps. Songs with exotic names like Titi Katitila, which celebrates an exotic bird, or Anjolinaye, which praises the beauty of an African girl, are sung in native languages while others are in English.

Artistic director Peter Kasule, a musician, choreographer and composer, was an original member of Children of Uganda. After his mother and father died, he lived at the Daughters of Charity Orphanage. Though borders have moved and country names changed in Africa, the arts have survived. Kasule believes that despite colonization, civil war, poverty and calamities, he can make a positive difference for the children of Uganda.

“Dance, music and storytelling record histories and instill values,” Kasule said. “They help raise children, observe milestones, provide assurance, dispense justice, proclaim beliefs and sustain societies. They are a tool of survival.”

During their January-May 2008 tour, confirmed engagements for weeklong residencies include the Mondavi Center, Davis, Calif; University of Florida, Gainesville; and the Carlsen Center. The Children of Uganda were in residency at the Carlsen Center in 2004 and 2006, peforming for students as well as visiting patients at Truman Medical Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Spirit of Uganda travels under the auspices of Empower African Children, a nonprofit organization founded by Alexis Hefley to develop opportunities for Africa’s orphaned and vulnerable children.

Tickets for Spirit of Uganda are $28 adults and $14 youth, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445.

Members of the East African troupe will be in residency Feb. 27-29 conducting a dance and drumming workshop and lecture demonstration for students of all ages in the community. For more information, call Angel Mercier, ArtsEducation program director, 913-469-8500, ext. 4221.