The journey begins with six drummers, pounding on different-sized drums, and soon a breathtaking kora solo clings to the air. The kora player shouts something, and other performers—acrobats, trapeze artists, and contortionists—flip onto the stage.
Yamoussa Bangoura is not only a majestic and world-class kora player, but he is also the artistic director of Kalabanté, a circus school and international show production company. Under the name Afrique en Cirque, Bangoura and about 18 other performers took the Scène TD audience through a journey into the heart of West Africa, with some more modern additions, for the festival’s 40th anniversary. Soon, a tower of people holds up one performer as he balances his arm on the head of another, about 30 feet in the air.
Bangoura is the de facto leader of each performance—singing, playing kora, or hand drums—while another drummer and bass player (who seem never to rest) keep the music going. My only critique is that the saxophone and guitar solos were all pre-recorded, but the rest of the instrumentation was performed live. Why not just have a saxophonist or guitar player dressed in costume as well?
We’re all witnesses to a human pyramid and two contortionists who thrash against a long rope, while dislocating joints, spinning their heads and torsos in what should be impossible fashion, while some Afro blues jazz takes up the scene. I’ve personally seen the Russian, Aleksei Goloborodko (named the best contortionist in the world) during Cirque du Soleil, and these Kalabanté contortionists are easily on par with him.
Halfway into the performance, Bangoura and about six other absolutely shredded dudes dressed as construction workers begin what I can only call the “Magic Mike” portion of the set. They didn’t strip per se, nor did they need to, performing acrobatics on planks of wood and doing some pretty suggestive hand gestures to the beat of the African blues music. The crowd loved it. Next, we have more acrobatics with people flipping over other performers.
At times, it feels chaotic, but it then ends with two human towers, 40 feet in the air, falling in unison onto the mats. I think the reason the troupe doesn’t have a live saxophone or lead guitar is that they need the music to be on a loop so Bangoura and the other performers can queue up the next part of the show. There were a few moments that seemed to continue until the performers got it right. But hey, this is show business and sometimes the production doesn’t always work out the very first time. Either way, Kalabanté brought the heat and created a very memorable Nuits d’Afrique performance.
Photos by André Rival
