At The Tavern on the Green NY NY

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Afropop Worldwide’s 20th Anniversary Hall of Fame Gala is now a part of history. On March 4, 2009, some 300 movers and shakers from as far away as Brazil and Los Angeles flew into New York for an evening that no one present will ever forget. The program was dense, from the opening dance set by New York’s own fabulous Mandingo Ambassadors, to an oration by Harry Belafonte that was worthy of our eloquent president, to a full-on production number by the cast of the off-Broadway musical “Fela!” (directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, who was on hand for the occasion), and finally an ecstatic performance by Angelique Kidjo. Along the way, Belafonte and Kidjo were inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame, along with Sean Barlow, Banning Eyre, and the voice of Afropop, Georges Collinet.
 

As guests arrived at the luminous, airy Tavern on the Green in New York’s Central Park, the Mandingo Ambassadors were kicking out a sweet set of songs capturing the flavor of Conakry, Guinea in the 1960s and 70s, not far from the time when Mr. Belafonte visited there and had his own idea of Africa expanded by the cultural vision of President Sekou Toure, who used Guinean state money to fund the very bands that Mamady Kouyate (director of the Mandingo Ambassadors) played in and learned his trade all those years ago. 

That sense of connection became visceral during the sit-down portion of the evening when Belafonte launched into a passionate, thorough and spellbinding reminiscence. It began with his recollection of absorbing racist stereotypes from the movie “Tarzan,” which he saw in 1935, and which left him with a morbid impression of Africans—“I hoped I would never meet one.” From this inauspicious initiation, a journey of African discovery unfolded, including his introduction of Miriam Makeba to American audiences, his visits with Sekou Toure, and ultimately Nelson Mandela, and so much more. Belafonte reflected on the civil rights struggle, his deep friendship with Martin Luther King, his experience of forcing racist whites to think twice when they heard the beauty and tenderness of his singing, and his joy and satisfaction at witnessing the ascendance of Barrack Obama. He punctuated this extraordinary remembrance with an embrace of Afropop and its mission to give Americans a different narrative about Africa, one of spirit, culture, song and dance. And he ended by challenging Afropop to go further, especially in the intellectual and spiritual dimensions of today’s African societies.
 

From there, the hall turned its attention back to the bandstand and dancefloor, where the cast of “Fela!” dazzled everyone with the visceral punch of Afrobeat and the joyous choreography of Bill T. Jones. The night ran long. There was so much ground to cover, including brief but heartfelt words from Sean Barlow, Georges Collinet, and yours truly. But in the end, the evening belonged to the fireball from Benin, the incomparable Angelique Kidjo. Backed only by guitarist Dominic Kanza, she first lulled the crowd with her trademark rendition of “Malaika.” Then she got everyone singing on “Mama Africa.” And ultimately, joined by percussionists and dancers from the “Fela!” crew, she had the entire room on its feet, dancing and singing and giving it up in true, over-the-top Afropop fashion. It would be difficult to imagine a more spectacular and satisfying celebration of Afropop’s unparalleled 20-year run. As so many said that night, we need 20 more!
 

We at Liberty News Online like to thank Sean Barlow Founder of Afropop worldwide for his kind invite,for more information feel free to log onto their website at www.afropop.org
 

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