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C-SPAN SPECIAL
Kusun HeadlinesKusun Tours to San Diego"Ghanaian Music and Dance Troupe Is World-Class"By Janice Steinberg Posted on May 23 2008 sandiego.com Not all that long ago, many western critics considered African dance a "primitive" form that lacked any real technique. Then in the 1970's, several landmark works of scholarship blew that condescending idea to smithereens. In particular, Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson, in a dense, brilliant essay, African Art and Motion, identified a complex canon by which people in West and Central Africa judge a dancer's mastery. According to Farris Thompson, the African aesthetic values youthful vigor and strength, polyrhythms, sharp juxtapositions, and "coolness," a sort of spiritual state that combines composure, playfulness, and healing. Well, Kusun has them all. The Ghanaian dance and music ensemble appeared last night at the City Heights Performance Annex, in a joyous show that ended with the audience spilling onto the stage and grooving with the four dancers, while the six musicians played a highlife tune. (A personal thanks to Yawuza AlHassan for showing me some great moves.) Kusun performs again this evening at the World Beat Center, and I have one word of advice: Go. Kusun photoWith its members recruited from the Ghanaian National Ballet and the Pan African Orchestra, Kusun has performed in a showcase at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and before audiences of thousands internationally, and these world-class artists deserve a far larger venue than City Heights or the World Beat Center. Yet what a treat for us to see Kusun in such intimate spaces, where dancer Okuley Benard can bound out from the wings and, with a few powerful leaps, nearly fly into the front row! Benard, a muscular warrior of a dancer, shoots forward with terrifying momentum—then stops dead-on, like a case study in the aesthetic of juxtaposition. Benard and AlHassan, the male dancers, play to the crowd, making frequent eye contact—Benard with teasing challenge and AlHassan, a boyish gazelle, flashing a radiant smile. The women, Rita Esinam and Rita Tawiah, are more demure, only occasionally flirting with the audience in solos. All four dancers dazzle, with thrusting hips and pelvises, arms that scoop and flick and whip, and legs that sweep to the side so freely you're scared someone might dislocate a hip. The dancers rotate their arms as if swimming the butterfly in "Saba," a dance done at birth ceremonies in Senegal. "Kpele," a Ghanaian festival dance, features remarkable bent-legged split jumps done with torqued hips. "Bawa," from northern Ghana, lets Benard show off a "Jello Belly" move, his torso quivering. And in "Fumé Fumé" (sung with shiveringly beautiful harmonies), AlHassan does fouettés worthy of any ballet troupe, one leg extended as he turns again and again. Founded by musician Nii Tettey Tetteh, Kusun is emphatically both a music and dance ensemble. As Tetteh says, life in Africa is all about the music. "We need music to work." A composer and arranger, he has created a form he calls Nokoko, combining traditional African rhythms, Afropop, and jazz—Kusun's instrumental mix includes drums and other percussion from various parts of Africa as well as the Caribbean, Tetteh on flute, and an electric guitar. There are pure-music numbers between each of the show's five dances, and especially in the song "Nokoko," you could pick up what felt like three different strands of rhythm going at one time, but each strand distinct. Along with offering pleasures for lovers of music and dance, Kusun provides a textile feast. Against a simple but vivid backdrop of a tree with a few big leaves, most of the musicians wear tunics and pants in cheery prints featuring all three primary colors. The dancers change costumes for each of the five dances, from subdued orange and blue prints to grass skirts. Tetteh provides a highlight of the show, demonstrating the aslatua, an instrument made of two round seed-filled gourds (think pingpong balls) joined by four- to five-inch cord. You hold one gourd in your hand and flip the other so it hits the first, and you get the tock of the gourds hitting each other plus the shusha-shusha of the seeds shaking inside. Tetteh gets one of these going in each hand and then accelerates to warp speed. And you can appreciate just how much skill this takes (I did), by buying an aslatua and trying it at home. In case you want to give it a try, Kusun is giving a workshop at the World Beat Center tomorrow (Saturday, May 24). Dance ensemble kicks off Black History Month
Kusun Dance Ensemble shares traditionsBy Mindi Westhoff/staff mwesthoff@newsleader.com WEYERS CAVE - At Blue Ridge Community College on Wednesday, four dancers, five percussionists, a couple of flutists and one electric guitar player gave students a taste of African music to kick off the college's Black History Month program. For more than 45 minutes, Nii Tettey Tetteh and the Kusun Dance Ensemble performed traditional pieces from Tanzania, Kenya and their home country of Ghana. The frigid, mid-winter weather seemed far away as the barefoot dancers somersaulted across the stage, midriffs bare, wearing grass skirts and brightly colored jewelry. The group used wooden flutes, four different types of drums and a traditional percussion instrument consisting of two balls of wood connected by a string. "I like the way they perform and the diversity of their instruments," said student activities director Mary Kier Smith. Smith said she chose the group to kickoff Black History Month because of their solid performing background. Between energetic dance solos and guitar riffs, Nii Tettey Tetteh told students about his passion for music and its ability to affect people. In fact, upon trying to get a visa into Canada once, Tetteh was required to pull out an instrument and play a song for immigration officials to prove his status as a foreign performer. Rather than feel offended, Tetteh looked back on that incident as proof of music's power.  "If you want to go to Canada without problems, you'll need your passport," he said, pointing his instrument at the laughing crowd. "And we will be selling passports after the show."The show, which was sponsored by the cultural affairs committee, Spectrum Multicultural Club and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, is the first in a series of Black History Month events, including a spiritual music extravaganza, soul food sampling and a civil rights memorial fundraiser. source: Staunton News Leader |
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Honoring Festive Traditions While Making New FriendsBy JACK ANDERSONNew York Times Drums throbbed, feet stamped and theatergoers cheered when DanceAfrica 2004 came to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Friday night. Chuck Davis, artistic director of this annual festival, makes sure that it is always entertaining. As usual he tried to turn the event into a genial gathering of friends by asking members of the audience to introduce themselves to one another. But he also made clear that a dance performance can be a serious, and even a sacred, event. The program, subtitled "A Dancer's Path: Ancient Traditions, Modern Trends," began with a processional honoring the elders of dance. Names of those who had died were read as a memorial. Dances onstage, the ceremonies implied, are all part of the great dance of life. After that, joy prevailed: joy arising out of a sense of communal solidarity and human dignity. Nii Tettey Tetteh and the Kusun Ensemble, from Ghana, presented a wonderfully energetic suite of dances. Soloists jumped over one another. Some men engaged in a quivering contest. There were many twists and flip-flops, as well as a dance in which people bumped comically into one another. A suite from Mali and Guinea by the Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble of New York featured an expert percussion ensemble. But as hands drummed drums, feet drummed on the floor. Lines of dancers swayed and shook while exultantly raising and lowering their arms. As people galloped, their thrusting arms flew from side to side. The BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble, a group of young people from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, crouched and rose and let their feet pound against the floor as they circled the stage in "Atsiagbekor," a war dance of the Ewe people. A village festival was evoked in "Econne-Conne" and "Lengen," as danced by the Ezibu Muntu African Dance Company, founded at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. People swept the space to prepare it for dancing and then gathered in it, jumping happily and kicking with glee. From time to time throughout the evening, Shaka Zulu, a traditional stilt dancer from New Orleans, crossed the stage, towering over it like a benign giant. He also performed a solo in which he kicked, leaped and held spectacular balance, all on stilts. |
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Saturday, June 17, 2006
...Kusun Ensemble LiveBy David McDavittBethesda, Maryland’s prestigious Strathmore Music Center hosted a performance by one of Ghana’s fiercest dance-drum ensembles, Kusun on June 14th, 2006. A thrilled, standing-room-only audience remained transfixed on Kusun’s spectacle: dancing, clapping, singing along, and mobbing Kusun’s merchandise table until the end of the two hour onslaught. Kusun’s resolve to revive traditional Ghanaian drum music in an era when bubblegum pop & hiphop dominate the market (in the US and Ghana) is noble, and has resulted in a musical experience of the highest order & importance. Kusun (aptly translates, “living culture”) is a talented ensemble of musicians and dancers from the Ga people of southern Ghana (the indigenous people of Accra & Tema). Founded by Nii Tettey Tetteh in 1997, Kusun includes past members of Ghana’s prestigious “National Ballet” and “The Pan African Orchestra” (seek their monster CD, “Opus 1”). Tetteh also hosts a drum school in Ghana which is visited annually by international students. Originally based in Ghana, with administrative offices in Australia, Kusun currently resides in Floyd, Virginia- the result of a 2001 invitation to perform at the Floydfest international music festival by Kusun Drum School student, Kris Hodges. Kusun (like the Ga in general) are great scholars of music, learning & performing the drumming of the nearby Ewe, Akan, and Dagomba along side their own Ga traditional forms. In this sense Kusun’s music may be favorably compared with the pan-Ghanaian drumming of Mustapha Tettey Addy’s “Obonu” group. But Kusun’s music takes a step in a new direction, the addition of Highlife guitar, and bass covered by the expressive Gome drum. Nii Tettey Tetteh calls this amalgam, "Nokoko" (something something). It is a pleasing mix indeed, adding a melodic element with touches of the Western jazz, Cuban son, and Ghanaian palm wine music inherent to Highlife. On stage, Kusun incorporates Ga Twinchin (like congas) & Gome drums (huge square bass drum sat upon like a cajon: the pitch is varied with your heel); with Ewe Sogo (closed-bottom stick conga), Gankogui (double bell), Totodzi (small dead-sounding support drum), Atsimevu (4 ft tall small headed lead drum); Dagomba Donno (variable tension talking drum) & Brekete (slung bass tom with snare); Ashanti Atumpan (large paired goblet-shaped stick drums), Fontonfrom (4 ft tall tree trunk drums) & atenteben (bamboo flute), and Mande djembe (of Mali). Although many of Kusun’s compositions are based in traditional forms, they often juxtapose diverse elements, for example having an Akan intro/outro for an Ewe Gahu song. Kusun’s sound incorporates the Ga people's popular "Kpanlogo" (modern highlife-drum social dance) & "Fume-Fume" (social drum-dance), but also includes the Akan people's "Adowa" (antelope/funeral dance)/"Sikyi" (Social Dance), the Dagaaba's "Bawa" (harvest/naming dance), and Ewe tribe's "Agbekor" (war dance)/"Gahu" (anti colonial satire)/"Agbadza" (secular drum dance). Kusun is simultaneously VERY dance-drum, and VERY highlife. There’s much to connect with and enjoy. The music is powerful, complex, approachable, and joyous. Rarely have I seen an audience so completely mesmerized. Kusun are polished consummate performers. The arrangements are air-tight, the band relaxed and all smiles. Tetteh banters & jokes with the audience with friendly confidence, informing and entertaining. The dancers are great show-stealers, with inhuman strength, the grace of large predatory African cats, new elaborate costumes for each dance/culture, and huge amounts of audience engagement. They tell stories without words. Their acrobatics thrill & amaze- and they make it look effortless, but don’t try this at home! Kusun has two CD’s and four instructional videos available. Kusun Ensemble Beautifully Different graphicghana.info2/9/2006 Among the many individuals and groups that will grace the Commonwealth games next Match in Melbourne, Australia is the Kusun Ensemble who together with the African Showboys will take part in the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival which will be held alongside athletics and other events. At the Arts Centre, Accra, last Friday, Nii Tettey and his Kunsun Ensemble and the African Showboys put up an extremely entertaining show for a select audience including the Australian Ambassador. But it was Kunsun Ensemble which showed class in an hour plus performance of a professionally well packaged act that thrilled the fully packed open hall of the Arts Centre. While most Ghanaian cultural groups provide loud and sometimes deafening drumming for their dances, Kunsun Ensemble has chosen a more solemn and desirable style of presenting their traditional dances by combining the dexterity of Oboubi on the lead guitar, in concert with the traditional drums. Thus a union of music, drumming and dancing is presented in an ear-pleasing and aesthetically arranged movements that will not fail to thrill an audience. Opening with a nice slow-paced song calling on the Good Lord to shower his blessings on all, Nii Tettey on vocals and leading with the atentenben flute, engaged in a banter with the guitar which was complimented by his unique voice. The well structured act dovetailed into the Atsiagbekor dance which initially started with the Atsimevu drum supported by the other drums finally ushering in the dancers who went through their routines with beautiful precision. Even the fast paced dances enjoyed subdued drumming leaving the audience to savour the nuances in the music, singing, drumming and dancing. Nagla and other dances were presented in a more refreshing way. But the whole show was linked together by Nii Tettey who is very professional and savvy in playing common but not-easy-to-play instruments like the saara (snuff bottle) on strings and a slim wooden contration used them to bridge the transition points in the programme. His anecdotes also provided interesting variety which gave the performers time to change and take a breather. Earlier, Aphrodesia an all white Afro Beat group, gave an indication of what the audience should expect when they shocked the audience with a wonderful performance of Afro Beat music The ten piece band impressed not only with their music but managed their well rehearsed dance movements honourably. Applause after applause greeted each of their songs a sure sign that the audience really enjoyed their music. African Showboys a traditional group comprising four brothers, also sent strong signals that they will make a great impact with their performances in Melbourne. A combination of traditional music, dance, magic and acrobatic displays is what they fed the audience who loved every bit of their performance. In a short speech, the Australian Ambassador Jonathan Richerdson stated that apart from the two traditional groups and Ga coffins from Nungua which will be on exhibition, Kente will also be exhibited as part of a textile exhibition. According to him after the performances by the two groups he has no doubts that the Ghanaian contingent will give a very good account of themselves. Story by Nii Addokwei Moffatt DanceAfrica 2004Village Voice, NY - May 25, 2004by Monica Levette Clark When larger-than-life dancer-choreographer Chuck Davis received the silver bowl honoring him at the Dance Magazine Awards last month, he commanded the audience to rise up, let out a big cheer, and hug their neighbors. He's 67 years old and nearly seven feet tall; you'd be a fool to argue with him. Davis has a lot to be ecstatic about, including his baby, DanceAfrica, opening its 27th season on Friday. This year's theme is "A Dancer's Path: Ancient Traditions, Modern Trends." "The whole idea is to explore traditional African dance and how all the other dance forms have been inspired and energized by it," Davis said from his home in North Carolina. In 1977 he founded the annual culture fest in Brooklyn; today copycat versions go on in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Davis's company, three drummers and 11 dancers whose repertory spans the continent of Africa, shares the stage with Ghana-based Nii Tettey Tetteh and his Kusun Ensemble performing their "Nokoko" style, African stilt performer Shaka Zulu, and others in four spirited shows. A free African bazaar and sculpture garden are open from Saturday through Monday. Brooklyn Academy Celebrates DanceAfricaCLAUDIA LA ROCCO Associated PressNEW YORK - With artistic director Chuck Davis holding court, DanceAfrica rolled back into town for its 27th annual celebration. "A Dancer's Path: Ancient Traditions, Modern Trends" entertained a lively audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. When "founding Elder" Davis took the stage for the Jalibah, or traditional greeting, those few folks who had not yet experienced a DanceAfrica festival understood they were in for a different kind of dance experience. There were the hugs to strangers commanded by Davis. There was the tribute to those who had "made the transition to the Ancestral Grounds." And there was Shaka Zulu, a traditional African stilt dancer who just joined Cirque de Soleil, who wandered onto stage throughout the evening to strut and shimmy his stuff. Lofty title aside, a carnivallike feel permeated the show, which built on the performances of four groups - the American troupes Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble, Ezibu Muntu African Dance Company and BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble, and Ghana's Nii Tettey Tetteh and the Kusun Ensemble. The Ghanian performers were the strongest at Friday night's performance, Tetteh leading a tight group of drummers as five dancers leapt, spun and gyrated, all the while smiling at the appreciative audience. If the other companies, including the BAM/Restoration youngsters, sometimes lacked finesse, they made up for it in exuberance. Shell decorations and colorful headdresses flew off the dancers as they sped through large group patterns, individual performers sometimes losing themselves in frenzied movement. Davis reminded the audience during the Jalibah: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." |
2006 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Isaac Allotey, left, and Osendah Michael of the Nii Tetley Tetteh & the Kusun Ensemble of Ghana perform during the 2006 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans on Sunday, May 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Kusun Ensemble Shakes Melbourne
ghanaweb.com Performing at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl (an open-air theatre located in the heart of Melbourne) as part of the Commonwealth Games Arts Festival, the group drew loud cheers from the near capacity audience as wild and complex rhythms from an array of African drums filled the atmosphere. Led by Nii Tettey Tetteh, Kusun Ensemble wooed the crowd with varied traditional dance pieces laced with contemporary movements that illustrated the beauty, complexity and variety of African dance forms. With bodies well crafted by the act they have so gracefully mastered, the young Kusun dancers moved on stage in complete unison alongside brief intervals of refreshing solos. Indeed, the crowd went into frenzy as the group delivered a rendition of musical compositions based on the atenteben flute. The performance was remarkable and brought sweet memories to Ghanaians living in Melbourne. The exhibition of raw energy by the dancers really touched the hearts of members of the audience, said Yaw Sarfo, a Ghanaian who has lived in Australia for nearly a decade. Expressive body movements from the stage were completely in harmony with rhythms emanating from the diverse drums. I was enthralled by the non-stop music that flowed from the stage, added Karen Berger, a theatre student at the Victoria College of Arts in Melbourne. Later the 74-year-old African diva, Miriam Makeba, hopped unto the stage amidst cheers from the crowd. Despite her advanced age, she swayed the audience with a dramatic performance of some of her old compositions that features a spectacular blend of various styles. With a 10-piece band made of musicians from several African countries, the Grammy Award winner appeared to sing from the bottom of her heart as her lovely voice cut through the cool night air like a supersonic jet in flight. Other renowned artistes scheduled to perform at the games festival, which will bring together 2,000 artistes from the Commonwealth include, reggae super star Jimmy Cliff (Jamaica), The African Show Boyz (Ghana), Mama Africa Theatre Company (South Africa), Afro Jambo Acrobats (Kenya). From Ghana to jazzKusin Ensemble takes listeners on a musical journey, blending the traditional sound of Ghana with American jazz influences. By MIKE HUDSON© THE ROANOKE TIMES July 09, 2003 Music is struggle. It takes hard work to honor the creative impulse, the call of musical tradition and innovation in a marketplace that values sameness and superficiality. Authenticity often gives way to the need to pay bills, feed families, keep the band on the road. Nii Tetty Tetteh faces these questions every day. Tetteh, 39, has brought a dozen of his countrymen and women from Ghana to America. He is the leader of the Kusun Ensemble, a group of accomplished musicians and dancers who share a big wooden house on Harrison Avenue in Northwest Roanoke. They have come across the sea, full of dreams and persistence, to share their music, a traditional, drum-driven sound of Ghana blended with American jazz influences. They are pilgrims in a strange land. They are far from their families. The food and people are different. Well-paying concert dates are hard to come by. Tetteh is undaunted. He embraces the struggle, the work, the uncertainty that precedes success. "I know we're going to sweat for this," he says. When he speaks of his band and his music and his ambitions, there is an uncompromising glint in his eye. Before he became a musician, he was a fiercely competitive soccer player. "When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a winner," he says. "I have this in my head. I don't want to lose. Nothing is impossible. Everything is possible." So he thinks ahead. He figures the angles. "I always have to put two or three plans before me," he explains. He grew up on Africa's west coast, in Jamestown, Ghana, a port where Africans once began their agonizing ocean passages to slavery in the Americas. He grew up with music. He would go to the beach to help his father push the giant fishing canoes out to sea, and hear the singing and chanting that accompanied and invigorated the work. As a teenager, he joined a youth band and decided to become a professional musician. He gave up soccer. The youth group appeared on "The Visitor," a 1981 world-music album by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood. In 1988, Tetteh was a founding member of the Pan African Orchestra. He started his own band, Kakatsitsi, and journeyed to England. Eventually Kakatsitsi was pulling in 1,500 pounds to 2,000 pounds a show, good money, but Tetteh believed the band wasn't getting a fair shake. When other band members signed a management contract without consulting Tetteh, he split from the group. Tetteh says his fellow musicians were simply happy to be getting paid for their music. The problem with most musicians is "we don't have the faith in ourselves. We can only have faith in our instruments." Once the show's over and they put down their instruments, he says, they have no interest in doing the work of managing their careers. They don't understand, Tetteh says, that the telephone, the computer, the pen are instruments, too - they are the essential tools of the business of music. "You have to take these seriously," he says. "If you don't know how to play these instruments, forget it, you're not going to get anywhere." Many talented African musicians, he says, have come to America with great hopes, only to end up working at McDonalds or KFC. In 1997, he started a new group, the Kusun Ensemble. He also founded a music school in Ghana. People from the United States, Italy, France and elsewhere pay to come for monthlong sojourns at the Ghana Drum School. Two years ago, Kris Hodges, a Floyd County music promoter, visited Africa and was impressed enough by Tetteh that he invited his band to play at the first Floydfest, a huge festival Hodges was organizing. The Kusun Ensemble came to Virginia last summer, played at Floydfest and Roanoke's Jefferson Center, and decided to return again this year, this time for a five-month sojourn that band members hope will allow them to find a niche in the American market. When the ensemble formed, it played purely traditional music. But Tetteh pushed his band toward a more U.S.-friendly sound, drawing on his admiration for American jazz/soul legends Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and James Brown. "I'm thinking about the world music market," Tetteh says. "I'm thinking about the jazz feeling. To bring it to a place like the United States, you have to be a little smart." The result is a dazzling sound that fuses bass and lead guitar with drums and other traditional Ghanaian instruments, a new brand of music that the Kusun Ensemble has dubbed "Nokoko." But Tetteh isn't complacent. He is constantly looking for new touches, new innovations. Nokoko is a work in progress. "For me, making music is like being a painter," Tetteh says. "You have to think about what you want the eye to see. Putting a little bit of yellow there. Putting a little bit of black there. Then you're thinking about the blue. Then you're thinking about the purple." As the ensemble continues to fine-tune its sound, Tetteh and the band's local promoter, Melody Cochran of Floyd's Winter Sun Productions, are working to line up dates. Besides return engagements at Jefferson Center on Saturday and the Floydfest in August, the band has dates in Maryland, North Carolina and New York City. Tetteh sees this American tour as a chance to spread African culture to Americans of all races. He worries that too many African-Americans have lost touch with their roots, with their ancestors. But he still feels a bond. "I look at some of them, and I say, 'Hey, I can take you home.'" He feels as if he could take them back to Africa and "take them right into their house." For him, the Kusun Ensemble is about the importance of cultural exchange, about sharing music and values. Americans can learn from Africans; Africans can learn from Americans. That's why, even as he tries to tap into the market, to make money for himself and his bandmates, he's determined to keep his music true to its roots. All the hard work, all the struggle, would be for nothing if the music ceased to be authentic. Most of the time, he says, when Americans hear African music, "it's people here trying to do synthetic somethings. We have brought something straight from Africa. This is organic. It's very strong food. I think people in Roanoke need it, because we all need to eat good." Nii Tetty Tetteh and the Kusun Ensemble will play at 8 p.m. Saturday at Roanoke's Jefferson Center. General admission tickets are $15. |
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