‘Africa Umoja’ captures the spirit of African history and culture

By Charmaine Jackson
Contributing Writer

“Africa Umoja – The Spirit of Togetherness, 20 Years of Freedom and Democracy Tour” found its way back to New Orleans during a multi-city tour of North America. While two hours long, the performance is commanding in an engaging fashion and brilliantly illustrated a historical account and evolution of South Africa through highly energetic dances, soulful singing numbers, and colorful costumes.

Umoja, which means “together” in Swahili, is also the name of the 32-South African performing cast touring the nation. It was created and founded by two South African women and former dancers named Todd Twala and Thembi Nyandeni. After returning from an American tour to her hometown, Twala started this group to help get kids off of the street. “There were so many kids in the streets. I was shocked. They were taking drugs, prostituting—I mean young kids. I had to do something,” she said. Instead of telling the kids not to take drugs or preach to them, she taught them songs and dances to make it interesting and to get them to listen. With hard-earned money and encouragement from her agent, she pursued establishing what is now, Africa Umoja. “I never planned for it to be this. It started as an outreach program,” Twala said.

The two-act performance, which takes place at the historic Mahalia Jackson Theatre, is filled with dances that take you on a journey into the rich cultural heritage of South Africa. For the opening act, the thunderous sound of drums permeated the auditorium and spotlighted four men dressed in traditional tribal skins as they intensely struck a rhythmic beat on their respective drums. Soon after, a single file line of women dressed in hand-made, beaded dress entered the stage. Deemed a rites of passage for young women, each of the women was connected hand-to-elbow and moved fluidly, just like a snake, hence the name of the dance, the Venda Snake dance. Shifting from the indigenous way of life, the dancers segued into a competition at a YMCA in Durban, where different tribes showed off their unique skills, and then transitioned to Egoli, the City of Gold, which was where men left their villages and headed to this city for work in goal mining. Two police officers appeared and asked for a dompas, identification black Africans needed to have to prevent being arrested. With the release of Nelson Mandela, and subsequent abolition of Apatheid, the troupe sang “Long Road To Freedom.”

While there were 11 performances, the lively song selections and dramatic movements still allowed the troupe to tackle distressing issues, such as the prevalence of HIV in South Africa, as well as capturing the oppressive spirits of the gumboot dancers, who often labored in knee-deep water and in near-dark conditions and forbidden to speak. “Africa Umoja” also explored the emergence of music, uniformly dressed in choir robes, songs like ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Oh Happy Day’ were performed. Kwiato, a medley of South African disco, hip hop, reggae, R&B, and house music echoed from the stage. Both female and male dancers exhibited a relentless zest for dance, both aggressive hip-shaking and rhythmic, acrobatic-like dances common in the ’90s.

From the staff, to the talented South African dance troupe, coming back to New Orleans is like coming back home because of its ties to two New Orleans natives — Ernest Kelly, president of the International Arts Foundation, and Karlton Kirksey, executive producer. According to Kelly, who was eager to bring this production to North America, he believes this brand of musical theatre will set a new standard.

“Africa Umoja” is a South African adventure. No passport required. No flight needed.

This article originally published in the December 8, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.