Friday, Mar. 30 is the day for celebrating Michigan Tech’s annual African Night. This was disclosed to the Lode after the first general meeting of the organizers, members of the African Students Organization, on Jan. 27. According to them, Friday was more convenient for managers of the event’s venue and the invited performers.
The night is an occasion for portraying the cultures and traditions of the different nations in Africa through dances, music, drama, food, poems, and presentations. It offers the Michigan Tech community and Houghton County the opportunity to witness and participate in aspects of Africa’s cultural heritage.
According to Olayemi Awotayo, a second-year master’s student in humanities and the secretary of the organizers, the event will begin with dinner from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The meal will represent diverse flavors from countries in Western and Eastern Africa. Performances follow dinner from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Awotayo said this year’s event is especially planned to guide audiences to appreciate “how modern Africa is a blend of traditions and cultural influences from the rest of the world accumulated throughout history. It is our hope that the audience will leave the event more enlightened about Africa’s contribution to the world.”
Two special performances by the Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre from Cincinnati, as well as a performance by Madafo from North Carolina, are the attractions of the night.
The Bi-Okoto Dance and Drum Theatre is a professional dance company established in 1994 in the state of Ohio. It has toured and performed in forty-eight states, as well as internationally including performances in South Korea’s Youth Festival and presidential welcomes in Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and France. The United States Armed Forces Entertainment selected Bi-Okoto for a five-week military tour of the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in 2003 and 2004.
Madafo is a traditional African storyteller and musician who uses the Griot style in his performances. The Griots, in West African tradition, are the oral storytellers responsible for sustaining the history, philosophies, principles and values of their people. With over a decade’s experience under his belt, Madafo has coordinated and performed at Kwanzaa celebrations, African Nights and Children Theatres throughout the United States.
The African Night celebration was instituted by ASO as far back as the foundation of the organization in the spring semester of 2001. ASO was officially recognized by Michigan Tech as a students’ club in March 2001 with Jean-Marc Souley Niaba as the first president. ASO organized the first African Night around mid-April 2001 in the Memorial Union Building, and since then, the celebration has become the hallmark of the organization. Currently, the organization has about forty members from about twelve countries including Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Rwanda, South-Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States of America.
