An African-style circus slated to perform at Eccles Theatre

The Cirque Kalabanté of Montreal is slated to perform its acclaimed 'Afrique en Cirque' at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

LOGAN – The next attraction in the Cache Valley Center for the Arts’ national touring series will combine theater, dance, music and astonishing acrobatic feats.

The Cirque Kalabanté of Montreal, Canada will perform authentic choreography to the frantic rhythms of djembes and other native instruments of Guinea at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Led by founder Yamoussa Bangoura, the troupe will present their acclaimed Afrique en Cirque show.

Bangoura says that show will take its audience into an elsewhere that radiates the diversity of traditional African arts combined with the virtuosity of a modern North American circus performance.

We want the audience to feel at home when they’re watching us,” Bangoura explains, “regardless of the venue.”

A multidisciplinary artist, Bangoura felt driven to pursue acrobatics and aerial feats after seeing street performers in his native Guinea as a boy.

“People would be doing all these crazy things in the streets and in the village,” he recalls. “We were really young and we really wanted to do something like that.”

He trained and eventually won a spot in Africa’s first big circus troupe, Circus Baobab. While performing in Europe, he was spotted and recruited to Montreal’s Circus Éloize.

While performing in Canada, Bangoura always kept a larger dream in the back of his mind.

“I came to Montreal and I was kind of alone,” he says, missing the uniquely music-fueled rhythms of African-style acrobatics. “I wanted to make my own circus one day – with African percussion and dancing.”

In 2007, Bangoura struck out on his own to found Cirque Kalabanté, gathering a troupe of performers and developing his own shows. Since then, his work has been gathering attention and recognition in both the Quebec circus art community and worldwide.

“This is an African circus,” he explains, “where circus, drumming and music come together.

It’s an energy in my culture: the food we eat, the music we play, the way we drum … It’s the life we live in Africa.”

In the dazzling production of Afrique en Cirque at the Eccles Theatre, the audience can expect a parade of dancers, contortionists and gymnasts as well as highly skilled musicians.

The music – a blend of saxophone, bass and percussion – is highlighted by the haunting sound of the kora, an African harp, and by Bangoura’s vocals rising above an array of gravity-defying feats.

Tickets ranging from $16 to $40 for Afrique en Cirque can be purchased at www.cachearts.org.

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