Anita Schnee will never forget the first time she saw Afrique Aya Dance Company's founder, Kouakou Yao.
"The Walton Arts Center had brought a Senegalese drum and dance company to perform here," she remembers. "This would have been about 15 years ago or so. I was in the audience, and, all of a sudden, this guy ran to the stage and started dancing with the company. I just flipped out. I thought, 'Who is that guy?'"
FAQ
Africa in the Ozarks
WHERE — Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St., Springdale
WHEN — Performances, 7:30 p.m. today & Saturday; Drumming in the Park and African Market, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at Turnbow Park
COST — Performances, $15-$20; Drumming in the Park, free
INFO — 751-5441
"That guy" was Yao, or Angelo, as he's known to family and friends. Yao learned the fine art of West African dancing and drumming in his native country of the Ivory Coast. His skill was such that he was invited to join the prestigious West African dance troupe Koteba when he was only 14. He toured the world with the troupe for years before moving to the United States and, eventually, settling in Arkansas -- first in Eureka Springs, now in Fayetteville.
Yao never left his West African tradition and culture behind, though. For more than a decade, he has been producing "Africa in the Ozarks," a West African opera that is a "vivid and celebratory experience," according to the Arts Center of the Ozarks, which will host the performance this year.
"It's impossible to stay seated -- it's so exciting and riveting and fun," says Schnee, a company member and performer. She says Yao's extensive performance history means he has contacts with talented, internationally known artists. "We put together productions that call on master drummers and artists from all over the world who come here because they used to dance with Angelo."
In addition to two performances of Africa in the Ozarks, the festival includes drumming in the park and an African Market at Turnbow Park at 10 a.m. on Saturday -- an event that is free to the public.
Schnee says, in addition to the entertainment value, there's an educational component to the celebration.
"The culture in Africa is so unbelievably vibrant, and this performance is the real thing," she says. "You don't have to go to Africa to see it -- just come to this production."
-- Lara Jo Hightower
NAN What's Up on 09/21/2018