Date: Fri 07-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: LIBRAR

Quick Words:

schools-Mikata-St-Rose

Full Text:

Dancing To The Beat Of Mikata Drums

St. Rose students lucky enough to examine the drums up close were, sitting,

Colin Curran (left), Michael LaPerch and Matthew Kelly. Standing, Chris

Canfiele, Jaclin Morrissey and Laura Reid.

-Bee Photos, Evans

Richard Hill, leader of the African music and dance troupe Mikata," performs

on a double-headed snare drum.

Mikata dancer Avis Hatcher leads a group of St. Rose girls in a Puerto Rican

"bomba."

BY DOROTHY EVANS

The walls of St. Rose Parish Hall resounded with the beat of conga drums,

clappers, rattles, xylophones and gourds on Wednesday, January 29, during a

high-spirited performance by the African/Caribbean music and dance troupe

called Mikata (a word from the west African country of Ghana meaning "all of

us").

The all-school assembly was planned to celebrate two important events that

occurred "at practically the same time," school principal Donna DeLuca said:

Catholic Schools Week, which took place January 26-February 1, and the

beginning of Black History Month that would be celebrated throughout February.

The experience of African music as a communal event was brought home to the

audience of 225 children, their teachers and several parents, as one chanting,

drumming Mikata performer stepped down from the stage and approached the

children sitting in the audience.

"Cho-Bo~y!" he called out, inviting them to respond.

"Hey!" they all shouted back, delighted to participate.

Throughout the program, the performers worked hard to break down the

traditional audience/performer barriers, exhorting and energizing the St. Rose

children to join them in clapping, shouting and even dancing around the parish

hall or on stage, at the invitation of the two lead dancers, Avis Hatcher and

Dante Hall.

The Mikata troupe is led by Richard Hill, a visiting lecturer in African music

at Yale University. During a break, Mr Hill spoke briefly about the cultural

origins of African music in west and central Africa, mentioning its subsequent

spread north to Haiti and Puerto Rico.

"We're going to take you on a journey from Africa to the Caribbean," he said.

Another performer demonstrated the use of the African "talking drum," which is

used to send messages over great distances. By squeezing the drum and thereby

tightening the tension strings attached to the drum head, the pitch could be

raised or lowered, almost like the tonal variations in a human voice.

After the performance was over, several St. Rose students were invited to come

up on stage and examine the drums up close. To their credit, they somehow

managed to sit quietly behind the drums and pose for a group picture, without

breaking into an impromptu percussion routine of their own.