Titambe West African Dance & Drum Ensemble is a unique, world-class ensemble. Established in 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a multicultural performing arts organization, Titambe moved to Minneapolis, MN, with founder and artistic director Christian Yao Adeti in 2003. The group’s mission is to preserve traditional African drumming and dance heritage, as well as promote cultural understanding.
Titambe has a repertoire of over one hundred performance pieces incorporating traditional drumming, dance, music, storytelling, dance-drama, reggae-dancehall, ndombolo, soukous, coupe decale, and others. The ensemble -- whose members hail from Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Trinidad, and the US -- believes that with traditional dance and drum we can gently unlock the ancestral vibration of peace, love, and unity that has been covered for centuries.
Tickets: $14 adults, $7 ages 18 & under
For sale at door or
www.tix.com (search Arrowhead Center for the Arts)
In addition to the evening concert, NSMA will sponsor an
all-ages West African dance class with Titambe on Friday, May 18, from 4-5:30 pm at the Grand Marais Art Colony, 120 3rd. Ave. West (admission $15 adults, $10 children 12 & under).
NSMA will also sponsor a
FREE drumming and dance workshop for kids ages 5 to 12 on Saturday, May 19, from 10am - 1pm at the Grand Marais Art Colony. Workshop participants will perform some numbers with Titambe at the concert Saturday night! These two events are among many educational activities that the North Shore Music Association provides our community each year.
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Last year, the five-piece joined together for a day of live in-studio recording with Brent Sigmeth at Cannon Falls' LittleBig Studio, and released their first self-titled album. Made up of eight original tunes and a couple of covers, it has since caught the attention of scores of Minnesota listeners as well as Country Music Television's music blog, which named it among the top overlooked albums of last year.
With a solo career dating back to 1987and seven albums under his belt, C.J. Chenier is widely regarded as one of the genre’s best singers, musicians and live performers.
The Boston Globe calls him “the crown prince of zydeco” and extols the way, “C.J. Chenier attacks the accordion with the tension and drive of James Brown... creating contemporary, turbo-charged dance music.”
Living Blues magazine named C.J. Chenier “the best living zydeco singer and accordionist,” and
Billboard calls him “the heir to the zydeco throne.”
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