December 5, 2008
For Immediate Release
For an Interview:
Christopher Chileshe
(801) 471-6631
With the goal to promote African cultural awareness, UVU students in the performance group "Voice of Africa" (VOACA/Sawuti ya Africa) will be performing on Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. at Cherry Hill Elementary School. The performing group depicts the struggles, beauty and passion of Africa through dance, music and song.
"As a performing group, our wish is to depict Africa through the storytelling nature of our performances and complete immersion of audiences into the wealth of knowledge that lies within the spirit of our dance," said Christopher Chileshe, a UVU student and vice president of the group. "We stand as the advocates of a nation whose voice often goes unheard."
The group has nine members and began performing three months ago. The performance will include dancing and singing to the beating of drums. They will perform pieces such as "Fubebe," "Ba Lesa Ni Ba Tata" and "Nyame Kokroko," portraying the spirit and history of Africa. VOACA has also performed in the recent "Mockingbird Fly" at UVU which portrayed the history of civil rights in the U.S. and the bonds of slavery.
"This is a unique opportunity to see African culture presented at its best by natives through dance and song," Chileshe said. "Very rarely do you have the chance to see something this vivid and expressed with such emotion and power."
The performance on Dec. 8 is at Cherry Hill Elementary located on 250 E. 1650 S. in Orem and is free and open to the public.
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College Marketing Contact:
Erin Spurgeon
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Written by:
Britnee Nguyen
(801) 863-8504