‘Drums of West Africa’
This St. Patrick’s day, the students of California Area High School got a taste of something other than Irish culture. In a presentation their principal Charles Geyer called “a late celebration of black history month,” the students were treated to a performance by “Drums of West Africa.” Geyer said that the group had performed all over the country and was very well known nationwide. According to performer Keesha Dixon, they had traveled here from their homes in Indiana.
“We want to give you a very special presentation today,” said Dixon, after a huge round of applause for their first musical performance.
She began by giving the students some background information about Africa.
“Africa is the second largest continent in the world,” she told them. “It is three times larger than the United States. Nigeria is a very special country to us because it is the birth place of the leader of our group, Prince Julius Adeniyi.”
Dixon asked the students to have a good time and enjoy the show. They responded by clapping along to all of the music they played.
Adeniyi later gave the students more facts about Africa.
“In Africa, there are over 1,000 languages,” said Adeniyi. He engaged the students in the program by asking them about how many languages they spoke, telling them that people are only born to speak one language, and everyone in America must know how to speak English.
“I had to speak English to be allowed to come to this country,” said Adeniyi.
He told them that his language was called Yoruba, and showed them that he had had the name of his language put on his license plate.
He followed by showing the students the crown that is worn by the king in Nigeria. It had a beaded veil that covered the face, which he said was necessary because the face of the king had to be protected. The rest of the cone-shaped crown is covered by thousands of beads.
After sharing that part of his culture with the students, he explained that he had been taught how to make drums and play them at a very early age. He showed them one drum that he had made from goatskin. He said that in the African culture, they slaughter the animals they use themselves.
This led him to the African Masquerade Festival. Adeniyi said the festival, where people wear different types of masks, was a very important part of their culture.
“The goat’s head is used for a mask during the festival,” he said.
He asked the students to clap their hands and the performers began to play their drums. Adeniyi said that this music would make the masquerader dance. One of the performers wore the goathead mask and danced up and down the aisles of the auditorium.
In the next segment of the program, Adeniyi showed the students what he called a “talking drum.” He explained that in addition to playing music, this drum was used to make animal sounds. He demonstrated by making the sound of a lion, a monkey and a dog.
The performers ended their program by giving a small demonstration of an African village festival, for which they randomly chose volunteers from the audience. He passed out maracas for some of the students to play on the stage, while others were given pieces of African clothing to wear while they joined one of the performers in dancing through the auditorium and onto the stage.
Adeniyi concluded by telling the students that children were the most important people in the world because they are the future.
“Your great-grandparents made America great, and soon it will be your turn,” said Adeniyi. “Children will make America continue to be great. America is the greatest country on the face of the Earth.”