PHOTO: Federica Roselli Photography
ASANTI DANCE THEATRE – ADELAIDE FRINGE DEBUT
The heat is on, the stage is set, and as the city braces itself for the jam packed festivities lined up for the next two months, Adelaide gets its senses ready to be electrified by the music, the singing and the dancing of many different beats.
Asanti Dance Theatre, far from its base in Melbourne, will be performing for the first time in this year’s Adelaide Fringe Afrikan Experience bonanza.
Salt Magazine talked with one of the group’s founding members, Appiah Annan, to find out what the group has in store for their Adelaide performance.
He said the group is excited and looking forward to the trip, as it is an opportunity for them to spread their exhilarating brand of dynamic dancing and high-energy rhythms to wider audiences. “We want the people of Adelaide to keep calling us back for more, they won’t have enough of us” he said. “We are a creative act, and we do many forms of dance – acrobatic, African traditional and contemporary – as well as drumming. Overall we call it ‘Afro Contemporary Dance’.”
The group was started in Ghana, and Appiah formed the Melbourne branch in 2008.
Describing his group’s performance Appiah said, “We are well known in the Melbourne festivity scene. Our audiences know us, and know we have a different style to other groups there… anytime we perform the audience are screaming, dancing, singing along – getting involved. We hope Adelaide audiences do the same, it’s going to be a lot of fun and we hope they will remember the Asanti group for a long, long time”.
The Afrikan Experience fringe show is presented by Afrikarts Australia, a not for profit organization set up to promote African arts and culture in South Australia, and will deliver 5 performances over 2 weekends, giving audiences a unique musical and cultural experience.
Venue: The Dom Polski Centre, Angas Street, Adelaide
Date: Saturday February 22 at 8pm & Sunday 23 February at 2pm.
Tickets: Available through FringeTix
Find out more about Afrikan Experience by going to www.afrikartsaustralia.org.au, or contact Phil Allan on 0431 213 409.
