From sculpture to scholarship, Humanity in Harmony will bring together music, dance, theatre, poetry, visual arts and many other art forms, in a unique interdisciplinary celebration of African and other cultures.

Renowned ethnomusicologist J. H. Kwabena Nketia, professor emeritus at the University of Ghana’s International Centre for African Music & Dance, will speak to students and members of the public on Friday morning about the interrelation of African expressive forms. The performance collaborations on Friday and Saturday evenings will open with kete drumming and comments from Nketia, who has more than 80 musical compositions and 200 scholarly publications to his credit and has been honoured with many national and international awards including the IMC-UNESCO Music Prize for Distinguished Service to Music. This prestigious prize is awarded by the International Music Council and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization to individuals who have contributed to the enrichment of music, to understanding between peoples, and to international cooperation.

The performance collaboration by York faculty, students and members of the community, was conceived by Isaac Akrong, a York PhD student in ethnomusicology who is also an alumnus of York’s graduate program in dance. Akrong, an exceptional performer of traditional dance and drumming from Ghana, is founder of the African Dance Ensemble, one of many groups of York students and community members that will perform Friday and Saturday evenings.

“The performance evenings will include many types of expressive culture – from many disciplines,” said Akrong. “We will have a little of everything, from the pounding rhythms of African drums to the grace of classical piano, sculpture, and even a comic mime troupe.”

The Sky Juice Band will play; there will be poetry and paintings, displays of photography and visual arts, and many performances from students’ traditions. PhD student Everett Igobwa, for example, will play the thum nyatiti, an eight-string lyre of the Luo people of Kenya.

Lecture: Professor Emeritus J. H. Kwabena Nketia, Comments on the interrelation of African expressive forms, Fri. Sept. 29, 2006, 9:30am-11:30am, 241 Accolade East, York University, free to students and members of the public.

Performance Collaboration: Humanity in Harmony - Interdisciplinary Expressive Culture Performance Collaboration, Fri. Sept. 29 and Sat. Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m., Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East, York University, http://www.afridance.com/index2.html.

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Media information:

Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416-736-2100, ext. 22101 wallsj@yorku.ca