A drum circle with African master drummer Fana Soro, April 7 at 2 p.m. at Elgin Hall (14250 Crescent Rd.) will raise funds for the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign.
Presented by Ubuntu Ogogo and Oneness Gogos, the event is aimed at allowing locals to experience the joy of drumming.
“Participants will be provided the use of a Djembe drum for the session – or can use their own drums – and learn rhythms of West Africa,” according to a promotional flyer for the event.
Soro is a member of the the Senoufo tribe in the northern Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and spent nine years as member of the prestigious Ballet National de Cote d’Ivoire, performing throughout Europe.
In 1990 he moved to Norway to perform as artist-in-residence at the International Children’s Museum in Oslo.
In 1997 Soro moved to Vancouver, where he founded Masabo, a performance group specializing in traditional West African music dance and storytelling.
Since 2010, he and his family have made their home in Ottawa.
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign supports grandmothers who stepped up to care for children orphaned by the HIV epidemic that swept the African continent, taking the lives of some 35 million people – or almost an entire generation.
Tickets are $20 each (beverage and snacks by donation) and participants are also invited to browse the fundraising market before and after the circle (doors open at 1:30 p.m.).
For more information, contact Anni Peters (anniopeters@gmail.com), 604-868-4804; or Thelma Newbury (thelmanewbury 99@gmail.com), 604-541-4688.
