On Tuesday night I watched The Drummers of West Africa perform at the Irvin L. I brought along my CD player for the long walk and was thankful I was wearing a sweater because it was a bit chilly. As I entered the Arts building I climbed the stairs to the top balcony to find my seat that was in the second last row right in the middle. I tried to move down to the middle of the top balcony to sit with a familiar face from my residence hall but someone soon asked me to leave since I was sitting in their seat. I retreated to my previous seat and was greeted by my friend Jeff from Knialans who occasionally joins our table for dinner. Soon the lights slowly dimmed until it was pitch black and then the curtains opened revealing the stage.
The Drummers of West African are made up of Doudou N"Diaye Rose and his large family. They have enjoyed success for a little over fifteen years and have toured around the world. The Drummers of West Africa originated out of Senegal, West Africa and Mr. Rose is highly respected and a hero to lovers of percussion everywhere. I only wish I had the same opinion of The Drummers of West Africa as all the critics.
The performance opened up with a single drummer on a dark stage with an illuminated background of sapphire behind him. He played a simple beat that went from really fast to sluggishly slow. Then, more drummers creped out from the left and right sides of the stage playing the same beat while dancing a simple step over and over. When everyone was onstage I counted 20 different drummers. It was obvious to see who was the leader of the group because he would start the beat or transform it into another louder beat or a different beat entirely. Doudou N"Diaye Rose, the composer, conducted his band with his drumstick instructing them to beat harder, faster and louder to achieve whichever melody he wanted to attain. Mr. Rose was mostly dressed in a light cerulean African outfit with unique patters of wild colors.