PREVIEW
What: Kalabante (with Victoria Percussion Orchestra)
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $34 (250-386-6121)
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Growing up in West Africa, Yamoussa Bangoura loved watching European circuses on TV with his family.
鈥淚t was like magic for them. When people were doing tricks, my mom, I remember, she never looked at them. She would always go like this,鈥� said Bangoura, covering his eyes.
Tonight the 34-year-old brings his African acrobatic troupe, Kalabante, to Victoria for the first time. Kalabante loosely translates as 鈥渁 child who鈥檚 always in front, saying, 鈥楥ome, let鈥檚 do it, let鈥檚 do it.鈥欌��
As a nine-year-old he spent hours replicating those televised feats of derring-do on the beaches of Conakry, Guinea, where they lived. A born leader, Bangoura encouraged his friends to join in.
For him, acrobatics and circuses were to became a life-long pursuit. When he was 12, Bangoura was discovered by a French filmmaker, who included him in a movie about Guinean acrobats. When he was older, Bangoura was hired by various circuses, eventually immigrating to Montreal, a听city he dubs the 鈥渃apital of circuses.鈥�
Performing tonight with Kalabante, Bangoura will not only tumble, he鈥檒l sing and play the kora, an听African harp made from a split calabash. The show also features a听drummer and a bassist. Bangoura has composed all the music, which based on the distinctive polyrhythms of West Africa and closely follows the onstage action.
Those attending the show are contributing to a good cause. After his company鈥檚 expenses are covered, Bangoura diverts proceeds from Kalabante shows to his circus school in Conakry, also named Kalabante. Students from that school are among those performing in the troupe.
More than 30 aspiring acrobats, ages 14 to 17 years, attend the Kalabante school for free. Bangoura says it鈥檚 a boon for young people living in Guinea. It鈥檚 one of the world鈥檚 poorest regions, with an average annual income of $470 US per capita. In addition to poverty, drugs are a big problem among Guinean youth (the country is notorious as a entry point for cocaine arriving from Latin America).
Opportunities for advancement are slim. 鈥淭hey [young people] sit and they鈥檙e waiting for things to happen to them,鈥� Bangoura said.
The Kalabante school also provides teenagers with a formal education. Typically, says Bangoura, students aren鈥檛 interested in academic studies. However, at his school it鈥檚 a requirement.
鈥淲e鈥檒l say: 鈥業 know you love the听circus, but you have to go to school.鈥� We combine the circus and the school.鈥�
Bangoura 鈥� a soft-spoken yet striking presence with dreadlocks, broad shoulders and multiple silver bands in each ear 鈥� visited the sa国际传媒鈥檚 offices this week. He came with longtime friend and sometime collaborator, Jordan Hanson, a local drum teacher whose Victoria Percussion Orchestra will open the show. Hanson鈥檚 20-member ensemble plays African instruments such as听hand drums, bass drums and听West African xylophones.
Bangoura鈥檚 father is an electrician; his mother works in a bakery. For years, they weren鈥檛 thrilled about his ambition to be a听circus acrobat. Eventually, they came around, partly because he was keeping up his grades.
鈥淎 lot of my friends were doing drugs. I wasn鈥檛 doing drugs and was focussing on the circus. So [my mother] said: 鈥極K, that鈥檚 your way. I鈥檓 going to help you鈥�.鈥�
Bangoura was initially hired by听Circus Baobab, Guinea鈥檚 first circus company. He toured Africa and Europe with a show called The Legend of the Tambourine Monkey. He subsequently joined a Spanish circus, then was spotted by Montreal鈥檚 Cirque Eloize, which led him to settling in sa国际传媒.
As well as Kalabante, Bangoura has performed with such Montreal-based companies as Cirque du Soleil, Cavalia and Les 7 Doigts de la Main.
His extended family from Guinea has a significant presence in sa国际传媒鈥檚 circus scene. The acrobats in Kalabante include two听of Bangoura鈥檚 sisters, who are听twins. He also has a brother and a cousin in the company.
鈥淎nd all the guys in Cavalia, they鈥檙e my cousins and my brothers,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a family.鈥�