Entertainment

Logos photo by Steve Rye Jabali Afrika drummer Joseck Asikoye gives sophomore Brittany Gust from Forest City a lesson in hand drumming during the performance of Jabali Afrika in the NIACC Activity Center.

Jabali Afrika performs in AC

Steve Rye
Staff Reporter

NIACC student Brittany Gust said she was surprised to be selected from the audience in the Activity Center over the noon hour during a presentation by Jabali Afrika on February 10 and said she had great fun.

Others who attended just enjoyed the music.

“I am always looking for this kind of sound,” Tyrone Foster, a NIACC student from Charles City who was called upon to help with an authentic African dance, said. “I didn’t expect to find it in the Activity Center.”

Foster said he wished that his 11-year-old son could have enjoyed the show.

Joseck Asikoye escorted Amanda Schroeder, a NIACC student from Kaukauna, WI and Kristina Meyering, a freshman from Garner, to the stage during the group’s first number for their African dance lesson.

“This is not like any music I’ve ever heard before. I really like it,” Schroeder said.

Meyering said her performance was a fun and an interesting surprise.

Jabali Afrika, sponsored by the NIACC Senate, performs traditional African dance and music. The group was founded in 1994 by brothers Joseck and Justo Asikoye and Victor Savani Elolo from Kenya, Africa.

Other members of the group come from Nairobi, Cameroon, and the Ivory Coast.

“We perform about 150 shows per year,” Joseck Asikoye said. They’ve been performing in the USA for three years and are headquartered in Baltimore.