The Moss Arts Center’s “HomeStage” series of performances continues Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m. with the world premiere of “The City of Others,” which showcases Colombia’s Sankofa Danzafro, an Afro-Colombian and Afro-contemporary dance group with live drumming and song.
Co-sponsored by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at Virginia Tech, the performance will actually take place in a theatre in Medellín, Colombia. The event includes a post-performance conversation with Sankofa Danzafro Artistic Director Rafael Palacios, moderated by VT Assistant Professor of Sociology Andrea Baldwin.
Ticket holders have access to the “HomeStage” series performance as it happens and for seven days following the event.
Tickets are $10 for the general public and are free for Virginia Tech students. They can be purchased online, at the Moss Arts Center’s box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.
Also available is the Spring Fan(fare) Pass, which provides access to all “HomeStage” events offered until May 31, 2021, guaranteeing a minimum of eight performances. While providing added support for the center, Spring Fan(fare) Pass holders also get exclusive information through regular Fan(fare) Insider emails and are the first to know about new events added to the schedule.
In “The City of Others,” Sankofa Danzafro portrays the reality of marginalized communities who have faced ethnic discrimination and social inequality for generations. The work evokes the sensitivity and enjoyment of dance and is a legitimate representation of a diverse, multicultural nation seeking the paths of reunion and coexistence.
When lockdown orders temporarily lifted in Colombia recently, the dancers and musicians of Sankofa Danzafro came together for the first time in months to perform their most renowned work. The performance features traditional Colombian songs and rhythms, such as the vallenato from the Atlantic region coastline, and dances such as the bullerengue (also from the Atlantic coastline) and the currulao and abozao dances from the Pacific coastline.
Using poetic movement to explore social and cultural narratives related to its home country of Colombia, the contemporary dance company is dedicated to training and creation in dance and has sought to build a bridge between Afro-Colombian peoples and the African continent. Sankofa’s works are built on the ideas of social bonding, personal growth and the positioning of local cultures in the national dynamics.
