‘Oye’ Brings the Passion of Music, Dance Out of Africa

Producer Mel Howard proposes an alternative to “Africa Oye,” his pan-African music and dance revue. To see ritual music and dance in Central Africa, for example, he suggests: “Hire a Jeep. Drive 3,000 kilometers (about 1,700 miles) into the country. No motels along the way. Wait for someone to die. Then hope you get invited to the funeral.”

That, at least, would give you a taste of the show, opening Saturday at the Pantages Theatre. Attractions will include Peul acrobats from Guinea, Pygmy musicians from Northern Zaire, griots (the storytellers-poets-singers who are the keepers of history and culture in African societies) and an African pop star.

In all, the show presents 50 performers in what Howard describes as “a voyage--2 1/2 hours spent crossing Africa.”

Seen in video clips, the revue boasts phenomenally long-winded flautists, break-dancing acrobats in billowing pantaloons, and various groups of dancers wrapped head-to-toe in raffia, swathed in animal skins, and decked out in lame skirts and bandeaux.

Howard and co-producer/artistic director Michel Boudon say they spent two years working on “Africa Oye.” Boudon has spent the last 18 years as adviser to African and French ministries of culture and overseeing presentations of African music and dance in Europe. Howard’s credentials as a producer include “Tango Argentino,” “Flamenco Puro” and the recent Tony winner, “Black and Blue.” He also has presented the National Dance Company of Senegal for 20 years.

Both regard African music and dance as “a passion” and both describe “Africa Oye” as absolutely authentic material presented as entertainment.

Since music and dance at traditional rites and celebrations are usually performed for hours on end, they had to be trimmed for theatrical presentation. “We don’t want to distort or bastardize what people have done for thousands of years,” Howard said, “so we looked for groups where the material doesn’t rely on a slow build and editing doesn’t ruin the performance.”

Programming choices were influenced by politics. “We were considering Nubians and Ethiopians,” Howard said, “but people who are at war (with one another) couldn’t be expected to share the same hotel.

“In fact, the situation in Ethiopia is so terrible that we couldn’t get the Ethiopians out at all.”

Border conflicts that closed the airport at Dakar coupled with a hold-up on visas nearly prevented the producers from getting any of the cast out of Africa. At the last minute, Howard said, U.S. Immigration officials demanded documentation to prove the “exceptional merit and ability” of the entire cast. With none of the usual press clippings available on these artists, Howard enlisted the aid of such political heavyweights as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to call off the bureaucrats.

According to the producers, some of the performers are worldly urbanites and some have never ventured outside their immediate communities or performed in a theater. In some cases, permission to leave had to be secured from tribal chiefs and the performers hired workers to stand in for them at planting and harvest time.

Two weeks of rehearsal in Dakar helped acclimate the rural people to paved roads, high-rise buildings and elevators. One Pende tribesman came to grief when he ignored a makeshift barricade and stepped into an empty elevator shaft. “Fortunately,” said Howard, “it was just one floor from the bottom.”

Now at the halfway point, the three-month North American tour has otherwise gone smoothly. Howard admires the troupe’s “adaptability, astounding stage intelligence and patience. They calmly wait hours for their turn, then set themselves on fire in minutes.

“My greatest fear was ‘What’s going to happen when they really get cooking and they hear the applause and cheers? Are they going to forget to stop?’ ” The solution? “To have the next group start the music on top of them.”

In other matters, the performers make the rules. At home, the griots, sorcerers and chiefs are guardians of ancient cultures and mysteries. No one has yet seen the Mbulie-Hemba apply their elaborate makeup and costumes, Howard said. “It’s a private ritual no matter where they dress and no one is allowed to watch. And with the Pende we never know who’s under which mask.”

Boudon emphasizes that the music and dance of “Africa Oye” represents an ancient but vital culture. “These traditions bind the individual to the group and to nature. It’s not just folklore. Their roots enable them to exist and to resist the encroachments of the outside world. I hope the show convinces people to study Africa.”