anansegromma - 7.20.06

the smithsonian has art-night on the mall
in the summer
when they extend museum hours from 5:30PM to 8:30PM.
we went to national museum of african art
to see a free show called “anansegromma”.

“Anansegromma: Ghanaian performers Kwame Brew and Kofi Dennis present an hour of fun and engaging songs, stories and antics from their West African Asante culture.”
(they’re also at discovery theatre this month.)

it was loads of fun.
they told stories,
told a silent story using only body language,
– that part, surprisingly, really engaged all the children in the audience –
sang songs,
crowned a king and queen

– king robert and queen francesca –
and had a royal band play for them
– i was on drums and sanaa and rahmah played maracas.

the song we learned:

if you are wearing green
stand up! stand up!
if you are wearing green
stand up!
and do your dance!
la la la la la la-la-la
la la la la la la-la-la
la laaa laaa laaa