Acrobatics. Music. Magic. Afrique en Cirque Live at the Schaefer Center

Acrobatics. Music. Magic. Afrique en Cirque Live at the Schaefer Center

Cirque Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque’s high-flying acrobatics, jaw-dropping choreography and colorful costumes meet live Afro-jazz, percussion and kora — Nov. 12 at 7:30pm.

BOONE, NC — Appalachian Arts, the performing arts series of App State’s Office of Arts Engagement and Cultural Resources, proudly presents Cirque Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30pm at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. This breathtaking, family-friendly spectacle celebrates the vibrant spirit and artistry of the Guinean diaspora through high-flying acrobatics, dazzling choreography, and infectious rhythms. Set to the live sounds of Afro-jazz, percussion, and the shimmering tones of the kora — a traditional 21-string West African harp-lute — Afrique en Cirque bursts with color, culture, and joy.

Audiences will be swept away by the show’s energetic staging, stunning costumes, and pulse-pounding drumming as the performers embody the strength, grace, and exuberance of young Africans. Canadian entertainment outlet The Georgia Straight raves, “A kind of daredevil circus, full of astounding leaps, rolls, and drum music… Kalabanté offers high-flying, jaw-dropping performances that will amaze the whole family.” Vibe Magazine praises the troupe’s “explosive drumming and dance routines” and “mind-blowing acrobatic sequences with extraordinary precision.” Tickets are $25–45 (just $10 for children and students) and available at TheSchaeferCenter.org, at the Schaefer Center Box Office (733 Rivers Street), or by calling 828-262-4046.

About Kalabanté Productions

Kalabanté Productions was created by Yamoussa Bangoura, a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin. Yamoussa’s dream was the founding of a school of circus arts, and to direct his own multidisciplinary company specializing in the African arts. Yamoussa first became interested in the Circus Arts as a young man growing up in Conakry Guinea in the 1990s. He studied the circus performers he saw on European TV and practiced on the beach and dirt around his home. He also studied the Nyamakala tradition of circus, practiced by the Fula people of West Africa. He eventually joined Guinea’s original circus company, Circus Baobob, with whom he toured Africa and Europe.

In the early 2000s, Yamoussa was recruited to come to Canada with Cirque Eloize, a Montreal-based Canadian cirque company. While in Canada, he also performed with Cirque du Soleil and Cavalia (cirque with horses). In 2007, Yamoussa realized his dream and opened his own company, Kalabanté Productions, in Montreal Canada. He recruited many of his extended family members to join the company, including his

twin sisters, brothers, and cousins. The company began doing shows in Quebec, and over the years expanded to all of Canada, the USA and now performs all over the world. In 2018, Kalabanté opened their own studio and school in Montreal, where they offer classes in African dance, cirque, and drumming. Kalabanté Productions is proud to be able to share their work, achievements and skills to inspire others and to assist with the humanitarian mission to help the Guinean community from which Yamoussa and many of his company members come.

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COMING SOON

Margo Price: Wild at Heart Tour

Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:30pm

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts

$60 Tier 1, $50 Tier 2, $40 Tier 3, $25 App State Students

For nearly a decade, Margo Price has created a lane where independent-minded, insurgent country music can exist and thrive alongside the mainstream. Now she’s back with an exquisite, timeless album that reconnects with her roots. At its core, Hard Headed Woman is about that furious instinct to never waver — especially when our values and future are so clearly on the line. It's country music as only Price can make it: free of rules, cherishing tradition, hard-headed but with a delicate beating heart.

“Margo Price is her own kind of outlaw…Throughout her career, Price has consistently refused to compromise on her principles. Hard Headed Woman is no different and further adds to a catalog that unapologetically takes on the status quo.” —Rolling Stone

“Margo Price is digging deep into her country music foundations...songs that are both personal but also songs that speak to the heartaches and concerns of those around her.” —Billboard

Ailey II: The Next Generation of Dance

Friday, Feb. 20 at 7:30pm

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts

$45 Tier 1, $35 Tier 2, $25 Tier 3, $10 children/students

For over 50 years, Ailey II: The Next Generation of Dance has merged the spirit and energy of the country’s finest early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers. Founded by Alvin Ailey in 1974, this universally renowned company embodies his pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people. Under the leadership of Sylvia Waters, who served as artistic director for 38 seasons, Ailey II flourished into one of the most popular modern dance companies, combining a rigorous touring schedule with extensive community outreach programs. Today, with Artistic Director Francesca Harper at the helm, she brings fresh perspectives to Mr. Ailey’s legacy, while nurturing new creative voices and propelling the company forward.

Rhiannon Giddens

Saturday, April 18 at 7:30pm

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts

$70 Tier 1, $60 Tier 2, $45 Tier 3, $25 App State Students

Rhiannon Giddens imbues her brand of folk music with miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, pursuing an authentic understanding of the country’s musical origins through art. A two-time

Grammy Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased.

As Pitchfork once said, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration” — a journey that has led to NPR naming her one of its 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century and to American Songwriter calling her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”

Etienne Charles: Earth Tones

Friday, April 24 at 7:30pm

Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts

$40 Tier 1, $30 Tier 2, $20 Tier 3, $10 children/students “Earth Tones” is presented in partnership with the Pathways to Resilience QEP, a five-year climate literacy initiative at App State.

Trinidadian trumpeter and composer Etienne Charles has dedicated his recent works to highlighting the voices of marginalized peoples in the Americas. He broadens his scope with his latest composition, Earth Tones, a multimedia jazz performance featuring original compositions that draw attention to people and regions that are, or soon will be, severely affected by climate change. The performance invites us into a sensory journey that includes sounds, stories, and musical idioms from at-risk coastal communities, with images and short films of disappearing mangrove swamps, coral reefs, oyster beds, seagrass, sand dunes, and mud volcanoes. Featuring musicians from the very communities most at risk, the performance balances blunt reality, eternal optimism, and surrealism, ultimately offering an exhortation to address climate change’s impact on our future.

Tickets

Seating for most shows is tiered at three levels. Ticket discounts are available to children/students for select shows and to App State students for additional shows. App State faculty/staff receive a discount off all tiered tickets and should call the Box Office for special code. Buy tickets at TheSchaeferCenter.org, in person at the Schaefer (733 Rivers St), or by calling 828.262.4046.

About Appalachian Arts

Appalachian Arts, formerly known as “The Schaefer Center Presents,” is a performing arts series offering campus and community audiences a diverse array of music, dance and theatre programming designed to enrich the cultural landscape of the Appalachian State University campus and surrounding area. By creating memorable performance experiences and related educational and outreach activities, the series promotes the power and excitement of the live performance experience; provides a "window on the world" through the artistry of nationally and internationally renowned artists; and showcases some of the finest artists of our nation and our region. Musical events range from symphony orchestra and chamber music performances to jazz, folk, traditional, international, and popular artists. Theatre productions run the gamut from serious drama to musical comedy. Dance performances offer an equally wide array of styles, from ballet to modern dance to international companies representing cultural traditions from around the world. For more information, visit http://theschaefercenter.org.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

App State Campus Store, Explore Boone, Courtyard by Marriott, Graystone Lodge, Hampton Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express, Mountain Times and Watauga Democrat, Our State Magazine, WNC Magazine, PBS North Carolina, High Country Radio (WZJS and WATA), WDAV 89.9 FM, WFDD 88.5FM, WKSK The Farm, and WASU 90.5FM.