After rehearsal this morning a group of us went to the rehearsal space to observe District D’Bamako Dance Troupe’s rehearsal. I saw District D’Bamako last summer and it was great to see some familiar faces and experience professional dancing and performance in Mali. Some things you might expect or demand from a professional company in America are of little priority in a Malian company and this is true vice versa. After the performance we were (of course) called up to dance and this was also really fun! Wouldn’t it be great if the New York Ballet Company called up the audience after Swan Lake or if Beyonce dragged the audience on stage to sing along to Halo? Thinking critically about performance during this rehearsal also really jump-started my own mental drawing board for my work in Mali and at Brown.
After a great time with District D’Bamako, Michelle and I traveled with Alhasan, one of our master drummers, to a recording studio for a listening session to for Alhasan’s band’s album. The album was in the final production stages and Alhasan really wants to get Michelle and I involved in the process of making the album actually happen- financially, artistically, and logistically. We gave some input on the album-which actually sounds really great- and I’m going to design the album art free of charge to save Alhasan some money. Michelle and I are brainstorming about returning to Brown to raise money to subset the rest of the production costs too! I smell a Balonni coming! I’m not sure if it was the setting of listening to a beautiful Malian album in the works at a charming recording studio attached to a Malian’s house or if it was the actual experience of taking the time to listen to an album in its entirety, but I think I definitely need to use music as a way to provoke my creative practice and ideas because my marker was just running rapid in my “idea notebook.” I began mapping out my exhibit for the fall and the pieces that will be showcased and this was really exciting because just as any work evolves a great deal after the initial planning process, this process of planning and organization felt really clear and clean. I can visualize what I want the show to look like and I have some really clear and intentional ideas for the pieces I want to complete in my next few weeks in Mali to critically engage youth in Djoumanzana and continue my process of collaboration among students at Brown, artists in America, and artists in Mali. What a productive and fulfilling day!
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