Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble has begun its European Tour 2005 with a sterling performance in Koppang, a small town located in the Stor-Elvdal region of Norway.

Performing at Koppang’s Cultural Centre (Storstua), Kusum Gboo set the theatre alight with their variations of African traditional and creative dance pieces, which are characterized by swift, expressive and highly energetic movements.

"Akrowasei", for example, took the audience by storm with its blunt and raw power as bodies that have been well crafted from several years of training moved in complete unison to complex drum rhythms.

"It was a fantastic performance – the rapid body movements and hysterical drumming really amazed me. It is great to experience it since we do not have anything like this in Norway", said Kjell Roar Myrvold, a Police Chief in Stor-Elvdal.

"This is a completely new experience for me. I have never seen a total African Ensemble – I couldn’t believe the vigour emanating from the stage", said Marianne Roen, a librarian in Koppang.

In another performance in Tynset, also located in North Oesterdalen region, Kusum Gboo delighted their audience with "Somu", a communicative dance piece, which was choreographed to mark the group’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in Accra recently.

Co-choreographed by Richard Danquah, artistic director of Kusum Gboo and Stephen Osono, the twenty-minute piece, which calls on Africans to uphold their traditions, drew long peals of applause.

Towards the end of the show, nearly half of the audience joined the group in a free-for-all dance, which unearthed the skills of some Norwegian women in traditional African dancing.

"The tempo was very clever; the dancers looked happy and appeared to be dancing from the bottom of their hearts - we hardly do that in Norway", said Sigrun Eide and Kari Aalborg, both members of a Norwegian Folk Dance Group in Tynset.

"I feel lucky to have seen this performance. It brought sharp memories of Africa that brought both smiles and tears to my face", said Victoria Logan, a Liberian, who lived in Ghana for fourteen years as a refugee.

Surrounded by mountains and forests, Koppang (pop. 1800) is noted for tremendous amounts of elk. Other animals found in this picturesque town include deer, roe deer, wolves, beaver, fox and geese. Norway’s largest river "Glomma" passes through the town.

Tynset’ is also well-known for its vast areas of forests and mountains which are ideal for skiing, walking, cycling, hunting and fishing.

Kusum Gboo’s European tour, which will also involve performances in Sweden, Estonia and Finland, was organized by Danquah Arts, a cultural outfit established by Richard Danquah.

Its motive is to strengthen existing diplomatic and cultural relationship between Norway and Ghana.

The Arts Council of Norway, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Fund for Performing Artists and British Airways are sponsoring the tour.