Diverse music traditions and styles were showcased at the Alliance Francaise theatre in Accra during the 2005 edition of ?Quinzaine de la Francophonie?, which ended last week.
These include the Togolese Kora Award Nominee King Mensah, Nigerien traditional music group, Mamar Kassey and the young Ivorian sensation Oren?chy.
Accompanied by a retinue of body guards, who also served as dancers, King Mensah made a majestic entry onto the stage amidst cheers from the audience.
He swayed the crowd with a fine blend of Agbadza, Afro Beat and Funk, which turned the evening into a kind of feast that left the audience calling for more.
With a voice that tends to tickle the most insensitive ear, Mensah together with his dancers transferred a King?s court onto the stage with a throne that often served as a refuge for the musician.
Led by the multi flutist Yacouba Moumouni, Mamar Kassey, which is noted for its promotion of traditional Nigerien music with passion and energy, proved the diversity of indigenous African music with a number of refreshing compositions.
Mamar Kassey took the audience on a long journey that ended on the fringes of the Sahel - and indeed, an unforgettable meeting with its sedentary populations.
The sound of traditional instruments including a giant upturned calabash on which wild rhythms are played alongside melodies from Yacouba?s flute momentarily kept the audience at the edge of their seats.
Clad in the Ivorian flag, Ivorian star Oren?chy managed to get a number of dignitaries including the French Ambassador, His Excellency Pierre Jaquemot to the dancing floor.
With a dramatic blend of Funk and Zoblazo, Oren?chy entertained the crowd with several of his compositions, which are sung in English, French and various African languages.
Other activities that marked the ?Francophonie? Festival were a performance by two theatre groups, La Tartuffe Troupe from the University of Ghana, Legon and Les Grandes Personnes Th??tre de rue Franco-Burkinabe.
An art workshop titled ?Art in Action? which comprised artists and sculptors from Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana produced artworks from discarded water sachets and other rubber bags gathered from the streets of Accra.
A series of films on a wide range of topics and
subjects by acclaimed Francophone filmmakers were also shown at the Alliance Fran?aise and the University of Ghana, Legon.
Since 1996, ?Quinzaine de la Francophonie?, which was simultaneously held in Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Cape Coast, has been organised annually in Ghana by member countries of ?La Francophonie? represented in Ghana.
Created in 1970 ?La Francophonie? is a community of people sharing the French language. It also tends to rally people around the French language and provides a number of cultural activities that brings to one?s doorstep, the rich Francophone culture through the arts.
