Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) There was thunderous applause and tears too as the West African nation of Burkina Faso connected with Indian audiences through a dance rendition to honour the ritual of religious sacrifice associated with the ‘devi’ cult at a recent festival here.

“When you will hear music from kora (a musical instrument), you won’t be able to hold your tears,” said Oliver Tarpaga, artistic director of the Dafra Acoustics group from Burkina Faso, a land-locked West African country with 16 million people.

And true to his words, along with thunderous claps at the end of the moving performance at the Sacred Arts Festival here Saturday, there were tears in many eyes as music flowed from the kora.

“Ours is a traditional art form that goes by the name of ‘Saraka’, which means sacrifice,” Tarpaga told IANS.

The festival pays a tribute to the “goddess worship”.

For the performers from Burkina Faso, their performance is an effort to recreate the pagan spirit of sacrifice associated with the “devi”.

Tarpaga said his troupe was exploring the power of women through their show. “Women have immense power to sacrifice and this power is inspired by Mami Wata,” Tarpaga added.

Mami Wata, the goddess of water in ancient Africa, is a symbol of sacrifice for the Africans. And through this particular show, the power of women to sacrifice is depicted, Targapa said.

The performance Saturday opened with soft music from the beats of the lolo, another musical instrument from the region. “Since it is a sacred festival I wanted to start from a sacred instrument,” he added.

Lolo is among the first instruments to have evolved in Burkina Faso.

The Dafra Acoustics group, an ensemble that performs traditional songs and dances from West Africa, is in India as part of the Sacred Arts festival during March 4-6 at the Crafts Musuem.

A cultural group, The Attic, has been organising this festival for the last three years.

Another highlight of the evening was Djeneba Kone, a young singer from Mali, West Africa, who fascinated everyone with her soul-stirring song and dance.

The performance was Kone’s first ever show with the musical troupe. Kone is a griot, a traditional West African poet, and is carrying forward the griot tradition of preserving ancient stories and performance arts thorough songs.

“It is a kind of a responsibility to be born as a griot. Nobody can become a griot, you have to be a griot by birth; so I am carrying forward the legacy to present the best music,” Kone told IANS proudly.

The group comprising four members and four instruments presented 10 songs through different instruments.

“The music was soulful and I remained glued till the end,” said Ayushi, a spectator.

“The aim of the festival this year is to pay homage to the goddess with a realization of the importance of worship,” said Preminder Singh, executive director of the festival.

He added, “We wanted to bring the theme sacred in a more understanding way which is why we incorporated workshops, lectures, craft demonstrations and performances in our show.”

Adding colour to the festival were groups from different places to honour the goddess. Apart from West Africa there were troupes from Rajasthan, Kerala and Manipur in India.

A country of some 60 different ethnic groups, Burkina Faso is known for its dazzling variety of traditional folk music. Saraka is also one of them.

What binds these artists to India is Indian culture and music.

Said Tarpaga: “We share the Indian passion for music and this connects us to the Indian music and people.”

Tarpaga loves the tabla and is a big fan of Zakir Hussain, the Indian tabla maestro.

“It was like a dream come true when I met Zakir Hussain at one of his concerts,” he said.

An admirer of Indian culture, Tarpaga finds striking similarities between Indian and African culture. “We share the same family values, Indians also respect their family members as we do.”