Kenyan performance group Haba na Haba to visit WUSTL March 13-22

March 3, 2009 -- The Performing Arts Department (PAD) and the African & African American Studies Program, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will host a residency March 13-22 for a nine-member touring ensemble of internationally known Kenyan performance group Haba na Haba.

Group members perform acrobatics, music, dance and drama to raise awareness and educate their communities on topics such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, reproductive health, women's issues and violence. While here, they will participate in a number of performances and cultural exchanges both on campus and in the St. Louis community.

Haba na Haba, Swahili for "step by step," describes the approach that some 1,000 performers in the group take in their mission to provide people in Nairobi and outlying areas with information to provoke debate on social issues and healthy alternatives to crime, drugs and other destructive behaviors. Their message is that all things are possible if you take them one step at a time.

Highlights of the St. Louis residency will include a discussion on theater and social change with a panel including George Ndiritu, the director of Haba na Haba, Carolyn Lesorogol, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work, and others at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, co-host for the event. The discussion is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, in Brown Hall Lounge.

An improvisational performance of Haba na Haba will take place at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, on the South 40 on the Danforth Campus. All students are welcome to attend.

Photo by Reynolds Whalen

The Kenyan performance group Haba na Haba uses theater, music, dance and acrobatics to educate their communities on social issues such as reproductive health, violence and HIV/AIDS.

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The residency will culminate Friday, March 20, with a work, titled "Co-existence," based on the recent ethnic conflicts in Kenya following disputed elections. The performance, which also will feature WUSTL students, will take place at 8 p.m. in the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., in University City. The event is free and open to the public.

During their stay, the members of Haba na Haba will have the opportunity to learn about life outside of their country. In addition to residing with host families, they will have dinner with members of the St. Louis Kenyan Welfare Association, meet with students who have traveled or will travel to Kenya, visit area schools and participate in WUSTL dance, acting and Swahili language classes.

"We are truly delighted to be hosting this wonderful performing arts troupe on campus, especially with an American of Kenyan descent having just assumed the American presidency," said Robert Henke, Ph.D., chair of PAD and associate professor of drama and of comparative literature, both in Arts & Sciences.

Photo by Reynolds Whalen

In a neighboring Kenyan village, members of Haba na Haba perform a skit about behavior at a sporting event.

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"The courageous and thought-provoking work of Haba na Haba in some of the most economically challenged areas in and around Nairobi demonstrates ways in which the performing arts can educate people from all walks of life and truly effect social change," Henke said. "Their magnetic capacity to summon and sustain a theatrical audience in village and town squares with their medley of acrobatics, music, dance, and drama can teach westerners that theater, looked at from a global perspective, can be much bigger than the well-lit stage."

Henke said that Haba na Haba's St. Louis visit came about, in part, through the efforts of WUSTL alumnus Reynolds Whalen, whose honors thesis in PAD included the production of a full-length documentary on the group.

Whalen, who graduated summa cum laude in 2008 with a double major in drama and African & African American Studies, had seen the group perform in Nairobi during a semester abroad his junior year.

"The first performance I watched literally changed my life," Whalen said. "It was the first time I had ever seen my two biggest passions—Africa and theater—meet to do something really important."

"The extraordinary collaboration of Reynolds and Mungai Mutonya, Ph.D., senior lecturer in African & African American Studies and director of the Summer in Kenya Program, has made this residency possible," said John Baugh, Ph.D., the Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts & Sciences and director of the African & African American Studies Program.

"Their efforts may well inspire other local ventures to enhance health awareness in less fortunate communities. This visit celebrates not only Haba na Haba, but also the outstanding talent of our students," Baugh added.

For information on classes and workshops, call 935-5858 or e-mail rpnathan@wustl.edu. For general information, e-mail PAD@artsci.wustl.edu.

EVENT SUMMARY

WHO: Kenyan performance group Haba na Haba

WHAT: "Co-existence," a performance based on the recent ethnic conflicts in Kenya

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, March 20

WHERE: 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., in University City

COST: Free and open to the public

SPONSOR: Washington University's Performing Arts Department and the African & African American Studies Program

INFORMATION: (314) 935-5858 or PAD@artsci.wustl.edu