Touring African choir performs at IU

The University of Namibia Choir presented a musical play integrating African and Western musical traditions and languages to promote cultural understanding Monday night at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.\nThis was the first of several U.S. performances for the group, who will travel to George Washington, Rutgers and Yale universities before taking the 23-hour-long flight home to Namibia in two weeks, said Danie Strydom, the choir's stage director and UNAM performing arts lecturer.\nAs part of its visit to IU, the choir conducted a workshop at IU's International Vocal Ensemble, directed by Mary Goetze, Monday afternoon. The performers will also visit the African American Choral Ensemble today.\nThe 19 men and women of the choir danced and sang in costumes made of cream-colored fabric and brown leather that combined traditional and modern Namibian designs. The choir members had the opportunity to design their own costumes for the performance, which they embellished with fabric head-wraps and cowrie-shell anklets that helped to keep time when they stomped their feet.\nStrydom said that the choir's multicultural presentation represented the melding of different cultures, backgrounds and religions.\n"Although my ways are not your ways, I respect you, and I expect you to respect me," Strydom said during the play. "Let us strike hands and stand together and be one together for the future."\nThe performance consisted of songs from Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in several indigenous African languages and English. \nThe choir members, all UNAM students, sang and spoke lines in African languages, and Strydom narrated the scenes in English.\nThe songs, sung a capella in four-part harmony, told the story of a village and its problems at the time that the first Europeans went to Namibia, Strydom said. \nThough the arrival of the Europeans brought conflict to the village, Strydom said these rifts were resolved at the end of the play.\n"(The prior conflict) doesn't matter because they fuse toward the end. You can have the right to decide (your beliefs)," Strydom said.\nDawn Whitehead, a doctoral student in African Studies, said that while the lines were mostly in African languages, she could still understand the story's meaning.\n"I think you can understand the emotions through the facial expressions," Whitehead said.\nFreshman Meg Hathaway said she was happy she had the chance to attend the presentation.\n"I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to get a window into a different culture," Hathaway said.\nAlthough UNAM Choir members have sung all over the world, including trips to Scotland, Germany and South Africa, where they won a prestigious contest, none of them are performing arts majors, Strydom said. During a question and answer session after the play, the students listed their majors, which included accounting, business administration, computer science, mathematics, biology and several others.\nThe UNAM choir has a total of about 70 members, however a smaller group of about 20 came on this tour because of the prohibitive cost of airplane tickets from Namibia to the U.S., Strydom said.\n"The tickets cost what could be a year's salary for some people," Strydom said.\n-- Contact staff writer Melissa \nHarrold at mejharro@indiana.edu.