Fore Afrique!

Arriving in their rusty, weathered Isuzu Trooper (ahhh the memories), the Maroon Creole Drummers (maroondrumschool.com) greeted us warmly with huge smiles. Emmeth Young and his four band mates make up Fore Afrique, brilliant drummers dedicated to preserving their Creole ancestry through drumming and dancing. After sharing dinner together (thanks Miss Martha and Shelly!), the performance began. They brought dozens of drums, ranging from small fingers drums made of bamboo to drums made of large hallowed out mahogany stumps that echoed throughout the campus. The history of the Creole in Belize is fascinated, Fore Afrique explaining it through song and dance. They played rhythms like Djole, Kuku, Kakilambe, Soli, all with roots ranging from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Belize. We watched carefully as Emmeth swayed back and forth to the complex beats, playing so quickly at times his hands became a mere blur. After several traditional rhythms it was time do a traditional dance. Traditionally the way this dance is done is to form a big circle in the night around a full moon in the center of the town square and then have one person go in the middle of the ring and do the dance (often a fertility dance), an intricate movement of the feet, hands stretched out as if in flight. We did our best, but by the end it became an entertaining, sweaty dance off. As the night came to an end some picked up drums and learned Creole rhythms with Emmeth while others browsed through the handmade drums, shakers, rain sticks, and jewelry Fore Afrique brought with them. The rhythm continues – any given night we can hear the pulse of drums coming from the student’s cabins.