37 companies gear up for imminent Abok i Ngoma Festival

The announcement was made recently during a press conference in Yaounde. 37 companies from 14 countries including Cameroon will stage performances in the cities of Yaoundé and Ebolowa-Akom II on 21 November.

This was revealed during a press briefing organized recently on the seventh international dances and percussion festival, Abok i Ngoma placed on the theme: "where are we?"

According to Elise Meka, promoter of the event, the festival will take place from 21st to November 29th. With regard to innovations, the promoter announced the hosting of the 2nd edition of the sub-regional platform Africa dance dance! The scope is by the french Institute of Paris and it will include after shows in the evenings, hip-hop and dance heritage in nightclubs in Yaoundé and Bowl. Dance performances from the Pygmies and a large workshop on dance, are other innovations planned to be done in this edition.

French Institute of Cameroon, Yaoundé Central Prison, the Cultural Centre Othni, the town halls of Akom II and Ebolowa are spaces that were chosen for the shows in halls and open air.

"The goal of this show is to recall that singing and dancing are at the centre of the life of the African. Africa is a context of civilization where it sings its woes, where we dance her pain and where we celebrate its joys, because it is a fully-fledged communication", explained François Bingono Bingono, anthropologist. For Elise Meka, 'the sector of culture today is to develop. Because it is an economic sector that creates jobs, wealth and participates in the sustainable development," she said.

As a reminder, the festival of dances and percussion Abok i Ngoma is an international platform created in 2002 at Yaounde. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Arts and Culture. Its satirist approach relies on the dissemination of heritage and urban contemporary dance performances, but also on percussion performances.