Drumming

Cape Town

The day was the usual round of meetings.  Between committee meetings that I have to go to, and catching up with colleagues from other countries who want to update me on projects that we are involved with, the days go by very quickly.  It would all be improved with better tasting coffee.

This evening was the cultural evening – a regular event at these conferences.  There are about 4000 delegates from all around the world, and the hosting country likes to showcase local talent.  This evening started with a parade of men in silver suits playing various instruments and dancing, leading everyone into the hall.  It wasn’t something that I would normally identify with Africa, it seemed more like New Orleans, but I remember that they had the same kind of music last time I was here.

The entire ground floor of the conference centre was set up like a fairground with different things happening in different places. In one area they had the “Big Five”: Africa’s most famous wild animals, reputedly the five most dangerous, presented by actors on stilts.  They were lots of fun and were there for photo ops…I had my picture taken with the leopard.

In another area they had drumming.  There were three guys who brought about 50 drums.  The audience had all different sizes of drums.  One of the guys set the rhythm and got the audiences all going together.  Sometimes this took a lot more time than others- it seems that librarians don’t necessarily have a good sense of rhythm.  Once all the drummers were going in the same rhythm, the three guys played their drums in completely different rhythms; it was very compelling, and it’s easy to see why so many cultures use drumming traditionally.  It is a much different feeling to be part of it than it is to listen to it – with very little effort, the group pulled together.

There was also a main stage with three “traditionally built” women singing American hits of the 70s and 80s.  They were dressed to impress: red sequinned dressed, red feather boas, red over the elbow gloves with large jewelled rings, and enormous Afros.  Their lipstick, naturally, matched their dresses.  It had a very Motown feel to it, but engaged the audience – there were lots of people dancing.

The food was a good reflection of Cape Town – different buffets with Cape Malay, seafood, Indian and traditional African food.  The only problem was that it was quite dark in the hall and buffet dining in the dark brings the potential for surprises.  Much of the time people had no idea what they were eating, particularly if they were not familiar with Cape Town or African food.  Plenty of South African wine made it all work…