Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 7:30 PM

Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

This performance will last approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. 

*Run times listed here are based on information provided at this time and are subject to change. 

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $20
$10 students with ID and youth 18 and under
15%-25% subscription discounts available

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"Explosive drumming and dance routines, the group delivered mind-blowing acrobatic sequences with extraordinary precision."

— Vice Magazine

Inspired by daily life in Guinea, this spirited performance highlights the creativity, movement, and music of African culture. Featuring vibrant scenery, costumes, and staging — as well as plenty of audience interaction — Afrique en Cirque is an energy-filled show that will delight the entire family. 

Daredevil acrobatics, human pyramids, and lively dancing is driven by Afro-jazz, kora, and thunderous djembe drums, showcasing the strength, agility, and energy of the young African diaspora. Guinea-born Cirque Eloize and Cirque de Soleil performer Yamoussa Bangoura founded the troupe in Montreal, recruiting his extended family members to join. Cirque Kalabanté has since become the world’s premiere West African cirque company. 

About Cirque Kalabanté 

Bangoura first became interested in the circus arts as a young man growing up in Conakry Guinea in the 1990s. He studied the circus performers he saw on European TV and practiced on the beach and dirt around his home. He also studied the Nyamakala tradition of circus practiced by the Fula people of West Africa. He eventually joined Guinea’s original circus company, Circus Baobob, and toured Africa and Europe. 

In the early 2000s, Bangoura was recruited to come to Canada with Cirque Eloize, a Montreal-based Canadian cirque company. While in Canada, he also performed with Cirque du Soleil and Cavalia (cirque with horses).  In 2007 Yamoussa realized his dream; opened his own company, Kalabanté Productions, in Montreal; and recruited his extended family members, including his twin sisters, brothers, and cousins. 

A member of Cirque Kalabanté, a Black man with feathered accessories around his neck and wrists, holds two thick drumsticks aloft while drumming, theatrical fog rolling up from the large drums. Members of Cirque Kalabanté perform "Afrique en Cirque" on stage. Men brace each other in an innovative take on a human pyramid, a man standing hand to hand upside down at the very top. Projections of green leaf animations are visible in the background.

The company began doing shows in Quebec, expanded across Canada and the United States, and now performs all over the world. In 2018 Kalabanté opened its own studio and school in Montreal, where they offer classes in African dance, cirque, and drumming.

This is Cirque Kalabanté's first performance at the Moss Arts Center.