NDIMA

Songs and dances from the Aka indigenous people from Congo
Concert - Encounter for all public

Angélique Manongo : song and dance
Emilie Koulé : song and dance
Nadege Motambo : song and dance
Michel Kossi : drums, arc-en-bouche bela, harp-cithare mudumein, dance
Dopo Koudzédzé : drums
Pierre Mondika : harp-cithare mudumein, drums, song and dance
Olivier Maniale : song, dance, drums, harp arquée kundé, flute mobio
Sorel Eta : artistic coordination, song and dance

This programme takes us on a journey to the heart of Africa’s equatorial forest and offers the chance to discover the Aka indigenous people, whose way of life is threatened by extinction. Ndima, 'the Forest', is an ensemble from the north of Congo-Brazzaville, led by the Congolese ethnologist Sorel Eta. He is dedicated to studying, protecting and promoting Aka's cultural patrimony through public performances, encounters and meetings.

Essentially vocal in nature, this music gives 'an impression of the extraordinary interlacing of voices and vocal timbres', as Simha Arom wrote. With polyphonies and yodelling, songs accompanied by drums, the zither-harp, the mouth-bow and recreational dances, this repertoire follows the rhythm of the major events that punctuate the life of the Aka: hunting, gathering honey, initiations and celebrating the cult of the ancestors. This is a unique occasion to discover a musical universe, which is fragile but of a captivating beauty.