Free Performance to Kick Off Black History Month
Wilmington College is presenting a troupe of African acrobats Feb. 6, at 7:30 p.m., as a kickoff to its Black History Month programming in February.
PICTURED: Zuzu Acrobats
The event, which is free of charge, will be held in Hugh G. Heiland Theatre in Boyd Cultural Arts Center, corner of College and Douglas streets.
The Zuzu Acrobats come from Mombasa, Kenya, in East Africa. The group has performed together since the members were eight years old. At that time, they learned from village elders the art of making traditional circus performances or sarakasi as it is known in ki-Swahili. The art of sarakasi was traditionally used in marriage celebrations and festivities to mark special events. In more modern times, it was adapted to entertain international tourists at resorts in Kenya.
Those five little boys practicing their routines on the beaches around Mombasa — preforming for tips from travelers — can hardly believe how their hard work has paid off into massive success in the United States. The group has been seen on such television shows as America’s Got Talent, Late Night on CBS and two Super Bowls, in addition to every National Basketball Assoc. team’s halftime show and at the White House.
Indeed, the effortless joy with which they carry out their show has so captured their American audiences. Whether it is limbo, jumping through hoops, skip rope, contortion, balancing, tumbling, hat juggling or of course their signature piece – fast pyramid building — this is a show that never fails to entertain.
All acts are performed to traditional African beats designed to put the audience in a festival spirit.