Nii Ardey Allotey and Ekome

Join the Center for the Arts as we celebrate Black History Month with guests artists Nii Ardey Allotey and Ekome. We are excited to welcome Ekome to Sherwood! The Sherwood Center for the Arts presents the 8th Annual Family Matinee Series! This favorite tradition brings unique cultural experiences to the Arts Center to enrich the Sherwood community. Explore a diverse and highly entertaining season of performances from all around the world. 

Nii Ardey Allotey and his performing troupe Ekome (which means ‘unity’) Cultural Group invite you to experience the multi-layered rhythms of drums, bells, shakers, and voices as they become part of a joyful celebration of the unique culture of Ghana, West Africa.

With colorful native costumes and authentic, handmade instruments, these dancers and drummers bring to life the language, folktales and rich traditions of the Ghanaian people through song, movement, call-and-response and lively games from the region. The captivating performance emphasizes the unity of all peoples.

Major perfomances include Multnomah Art Center, Boys and Girls Aid Society, Northwest Service Center, Gresham Multicultural Festival, United Nations Folk Festival, Kwanzaa Celebration (Federal Correctional Institution), Children's Museum. 1992-present.

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW 

DETAILS

Show Time: 2 PM
Doors Open: 1:30 PM (general admission)
Tickets: $5/all ages

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

ABOUT NII ARDEY ALLOTEY AND EKOME

Master drummer, dancer and teacher of the dancing, drumming and singing of Ghana, West Africa.

ARTS COUNCIL OF GHANA- CULTURAL PRRF0Rl"1ANCE TROUPE, Accra, Ghana.
Lead Dancer/Drummer.
Performed at numerous venues in Ghana and adjoining countries. Taught both dancing and drumming, including teaching deaf students in Mampong, Ghana. Studied the cultural dance and music of the many regions of Ghana. Performed regularly on television.
1979-83.

"ODADAA!" YACUB ADDY'S Performance Group. Dancer/Drummer/Instructor.
Based in Alexandria, Virginia.
Major performances included the Smithsonian Institute, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, performance tours to Puerto Rico, Japan, New Orleans and Memphis.
1983-88.

GHANA CULTURAL BALLET, Accra, Ghana.
Lead Dancer/Drummer.
Performance tours to the U.S.S.R., East Germany, Benin and Liberia. 1978-83.

Nii Ardey Allotey comes from Southern Ghana and is a member of the Ga tribe. He began learning the traditional dances and drumming of Ghana at the age of two and by the age of 5 was dancing and traveling with a group headed by his uncle, Oketei Frank Lee, one of the originators of Ghana's Kpanlogo style of music and dance. To get to these villages they would sometimes walk as far as 10 miles to perform but Nii Artley says that he looked fotward to the singing, dancing and drumming that awaited him there. As a child growing up in Ghana, "music was everywhere - in the streets, in the villages, in the homes of my relatives and friends," Nii Ardey says. After his walks around the village he would eagerly return home to practice drumming on anything he could find: cans, boxes, barrels. As a child and as an adult music has defined Nii Ardey's life, "it is my soul," he says.

Follow Nii Ardey Allotey and Ekome Online