CAPA presents Cirque Kalabanté at the Southern Theatre on October 22

Montreal-based troupe Cirque Kalabanté presents Afrique en Cirque, combining traditional African arts with North American modern circus performance, on October 22 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.). Mesmerizing, melodious, and magical, this high-energy production is sure to keep the whole family on the edge of their seats.

Tickets start at $32 and may be purchased at the CBUSArts Ticket Center at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.), online at www.capa.com or www.CBUSArts.com, and by phone at (614) 469-0939 starting at 10 am Friday, May 24.

Afrique en Cirque is a show by Yamoussa Bangoura, inspired by daily life in Guinea. This performance shares the beauty, youth, and artistry of African culture. A colorful show beyond its scenery, costumes, and staging, it makes the theatre vibrate with energy and represents the strength, agility, and life's joys of young Africans. The audience will see acrobats execute gravity-defying moves and human pyramids, accompanied by the contemporary sounds of live Afro-Jazz, percussion, and kora.

Kalabanté Productions was created by Yamoussa Bangoura, a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin. Yamoussa’s dream was the founding of a school of circus arts, and to direct his own multidisciplinary company specializing in the African arts.

Yamoussa first became interested in the Circus Arts as a young man growing up in Conakry Guinea in the 1990’s. 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, with whom he toured Africa and Europe.

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

The company began doing shows in Quebec, and over the years expanded to all of Canada and the USA, 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.