Traditional African music, dance fills Wittson Hall

Seku Neblett plays the bougurabo.

Using his palms, fingertips and the heels of his hand, Seku Neblett pounded the rhythms of his ancestors on the d’jembe and bougurabo. Meanwhile, Charles Ahovissi, a professional dancer from Benin, West Africa, danced around the African drums in brilliant colored costumes.

The two kicked off UNMC/NHS Black History Month activities Wednesday with a cultural and historical lesson on Africa. They were accompanied by master drummer Mane Badiane and master drummer and dancer Pascal Kovi Dadzie.

Charles Ahovissi leads a group in dance.

“I’m an African who was born away from home,” Neblett told the group in the Wittson Hall Amphitheater. “I’ve always used music to help raise the level of consciousness among people…You can’t appreciate something to which you know nothing.”

Ahovissi, who performed on campus during last year’s Black History Month, and Dadzie danced the thunder and lightning dance and sapata dance. The talented ensemble capped their performance by inviting the audience to join them in the sambalere dance, which means “move your body to the beat.”