Photo courtesy Adinkra Music The Adinkra Music and Dance Ensemble will perform at Williamstown High School this Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. The Adinkra Music and Dance Ensemble, a group of traditionally trained West African musicians and dancers, will be performing in at Williamstown Middle High School on Thursday, December 17 at 6:30 p.m.

This colorful and energetic performance with hot drum beats is just what you need for a cold winter night! You can stay in Vermont and expand your cultural experience at the same time. And the price is right, with a suggested donation of $5.00 for adults and $1.00 for students. Bring the family!

The Adinkra Music and Dance Ensemble, now touring in Vermont, was established in 2001 in Detroit, Michigan, with the goal of exploring the classical foundations of African music and dance.

The ensemble includes ten instrumentalists, all of whom are master musicians in their own right. Traditionally trained, they have worked as royal court musicians and also with some of the leading contemporary groups in Africa such as the Pan African Orchestra of Ghana, the Ghana Dance Ensemble, the Ghana National Symphony Orchestra and the Guinea Ballet, just to mention a few.

The group is a leading exponent of West African traditional music and dance and has performed in all the major arts festivals in Africa. The music performed by Adinkra is usually described as a genre that draws on traditional African music, but that innovatively reinterprets the resources of this music within the framework of 20th Century art music, utilizing both standard and unorthodox methods of notation, tuning, and improvisation. They are known for combining traditional instruments from differing ethnic societies on the African continent in unique ways.

Williamstown Middle High School is proud to welcome Adinkra to our corner of Vermont and is happy to share the experience with the wider community said Juanita Burch- Clay, high school principal.