Nov 14 2008
I Danced My Way to Texas
Raven Map of Texas
I have recently returned from Austin, Texas. Everyone says the greatest things about Austin, and I have no complaints. I’m sure it was lovely. I bet it was spectacular. Maybe it would’ve been my future home. I will never know. I went to Austin not to see the city and its sights…I went to dance!!
There I was on stage in front of 2000 lovely people, or so I assumed, but the lights were so bright! Not too bad right? There is a catch though, this was the opening night for the world’s largest drum convention called The Percussive Arts Society International Convention. PASIC asked the Berklee West African Drum and Dance Ensemble to perform the first ceremony of the convention. So as a drummer and dancer, I was in front of 2000 other drummers and I hoped and prayed that we were all on the beat.
It was a little nerve racking, but we are a fearless group and had been practicing four times a week for the past eight weeks just for this night. Also with the group were a few friends of ours from Ghana who are some of the greatest musicians of all time and experts on traditional drum and dance of Ghana. We were set and ready to go.
The concert was awesome, Africa prevailed, and we were all thrilled and exhausted. We got great reviews and a great time. And that was Austin. Five hours of rehearsal and sound check, two hours of performance, and sleep. We left the next morning. I will say that I did see a pizza place that was death metal-themed,* and it looked awesome. I would go back anytime and see the city; it was warm, and that made me happy.
*Editor’s note: Hoek’s Death Metal Pizza is an Austin institution
Read more: Africa, Austin, Berklee West African Drum and Dance Ensemble, Music, PASIC, Texas, TravelDan is a musician specializing in West African drumming and dancing. Other then drumming for his multiple bands, his favorite hobby is bikes bikes bikes. He also thinks that tattoos are totally sweet.
