Special report

The Djoliba National Ballet

A slice of Guinea’s history

Farana (Guinea) 

28/02/2008 - 

The Djoliba National Ballet, a veritable institution in their native Guinea, are currently back on stage with a new show, Manding’, le duel au fouet. Forty-four years after the Ballet’s creation by President Sékou Touré and the American singer Harry Belafonte, the Djoliba are still out on the road promoting Manding culture and identity.

The Djoliba National Ballet - the name immediately places Guinea’s national ballet troupe in a particular geographical and historical context. Djoliba is the name Guineans give to the source of the river Niger, located in Farana (some 600 kilometres from Conakry). The name is also more widely used to refer to the majestic river Niger itself, which weaves its way like a vital artery through the heart of West Africa. However, setting foot in Pixine Port 2, the former boxing stadium in a local Conakry neighbourhood where the Ballet now rehearses, the troupe’s glorious history is not immediately apparent.

You have to take a little time to dig beneath the surface, to sit down amidst the crowd of curious onlookers and soak up the pounding percussion, the thrill of the djembes, the drums and the balafons. You have to take a little time to observe the dancers, arms whirling and legs flying for nearly two hours as they act out their terrible drama, recounting the ancient Manding legend of two warlords waging a furious battle over the hand of a young woman. You have to take a little time to sit down with Ansoumane Condé, the Djoliba’s brilliant artistic director and listen as he unfolds the troupe’s passionate back story, so closely tied up with the history of Guinea since it gained independence in 1958.

When Henry Belafonte met Sékou Touré

Back in 1958, Guinea was the only African country under French rule to return a "no" vote in General de Gaulle’s referendum on the "community of autonomous States." President Sékou Touré preferred to defend the cultural and political values of an independent state, voting for immediate independence rather than continued association with France. The Djoliba National Ballet was formed in the wake of this tumultuous period – and, surprisingly enough, its first artistic director was the American singer Harry Belafonte.

Ansoumane Condé, who eventually stepped into Belafonte’s illustrious shoes, explains that "Harry Belafonte realised the incredible cultural treasures Guinea had to offer after seeing the African Ballets directed by Guinean Keita Fodéba on tour in the U.S." In 1959, Belafonte and the South African diva Miriam Makeba won a prestigious Grammy Award for the album An Evening with Harry Belafonte. At the time, the young singer was banned from her homeland and had moved to Guinea after Sékou Touré personally invited her to do so. Belafonte went to visit Makeba one day, met President Sékou Touré in person and as a result of this encounter found himself offered the position of artistic director at the Djoliba National Ballet.

"The party in power soon came to realise what a useful vehicle art could be in conveying its messages and promoting its ideology," says Condé, "From that point on, the arts were used as a medium to convey government ideology, which was geared towards the preservation and consolidation of national sovereignty. But those in power also realised that the only way to guarantee Guinea’s ongoing independence was to work towards independence in other African countries, too. Guinea displayed great solidarity towards other countries which were still under colonial rule at that time. A number of independence movements fighting for national sovereignty were actually offered a home in Guinea."

A poignant symbol of pan-Africanism

Guinea became the land of the possible, the land of dreams, the land of revolts, freedom fights and national pride. And the Djoliba National Ballet, the "Ballet of the great River Niger", became a poignant symbol of national culture, Manding identity and pan-Africanism, too, as the river Niger crosses not only Guinea, but Mali, Niger and Nigeria as well. "There were never any direct political messages in the Ballet’s shows," explains Condé, "Our main aim was to recount the ancient legends and tales of the Mandinka people through music and dance. But the very fact of the ballet existing was political in itself."

Right from its earliest years the Djoliba National Ballet featured the most talented singers, musicians and dancers from Guinea’s different provinces. The troupe’s original line-up included the famous djembefola Mamady Keita, Souleymane Koly and Tantie Aïssatou Diallo. "The Ballet toured extensively at home in Guinea," says Condé, "but our primary role was to serve as an instrument of cultural exchange abroad." Meanwhile, the Ballet’s box-office takings poured into the state coffers, giving a welcome financial boost to the newborn independent Guinea.

The Djoliba National Ballet have carried off a host of prestigious awards throughout their career and the older members of the troupe still remember the pride they felt on these occasions. Aïssatou Diallo, a veteran from the Ballet’s original line-up, recalls that "We won the gold medal at the Pan-African festival in Algiers in 1965 and went on to win a lot of other important awards, too. But the most symbolic award for us all was when we won the gold medal at the Festival de la Francophonie in 1994." Meanwhile, old ties remain strong. Mamady Keita, who left the Ballet in 1988 and lived in Belgium, then the United States, returned to Conakry in November last year to work with a number of artists from Djoliba - a collaboration that all involved remember as an extremely moving experience.

An annual pilgrimage

The Djoliba National Ballet maintain their busy schedule today, rehearsing on a daily basis in the old neighbourhood boxing stadium in Conakry. The only change in recent years is that the age of the musicians and dancers involved in the troupe is considerably younger. But the Ballet continues to mix the generations and assure its role of promoting Manding culture. On 16 February 2008, the Ballet National Djoliba gave a performance of their new show, Manding’, le duel au fouet, for Lamine Camara Capi (the author who wrote the novel their new show is based on).

Meanwhile, before embarking upon another extensive tour of the Guinean provinces, members of the ballet troupe will make their annual pilgrimage to Farana to visit the source of the river Niger. There, the singers, musicians and dancers will spend an entire week making votive offerings to the god of the river after which they are named. "This is their way of thanking the river for their international acclaim," says Ansoumane Condé, "But also assuring their ongoing existence." The troupe’s annual pilgrimage appears to have paid off to date. After all, a career spanning forty-four years is something any major music star would be proud of!

Eglantine  Chabasseur