MWMF: Dance Away a Fan of Something New
Posted: 08/28/19
The one thing I have always enjoyed about music is that you don’t always need language to communicate a feeling or an occasion. You don’t need language to make someone dance, forget their woes and clap along to a song they’ve never heard before. It’s my personal challenge to listen to music from as many different cultures and places as possible and I want to share it with you. I guarantee you will walk, or dance, away from the Madison World Music Festival a fan of something new.
I guarantee you will walk, or dance, away from the Madison World Music Festival a fan of something new.
Les Filles de Illighadad is a three female band from a small desert village in Niger called Illighadad. These women honed their musical skills from singing while doing chores to singing at village celebrations and being accompanied by their whole village. Their sounds resonated through towns and that is what put them on the map. Fatou Seidi Ghali is one of the only two women who play the guitar in all of Niger. Their journey is a truly inspiring story of how women from a small village, with limited resources such as recording their first song in an open studio (the calm of the desert night) rose internationally and will now grace the Madison community with their art form.
Female mariachi band Flor do Toloache performs on the Terrace, September 2017.
With the ever so tightening ropes on immigration for international artists, it is even more important than ever for presenters to represent as diverse a line up as possible so that we can hear and understand the artists' plights in a more direct way.
As a student responsible for booking the 2019-20 season, it was a roller coaster ride. I had to think about the past, present and future of what the Madison World Music Festival represents. We had to ensure that we are bringing new cultures to the Madison community to build the curiosity and awareness, presenting artists that have a story to share, and showcasing artists that represent different parts of the world. This year is even more special as the Madison World Music Festival launches the Women of the World series and it was also important to ensure that there is a strong representation of women at our festival.
Keerthana Sreenivasan
Director, WUD Performing Arts Committee
8/28/2019
The Madison World Music Festival takes place September 13-14, 2019 at Memorial Union and the Willy Street Fair, see the full festival schedule.
The Women of the World series includes Yumi Kurosawa (October 20, 2019), Las Cafeteras & LADAMA (November 15, 2019), and Eileen Ivers & Karan Casey (February 28, 2020).