A Night of Enchanment

The Royal Affair at Towson University hosted by their African Diaspora Club was as the M.Cs would say.........FANTASTIC!! If you were there you would know what I mean.

Everyone was in the house from Mali, to Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Togo and many more... everyone left with something to cherish.

We spoke with the president of the African Diaspora Club, Ms. Gboyinde who informed us of their interest in featuring us at the African Explosion Event. The show, which had been planned for over a year now was a wonderful success. There was not a single moment of boredom.

The evening began December 1st, 07, with dinner which took place at the .....at 4pm. The crowd was filled with people from various backgounds. All ate as we listened to African music excited about the show's future unravelling. The room was full. Its funny...many people evening had even skipped dinner because the wanted to be first in line when the door was open.

Doors for the cultural event opened at 6:30pm on the dot and in 10 minutes most of the seats were occupied. The Royal Affair was rich with musical performances, comedy, skits, fashion segments and of course dance performances. Côté minou was in the house and the action was definetly not missed.

This show was one that was really appreciated because it had so much diversity yet unity was definetly felt. Throughout the show many noticed a number of similarities among countries. Even the ones in East Africa compared to those in West Africa. The show began with belly dancing from Egypt and another traditional dance from club members from Ethiopia. The show was featured musical performances from Ghananian duo the "Afro Kings" and the Nija group called APEXX who were crowd pleasers. Dance Performances from Les Femmes D'Afri'k and Fusion Dancers were spectacular.

The show also had an funny skit with a prize called "African Idol Live". You know 50 cent; well he ain't got norring on Towson's Lenny and female duo Rising Star took our Francophone audience back home with the dramatic zouk performance.

The fashion segments occured at different intervals throughout the show. It featured the tribal scene where we saw styles from what the M.C called the first Fashion Capital- AFRICA!. It was accompanied with accessories to capture aspects of ancient African lifestyle. The show also had a clothing from Stylz couture designed by a Morgan Graduate and of course us....

We got great feedback. I came ready with business cards this time so people could know how to get their orders.

The best part of the show would have to be the fundraiser. It was for the PANZI Hospital in Congo. Many women in Congo have been suffering human violence and rape. The speaker for the fundraiser who was actually from Ghana expressed that this act of injustice was one which was not just an African, Congolese or woman problem but one that we ought to make our problem as well for the sake of humanity. The Panzi Hospital is one of the fewer organizations with a health proffesional which stayed in the country even during its times of uproar to help many women regain their dignity and stand up for their rights. The fundraiser was concluded by a mini documentary showing the effects of the whole matter. You had to be there it was heart wrenching!

Ohhhhh...The show also had an After party which many enjoyed. I have to say after a long year's preparation I am sure that members of the African Diaspora Club were exhilerated about the show's success....WE were!!

for more on the show visit the link for the Towerlight, Towson University's Newspaper at http://media.www.thetowerlight.com/media/storage/paper957/news/2007/12/03/News/A.Night.Of.Enchantment-3127258.shtml

Big ups the the Explosion Crew...and special thanks to Valerie, Doyin, and Louise.

You all know who you are ;-))

Again signing off.

xoxxoluvlvuxoxo

Maryanne and Da gurl Nini