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Seizing the Dance: The Baka of Central Africa

Fri. 12/17: The polyphonic, hocketing vocal style of this region's forest peoples ("pygmies") is a singularly beautiful musical expression that has entranced outsiders since the time of the pharaohs.A new season of Hip Deep kicks off with a remarkable journey among the forest people of the Central Africa. Ethnomusicologist Michelle Kisliuk has spent nearly 25 years immersing herself in this music, and wrote a landmark book about the lives and music of the Baka people in the Central African Republic. Kisliuk believes deeply in the performance experience?learning by doing?and this program will initiate listeners into one of the most enchanting and mysterious musical practices in Africa. The program also deals with the Baka's problematic encounters with neighboring ethnic groups, Christian missionaries, and modernity in general.