BY PRISCA SAM-DURU

When the first group of dancers at the musical concert put together by the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN), stormed the stage, their stylish and energetic dance steps simply blew the minds of the audience which comprised a mixture of the young, old and religious who mistook the performers for professionals, oblivious of the fact that such performance capable of reviving theartre-going-culture in Nigeria , emanated from the 2011 set of new trainees of NTN.

The musical concert tagged, Rhythms and Reminiscences held at the Cinema Hall 2, National Art Theatre Iganmu Lagos , last weekend brought back memories of early theatre culture in the country as it took the audience on a journey round the three major tribes of Nigeria in a preliminary performance, through cultural displays of costumes, dance and songs that represented each tribe.

The audience appearing satisfied with the show could not hide their excitement as they whistled and shouted while many gave an applause at the same time. When Nigeria’s Zule Zoo took over the stage with his beautiful dancers who were joined by some of the NTN trainees, they simply thrilled everyone with exotic dance styles which were a combination of makossa and unique dance steps from Benue State.

The entire hall went dead silence when Young Comedian, SLK took the stage after Zule Zoo. Not a single member of audience had a clue as to what he had to offer since he was not one of the house hold names in the world of comedy but great things indeed come in small packages. SLK ignited a different fire of excitement in the hall while tears resulting from much laughter rolled down the cheeks of almost everyone as he doled out rib cracking jokes from his imaginative reserve.

The main show kicked off with “Patriotic songs” which indicated how sweet and comfortable living in Nigeria can be if the citizens remain united and work together. Next was “Folk Songs” which saw the artists render inspiring songs in diverse languages and dialects from across the country and Ghana, under such titles as ; Osumopi kwi Lelo(Alago folk song from Plateau state), Uwatata soni Laho, Ibike(Ijaw Christmas Carol), Isantim(The hippopotamus – Efik Folk song),Yo Yama O(Ijaw folk song), Ose Va(Three friends – Edo folk song), Densu ( Ghanian folk song) and Jemine(Itsekiri folk song).

The musical show which brought out the best of Onowale Olunlade as vocalist, Tosin Akide, Saxophonist; choristers and a total of nine drummers, under the direction of Oladapo Omideyi and Femi Ogunrombi who was also the pianist, was rapped up with High life Songs.

Among the songs rendered in this category were, Ara mi ese pele pele, Ilu le o ko s’owo l’ode, E ba mi so fun sisi yen ko mai lo o, Ene do pe ene dope, Yabo mi sa sa wale, Nike Nike kanyi j’alu olu and Love Adure.

The performance of Love Adure which ended the show ushered on stage, Pius Amalo who joined the energetic and highly talented artistes as they entertained members of the audience who were at this stage on their feet at every corner of the hall that provided space for dancing.

Speaking shortly after the show, the Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria, Martin Adaji expressed his satisfaction on the quality of performance by the trainees on their first outing adding that the artistes who were basically dancers drawn from different States of the federation have succeeded in justifying their inclusion in the group.

“What they have done is an experimentation in music from their experience and considering the quality of their output in this concert, they have passed the test.” He said.