CHAINS BIOS

CHAINS collaborators

FRANCIS KOFI: Director/ Choreographer, Francis Kofi, former master drummer of the Ghana Dance Ensemble, is an emerging star in the world of African music and dance. He learned about the music, dance, and spiritual traditions of his ancestors from his grandfather, in an apprentiship which began when he was five years old. He carries a deep respect for his elders' refined artistic sensibility into all of his work. Mr. Kofi is currently Artistic Director of Hayor dance company in Accra, Ghana. He is a Fulbright scholar in residency at SUNY Fredonia in New York.

CREATING MEDIA was an interactive media group committed to representing cultural diversity on the World Wide Web and all other media. Creating Media's Performance Ecology framework integrates mediums of communication and expression in a unified framework which assigns equal value to all. We like to create environments in which components interrelate on all levels.

MEL LANG: Production Designer and Agile Coach, Mel Lang presented artists from Brooklyn to Bombay and Accra to Tuva during her tenure at World Music Institute in New York City. Her contribution to the 1994 production of CHAINS in Ghana, marks another milestone in her commitment to fostering intercultural collaboration between artists. She recently was awarded research affiliation with the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana where she pursued research on drum language and worked as a consultant. Ms. Lang has recently completed her Master's degree in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University.

ANDRUID KERNE: The intercultural performances of Director/Composer, Andruid Kerne explore new territory in the range of human emotion. His work blazes an international trail from the Japan-American Theater of Los Angeles and Lincoln Center in New York to the 1994 production of CHAINS in Ghana. Mr. Kerne has studied with Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier, two pioneers in contemporary music composition and performance. He was awarded research affiliation with the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana where he pursued research on drum language and worked as a consultant. Mr. Kerne is currently doing research investigating human-computer interface as a manifestation of culture at NYU's Center for Digital Multimedia.

PERFORMERS: Felicia Adeti, Aborchie Etse, Faustina Nyanovar, Aborchie Etse, Martin Kofi Gademey and Blaise Ketsri are all outstanding young artists. Felicia is a former member of the Ghana Dance Ensemble. Blaise, Fausti and Etse all perform with the Nananom Dance Ensemble. Kofi is starting his own ensemble for young performers.