- 4 weeks ago
In this week’s show, we are at the carnival of cultures in Berlin. And from Berlin to Cape Town to Lagos, we look at how dance and music are connecting cultures across the world.
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00:05after months of gray skies here in Berlin it is finally spring as you can see all around me the
00:11weather is hot and just the right amount of temperature for us to be outside and at a festival
00:17there is everything for everyone there is music there is dancing and there is delicious food all
00:22around welcome to the carnival of cultures and as the name suggests there are so many cultures
00:27from all around the world including the african continent from malawi and i'm from ghana i'm
00:32from zimbabwe from london south africa i'm representing nigeria gambia senegal my heritage
00:36is from mozambique this is the 77 and i am your host okering gushinato
00:45coming up on today's show two worlds collide with a carnival in the streets of berlin and cape town
00:51who does it better we step into isaac chair's dance classes where movement meets fitness
00:57and lastly prep your vocals as we learn what it takes to be an acrobeats artist with angelica bell
01:03oh i see they also have henna tattoos i'm definitely going to get one
01:09now let me tell you a little bit about the carnival of cultures it was started in 1996 in berlin
01:14as a
01:15way to fight back against racist attacks that were happening at the time in the city now it started
01:20with over 2 000 participants but now it has grown to one million people attending this big festival
01:27and i mean berlin is the perfect place to celebrate diversity creativity and just so many people that
01:34we're seeing right here one of the most anticipated events at the carnival of cultures is the street
01:44parade i mean you have over 5 000 cultures representing and different groups as well like one of them behind
01:50me which is the nigerian movement now we followed them earlier to see how they prepared for the street
01:55parade have a look african vibes right in the heart of a berlin garden colony sound system djs mcs for
02:05their fundraising party for the carnival of cultures the group nigerian movement is already pulling out
02:11all the stops dj tommy t has been a fixture of the berlin music scene for seven years and has
02:19unpicked the djs for the parade
02:20i love playing music i love being people on the dance floor giving them good vibes good energy making them
02:27have fun
02:28this is orgasmic to me approximately 3 000 nigerians live in berlin many are already second generation residents and every
02:37year
02:37hundreds of young people also come to the city to study it was therefore high time to finally be
02:43represented as a distinct group at berlin's largest street festival corey miller braid founded the nigerian movement just last year
02:53the carnival of the carnival of cultures needs the nigerian truck the nigerian sound system because
03:00nigeria is is the biggest the most populous black nation worldwide and and at the moment we've got a
03:10nigerian wave a wave going around the whole world nigeria this nigeria that with sports entertainment
03:18the association offers football training djing workshops for young people and much more related
03:25to nigerian culture in the diaspora it's a one-time event that we get to express ourselves
03:32so if you come you learn a lot from it so if you have the chance guys take it
03:42what does carnival mean to you guys or how do you guys love to celebrate your culture we have
03:46different clothes from different regions so it depends we do dances from different regions
03:51we love our our origins our roots especially because we are abroad of our country so that
03:57reminds me where we come from and especially with the young generations that is really good to
04:02keep that in us like the culture in us as you can see festivals like this are all about celebrating
04:07diversity and different cultures now we're here in berlin but there is a separate festival happening
04:12in cape town and my colleague not your cause will show us around check it out
04:24absolutely fantastic it's awesome it's amazing it's something so mesmerizing
04:31i think the best carnival in the world it's been absolutely incredible it's amazing
04:37color rhythm dance song dazzling lights the streets of cape town came alive transformed into a living
04:46stage of culture diversity and pure joy my favorite thing about the carnivals was the makeup the the
04:53dancing the meeting the people the the leads all of the makeup pizzazz everything is just like
05:00phenomenal out of this world
05:02the cape town carnival burst onto the scene in 2010 born in the electric atmosphere of the fifa world cup
05:10today it's a bold celebration of creativity and cultural connection months of rehearsals bring
05:17communities and dances together to make it all look effortless one of them is colleen slaters a
05:23professional dancer who uses dance to bring young people together and help them showcase their talent
05:32it started as a street dance crew literally in the streets and then later we got to use the community
05:38center and then over a few years we actually changed it to into free dance classes for the community
05:44and adult classes for surrounding areas so we did a few competitions over the years but we mainly focus
05:50on the free dance classes for the youth and training for our dance teachers and aspiring dancers and our
05:56adults in an under-resourced community facing crime and school dropouts colleen offers something simple
06:04but powerful a place to belong with crime and gangsterism and all of those things i do live in an
06:11underprivileged community and people are dropping out of school left right and center it went from
06:17high school dropouts to primary school dropouts so if i can find a space for them to influence them to
06:22like
06:23do something just keep yourself busy even if you're not that into dancing just come for vibes i always
06:27say just come for the vibes we have something to eat we have something to drink and it's good vibe
06:31just to get them off the streets and get them away from those bad habits for colleen participating in
06:36the cape town carnival means more than just dancing it's also about bringing like-minded people together
06:42who might not otherwise connect the carnival draws people from across the globe each bringing their vibrant
06:50traditions to share in a dazzling celebration we are based in america but caribbean flavor i love
06:59carnival carnival is a part of the caribbean culture so when i found out that africa actually
07:04has carnivals i said i have to be a part of the carnivals in africa they're different from our caribbean
07:10carnivals but it's all one love that's why
07:1716 years on the cape town carnival still fuels local creativity which in turn grows skills creates
07:24jobs boost tourism and gives diverse communities a powerful platform for colleen as a professional
07:31dancer the hardest thing is finding a rhythm in her daily life
07:37the greatest challenge is to remain consistent
07:40you never know when the next job is coming you never know what is happening as a freelancer
07:45especially you're not going to a nine to five job so the greatest challenge is just to stay
07:50consistent and to have that tenacity hence that's why hence that's why we are called tenacity movement
07:56so that we are reminded to not give up there's a dream go for that dream at all times
08:10we are one big family we always come together support each other you know for more visibility
08:15more love and everybody is welcome we are one huge family even if you are not a ghanian you are
08:19always
08:20welcome gana to the world gana piano kakalika kakalika to the whole we have seen
08:32we're here with the one and only isaac chair the founder of afroletics and also just a great and
08:38amazing choreographer in general so how has your day been like have you been enjoying the festival
08:43totally i was just like in mawa park we did like a afroletics session right there like one year
08:49anniversary and then i came straight to the carnival to meet my guys and obviously to support ghana for
08:57me it's like very nostalgic to hear all the old school ghanaian songs this is just like giving me such
09:04a
09:04such an amazing feeling and it's been great and i mean also on social media you have a big presence
09:10on your tick tock on your instagram you have collaborated with so many people also teaching
09:14people that like your dance moves who has been your best collaborator someone that you've like had on
09:19your page that you've just been this was the perfect person whoo this this is actually a very big
09:25question i mean i appreciate all the moments you know if it's like neymar the footballer doing one of my
09:33dances if it's naomi campbell inviting us to her birthday because she loves our videos so much
09:39if it's channing tatum like doing a little schwalla bump yeah i saw that video a little dance with us
09:47you know social media is very powerful you know it's very powerful but you also have to make sure you
09:53use it like intentionally you know otherwise it can also break you but for us it really worked out well
09:59because the people love our energy i mean you have taught all those people some dance moves but is
10:04there something that you can kind of like quickly just show me right now something simple something
10:07quick yeah okay cool i'm gonna attempt to do this okay yeah so you go like first you have like
10:17your
10:17upper body a little bit stiff yeah wiggle to the side yeah you jigger all right now we go down
10:25now we go up
10:28hey we go down thank you so much guys now that i will try to practice this a bit more
10:40let's find
10:41out more about afrolytics with isaac cherry check it out when isaac cherry a berlin-based dancer
10:48choreographer and fitness coach invites people to work out in the park there's an energetic african vibe in
10:56the year this is no surprise as the fitness program he developed called afrolytics combines dance moves
11:03with african bits afrolytics is a fitness concept that i developed it's a combination of dance interval
11:16and cardio training based on african rhythms it's really about getting people to dance and sweat
11:25segments of the workout derived from various african dance styles such as nidombolo
11:30amapiano and afro house the first dance style nidombolo is from the congo the defining characteristic
11:38of nidombolo is the hip movement you have to always keep a light stance at this squatting position
11:47the next dance style is amapiano originating from south africa my brother dennis will demonstrate it
11:55notice the lightness it's really groovy we also say the aim is not to sweat
12:06and finally afro house originates from angola and is based on very quick footwear patterns
12:16first we have abria okay and then you can do it
12:28isaac is very busy in 2020 he published his african dance dictionary an online dictionary for
12:35african dance styles the steps and their historical origins are explained in videos along with practicing
12:42instructions when you google the history of nombolo or afro house for instance you find very little
12:52information and i wanted to be the one to change that because i'm from africa i want to help people
12:59appreciate our culture and help those who want to learn more about it isaac was born in ghana in 1991
13:08when he was four he and his family moved to germany starting in the city of duisburg after the
13:15sudden death of his mother his father relocated him and his two brothers to berlin neuco a neighborhood
13:21known for its social challenges even though we never had much money we still did well because we
13:30had each other it was like okay mom's not here anymore but dad is here and we felt he'll look
13:37after
13:37us somehow we just need to make sure we don't mess it up and keep moving forward
13:47isaac started dancing at this youth center as a teenager he spent several hours a day here with
13:54his brothers and friends they danced hip-hop and crumping an expensive african-american
14:00dance style that originated in the united states in the early 2000s
14:04i could never have imagined that i would one day reach this point having started from such a
14:10difficult situation and now standing alongside such international names on the world's stages
14:18isaac has registered the name of his workout afroletics as a trademark and his dream is
14:25that afroletics becomes a global movement and that it is danced all over the world and that the same
14:31energy like here at the moa park will spread worldwide african rhythms are in isaac's blood
14:39his workout is not just about fitness but also about enjoying life
14:50you as a dj what do you even prefer playing or like is when you hear the crowd
14:55what do what are they leaning more towards listening to it doesn't it matter complete i'm a piano one
15:00hour it becomes boring to a lot of people and they start leaving the venue they have a reason to
15:05leave the venue so we have to find a a way to balance maybe 20 minutes i'm a piano 20
15:13minutes afro
15:14beats or you miss one-on-one well you heard it here first it doesn't matter it's all about enjoying
15:18music and dancing well this is also a question that my colleague michael otti also answers on whether
15:24i'm a piano afro beats matters or whether it's just the music take a look i love music and i
15:32love to
15:32dance i won't pretend i am great at it but once the rhythm hits it doesn't matter recently i stumbled
15:42into an online debate who owns afro beats ghana or nigeria and another one another one is afro beats
15:50bigger than amapiano have you ever wondered how african music crossed over into wider pop culture
15:56on the surface these debates seem harmless but look closer and it begins to feel like identity is being
16:02reduced to competition afro beats and amapiano didn't appear out of nowhere they are part of a much
16:09longer story you can hear echoes of high life in afro beats melodies
16:17and you can trace rhythmic patterns to palm wine music
16:25in southern africa the dna of marabi and kwaito flow directly into amapiano
16:34across central africa sukus and macosa have contributed their best
16:45these genres borrowed blended and built on each other because that's how music works amapiano
16:51isn't an isolated phenomenon afro beats isn't either they are both continuations of something much older
16:58they are part of a much longer story so when artists like sarkodye master keiji or whiskey
17:04break through globally it is not proof that one genre is greater than the other it's a reminder of
17:10how far the sound has traveled and how many hands have shaved it along the way so the dance styles
17:19might
17:20differ the language might change the tempo the accents their style they may all be different but the
17:26instinct stays the same we move because something in the music recognizes us so the question isn't who
17:35owns afrobeats or whether i'm a piano is better than afrobeats the question is what or who does it
17:41connect us to because if you listen closely it's telling us we are all branches of the same tree
17:51okay guys it's heating up in here and we have so far spoken to so many people that are telling
17:55us how
17:55great and beautiful this event is and we're also seeing so much dancing but you know i have one
18:00question for you do you know what it takes to be an afrobeats artist well for me i have no
18:06idea i just
18:07know it's beautiful vocals and also great songwriting skills but my colleague samson interviews
18:12angelica bell who tells us exactly what it takes to be an afrobeats artist lagos where music is
18:26everywhere from the street to the global stage african sound is taking over but what does it really
18:33take to become a nigerian music superstar yeah luck talent or something deeper today in this episode of
18:45my hustle we will find out my name is angelica aine popularly known as angelica bell i'm an artist
18:52i'm a performer i'm a songwriter from dagos nigeria and this is my hustle boomba so let me take you
19:00through the journey of like my creative process and everything such a nice setup here thank you
19:05so this is also what it takes to be a superstar you have to wake up and look straight to
19:10your studio
19:10every morning let's say i just wake up and then i want to go into recording i can have like
19:14little
19:15vocal warm-ups i do so you can do like mama mama mama mama mama mama mama mama how do
19:23you make your
19:24music i listen to the sound over and over again like i kid you not since i got this beat
19:29this morning
19:30i've been playing it i've been playing it wow i just play around the house and then as soon as
19:34i pick
19:34up a random melody that stays i just come and then put it down here so this is what the
19:39beat sounds like
19:41it's my type of
19:50so it sounds like like a hum you can get like a hum
19:57hey you hear the melody oh my god so what can i if no be you me no want no
20:03order me cross the seas and the
20:05seven borders okay let's go from begin
20:45let's hear let's hear yeah wait you just you collect this one now like now
21:01are you an african artist or nigerian artist or a global artist um an african global artist
21:10so that's why i post it because it's very important to talk about so it's a reggae bboy him he's
21:15a he's
21:16don't need another pigeon so i try as much as possible to infuse african style african style into
21:22my music so basically you mean adding the beats adding the african language is what makes afro
21:28beats the afro beat yes exactly and how challenging is it for you as a female artist has been a
21:34lot
21:34generally being a female you know how it is in every field especially as an african woman it's not easy
21:42because they always feel like women are places in the house or you know business and after you make
21:48your music like you said you guys always go for different shows right is there any show that you
21:52guys are having that is coming on oh soon yeah we're supposed to have on sunday is this something
21:57that can follow you to the oh yeah sure you can wow you're looking gorgeous like thank you fabulous
22:02thank you and the loud urban choir what are you guys made of we are like friends that came together
22:08to do something we're an afro beat choir there's no afro beat choir we're the first afro beat choir
22:14i could say that boldly and yeah so we plan to take it across we plan to spread that okay
22:22because
22:23normally when people come they're like oh choir people are always you know confined to the church and
22:28everything but then now we are an afro beat choir and we're moving like afro beat artists
22:44beyond everything i think african culture isn't just one thing maybe it's diversity in unity
23:04so this is a new dress so yeah i love it it's nice but it's hot but it's nice no
23:13but you're still
23:13looking very very beautiful what was the idea behind starting flick the laughing there was a lack
23:22of african music and culture here in berlin everything was really focused on american culture
23:27was like hey we need to represent our own cultures and that's where we started the movement why bring
23:32your bring your team and bring your truck here to um carnival of cultures sometimes the people
23:37always think like only nigeria or ghana but we represent really though we try to represent the whole
23:43african countries when you guys hear from people who kind of also like take part and also dance with
23:48you guys what are some of the words that like that that people say to you guys i think it's
23:52really
23:52known to do like a journey through the african music so we might start in i don't know in angola
23:58then we go to congo then nigeria south africa the diaspora in france england so it's like everything
24:05mixed together and also that's what represents us we come from all different different african cultures
24:11okay after all that dancing and seeing i am ready for some food and also something to drink
24:16what do i have here what is this that i'm drinking you are drinking bisap we call it bisap in
24:21west
24:22africa it's a hibiscus drink with pineapple and ginger as well i think this is perfect for this
24:28weather thank you so much what do you have here exactly at the store i cook african also west african
24:36food plantains beans jollof rice ground hot soup i have with meat or without meat i have chicken stew
24:43spin it on yam different kinds of beans chicken chicken tell me more about the people that you're
24:50cooking with as well they are all my children i'm working with my children so it's a family business
24:56all the way it's a family business
25:04so we're also here at an ethiopian stand to also try some of their food and i'm here with
25:09nla mccuria and he is also the chef and also did you make this food right i cook by myself
25:16yeah
25:21this has been the carnival of cultures and i can safely say that it has not disappointed i have had
25:27a great time and being here my first time i can say that i can truly feel the love the
25:32acceptance and
25:33it has been beautiful seeing all the different cultures here thank you for joining me this has been
25:39the 77 and now i'm going to enjoy the rest of the festival with my lovely colleagues and i'll see
25:45you next time
25:45bye
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