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By JULIE PORTMAN
Rappahannock New* Contributing Writer
Paul Reisler and I have just returned from a month long tour in East Africa, where we were performing and teaching in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi under the sponsorship of USIA (United States Information Agency).
It all started last fall when the American Cultural Affairs Offices in Malawi cabled USIA in Washington, D.C., requesting artists with expertise in storytelling, theatre and music. Their idea was to use the skills of American professional performers to help develop low budget dramas that communicate information on AIDS. It is estimated that 26 percent of the people living in cities in Malawi are HIV positive.
USIA in Washington was familiar with Ki Theatre’s work and contacted us. We said yes. Our resumes were cabled. The Cultural Affairs Offices in two neighboring countries - Tanzania and Kenya - requested workshops and performances. And the Ki Theatre duo — Portman and Reisler — was off to Africa.
There are photographs and magnificent testimonies to the great beauty of the Rift Valley which runs from northwestern Ethiopia through Kenya, western Tanzania curving into Mozambique near the borders of Malawi. It is a region of volcanic highlands, intricate ' faulting and numerous lakes along the valley floor, creating one of the most diverse living spaces on the earth for plant and animal and human life. This was the geographic and the cultural cradle for our travels and our work in Africa.
We were sent .to Africa as “Cultural Affairs Specialists.” I wasn’t sure what that meant when we left the States. Now I can tell you. It means that you are a detective and an activist. You need the instinct and the skills to approach each country, each workshop, and every performing situation with few expectations and very little structure. Then, at the right moment, you must be willing to leap into the center of action and begin.
In a workshop, there might be 25 actors, musicians, dancers and writers. Everyone understands English. But this isn’t the real language that we will inspire our work together. Paul and I begin by sharing some stories, some music. No one has seen or heard a hammer dulcimer before. There are many questions. Then Kenyan or Tanzanian artists recite a poem, play music, share an old folktale. The entire experience becomes a prolonged greeting as we search for the place our imaginations can meet. After some time, there is a spark of recognition and we begin playing together.
In each country, there was nothing our hosts enjoyed more than having all of us perform together.-In Tanzania, a diverse group of artists had adapted an old folktale to create a play. They asked me to play the role of the wise aunt at the weddine ceremony, encouravim?
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