Johnny Clegg Visits Dartmouth

Hanover, NH, USA 03755
July 7, 2004

South African songwriter and musician Johnny Clegg visited Dartmouth on Wednesday, July 7, 2004. The pictures and text below illustrate portions of that exciting day when Johnny Clegg, his band and their African spirit permeated the Dartmouth campus. Students and faculty came out in force to participate in several exciting and interesting events and learn more about the African environment, history, music and culture.

Lecture in 105 Dartmouth Hall

Johnny Clegg began his day in Hanover by lecturing to a combined meeting of classes from Environmental Studies, History, African and African American Studies, Anthropology and Government. Clegg's lecture was remarkably engaging, and kept the 150 students and faculty on the edge of their seats for the entire class. In an articulate and energetic talk, Clegg compared Western and Zulu culture, described various types of native African dance and then demonstrated many of these dances with surprising agility. The lecture also included humming, chanting and three songs accompanied by the rhythmic Zulu twang of his guitar.

An African Afternoon

A few hours after the lecture, students and faculty came together for an African Afternoon in front of the Collis Student Center . The afternoon featured African drumming, food, crafts, film and slide presentations by students, and discussion tables led by faculty and others on a variety of topics including global health issues, women and protest in Nigeria and the ENVS African Foreign Study Program. Food was provided by Tastes of Africa and by David Jenks, who roasted two goats for the occasion. The afternoon was a huge success, bringing out a large number of people to converse, experience different aspects of Africa and enjoy the beautiful July weather underneath the flags of the 14 African Nations represented by students, faculty and staff at Dartmouth.

The last picture in this sequence shows Dartmouth faculty member Ayo Coly standing beside Bekah Gero, the sister of current Dartmouth undergraduate Jesse Gero ('06). During the African Afternoon, these two individuals discovered that they both spoke Jola and upon further discussion realized that Coly's parents and the Geros were both from Baila, a small African village in Senegal. A brief cell phone call to Senegal confirmed that their parents were acquaintances.

An Evening with the Johnny Clegg Band

Clegg's day at Dartmouth culminated with a high-energy concert in sold-out Spaulding Auditorium. The concert attracted 900 people from the Dartmouth Community and the Upper Valley. Clegg's performance was both moving and great fun.

Here are two comments from Dartmouth undergraduates:
"Being an usher at the Hop, I have seen a lot of shows and concerts and this was the first where practically 3/4 of the audience was up and dancing."
"The concert was absolutely incredible. I have never seen Spaulding auditorium like it was that night, and it went to further prove that music can cross all cultural and racial boundaries. His anecdotes and explanations in between songs were almost as fascinating as the songs themselves."

The band features: Johnny Clegg on guitar, vocals and concertina; Mandisa Dlanga on vocals and dancing; Andy Innes on guitar and vocals; Concord Nkabinde on bass guitar and vocals; Brendan Ross on sax, keyboard and vocals; and Barry Van Zyl on drums.

Below is the play list from the show, two pictures of the performance and a photo of the tickets that were impossible to obtain on the night of July 7th. (Play list source: Andy Friedland)

Play List of the Johnny Clegg Band
Wednesday, July 7th, 2004
Spaulding Auditorium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

Listen to an Interview with Johnny Clegg

We have no audio or video from the 2004 visit by Johnny Clegg. However, when Clegg was in Hanover for a concert in November, 1990, he was interviewed by Jamie Hess. What follows are some QuickTime audio clips from that interview.

Thanks to Jamie Hess for providing a copy of the interview.

For more information about Johnny Clegg and his visit to Dartmouth, examine the informational poster created by Hanna Breetz ('02) about the visit. Visit The Official Johnny Clegg site and The Best Fan Site.

Acknowledgments

Last modified: 9 July2008
©2008 Andrew J. Friedland