FESPAD kicks off today

THE biannual Pan African Dance Festival (FESPAD 2010) returns with exciting activities. The dance festival which kicks off today, will feature various artists, including local, regional and international scheduled to perform. More than 11 countries from across Africa and the world have enlisted. This year’s FESPAD will also feature an International Conference for developing wealth opportunities from the African Cultural Heritage. Some of the big artists who will perform Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noel Hill, 35, is an American recording artist, musician, producer and actress. Early in her career, Hill established her reputation in the hip-hop world as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, ‘The Miseducation.’ The recording earned Hill five Grammy Awards, including the coveted ‘Album of the Year’. After a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of “deeply personal songs” performed mostly solo with an acoustic guitar. Hill a mother of five children and wife to Rohan Marley, the fourth born of reggae super star Bob Marley. Kassav’ The group Kassav have done it all really. They invented their own musical style (zouk), sold tens of thousands of albums, rocketed to the top of the international charts and propagated a veritable zouk craze around the world. However, it seems, this is no longer enough for the five Antillais superstars. On their latest album, ‘Un toque latino’, Kassav have decided to remix their greatest hits Cuban-style, which is certainly a novel way of celebrating the group’s success. Koffi Olomide Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide, 54, is a Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. Born in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, to a Congolese mother and a West African father, Koffi grew up in the city of Kinshasa. He earned a scholarship and went to study in Bordeaux, France where he obtained a business degree. Koffi has won four Kora Awards in South Africa and an award for best artist of the decade. He is married and the father of seven children. Ends

Leisure

FESPAD kicks off today