Soka Performing Arts Center Presents Ranky Tanky
(Aliso Viejo, CA, November 14, 2019) – Soka Performing Arts Center presents Ranky Tanky on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 8pm in the Black Box Theatre, an intimate 350-seat theater. “Ranky Tanky” translates loosely as “Work It,” or “Get Funky!” “Gullah” comes from West African languages meaning “a people blessed by God,” and is used to describe a culture born in the southeastern Sea Island region of the United States. In this spirit this Charleston, SC, based quintet performs timeless music of Gullah - from playful game songs to joyful shouts, from wrenching spirituals to soft lullabies – and mixes traditions of the Lowcountry with large doses of jazz, gospel, funk and R&B. Their debut album was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and NBC’s the Today show. It also soared to the #1 position on the Billboard, Amazon, and iTunes Jazz Charts.
About Gullah Music
The Gullah-Geechee are the descendants of African people who were brought to this country to do slave labor on coastal plantations stretching from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida. In the Carolinas, these people are known as Gullahs; in Georgia and Florida, they are called Geechees. Gullah-Geechee people have retained many African customs, including religious beliefs and traditions, music, food, and remnants of native African languages. The Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was established by the U.S. Congress in 2006. It includes 79 barrier islands, and communities as far as 30 miles inland on the mainland. The Corridor is managed by the National Park Service.
The ancestors of the Gullah embraced the “medicinal” feelings they siphoned from the music they made in the fields and during their religious ceremonies. For the slaves, the drum was the focal point of the music - and in certain ways it was even used as a communication device. Slave owners feared that the slaves could use their drums to conspire and plot plans of escape. Due to this, Africans brought to America were not allowed to have drums. As a result of the necessity for a beat in African and Gullah music, it is said people would bang walking sticks on the wooden floors of their buildings in order to take the place of a drum. One of the most interesting musical practices of the African slaves, that is still carried out today, was the ring shout. The ring shout is a religious ritual straight from Africa, which consists of clapping, shuffling, stomping, and revolving around in a ring shape.
The history of Gullah music is extremely rich and has a deep connection with its African roots and ancestors. In fact, much of the music that we listen to today, including Jazz, blues, ragtime, gospel and ‘soul music’, would not even exist had it not been for the influence of African and Gullah music on the world.
Tickets are $31.50-35 and are now available online at performingarts.soka.edu, at the Box Office at 1 University Drive in Aliso Viejo or by calling (949) 480-4ART (4287).
About Soka Performing Arts Center
Now is in its ninth season of presenting the best of live performances on its extraordinary stage, Soka Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California, is under the new leadership of General Manager Renee Bodie. The 1,000-seat concert hall features world-class acoustics designed by Yasuhisa Toyota, acoustic designer of noted performance venues like Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Designed to truly reflect the university’s commitment to sustainability, the concert hall and adjacent Maathai Hall (featuring a black box theatre and dance studio) have been built to Gold LEED standards and feature vegetated green roofs. Photo voltaic cells on the Soka Performing Arts Center roof generate approximately 15% of the facility’s electrical needs.
Soka University of America is a private, non-profit, four-year liberal arts college and graduate program. The university is open to top students of all nationalities and beliefs and was founded upon the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights, and the sanctity of life. For more information, please visit soka.edu.
RANKY TANKY
Saturday, January 25 at 8PM
Event URL: http://bit.ly/2Xiv70s
TICKETS $31.50 - $35
In Person: Soka Performing Arts Center Box Office, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
Online: performingarts.soka.edu
Phone: 949.480.4ART (4278)
All information is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change.
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