Ara
…journey of the African drum!
Through Ages and challenges, the drum has been a loyal companion and comrade of black man!
Drum celebrated wealth, it mobilized patriots to war!
Africa is deep!
The African drum is integral to African evolution!
It has a past. It commands conscious presence in the drifting present. It is vital to the birth of Africa’s sound future!
We must tell its story, praise its strength, protect and promote its legacies! This is the core Mission of Ara!
Revival of popular awareness and patronage of the profound place and power of the African drum in the resilient evolution and captivating nuances of Africa is the Vision!
This is Ara. Welcome to Ara!.
Introduction
Ara is a passionate icon of Nigeria’s emerging entertainment industry. She is the first world-acclaimed female African traditional drummer!
Inspired by her love for African culture and heritage, Aralola gave herself to early enough to an ageless pillar of traditional African orchestra – The African Drum!
The Talking Drum is unique to Yorubas of Nigeria’s South-West.
This powerful instrument defines Ara’s artistic presence and premium reign in Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
Of dexterous skill and captivating stage attitude, Ara leads a talented orchestra to create pulses of exceptionally entertaining African symphony that once accentuated pristine Yoruba existence. Her success at being able to fuse traditional beats with modern rhythms has led her to holding studio and theatre performances with such world greats as Steve Wonder and Usher Raymon.
Ara is a world-class delight!
Brand Asset & Identity
Ara maintains a thriving matrimony between Dexterous Skill and Talking Drum.
Her loaded assets of natural talent on percussion and a priceless collection of traditional African drums, all of which constitute her grand orchestra on mega stage, pillar her entertainment identity as a unique artistic brand.
This extensively travelled female artiste comes with a highly engaging intellectual mastery of her art! She dwells deeply on its history and transition through time and circumstance, using her chequered life-experiences as an adventurous African daughter of sun-bathed Nigerian society as part of her muse.
In the month of January 2015, Ara celebrated 25 years of her life on stage. That silver jubilee celebration set her on to re-defining her creative focus.
So far, Ara has successfully plugged her creative mind on to the sockets of one of Nigeria’s vital development processes. Economic diplomacy is an aspect of Ara’s passion for Nigeria’s improvement which has encouraged her to establish strong links with relevant experts and institutions in the United States of America, China, Cuba and France.
Repertoire
‘Gan-gan’ fusion is a climax of Ara’s high-value creativity.
This product of blending the unique sound-projection of the talking drum with established musical patterns such as Jazz, Afrobeat, Hip-Hop, Rhythm & Blues as well as Highlife is a non-static invention that grows with every fresh pedestal of artistic maturity to which Ara ascends.
Ara is capable of leading her cast along a single cultural path on stage and also in transition from one stream of African heritage to another on the emphatic lead of thunderous percussion.
She is also a must-watch soloist. Her enchanting performance in this regard dwells heavily on abstract and mystery. Ara comes full-blown with her enabling spirit when set alone on stage. Her thoughts sink deep into rivers of sonorous bliss as she cryptically withdraws her concentration from the world before her to enhance her energies and swiftness in the constituent moments of her super-enchanting solo, sometimes brought back to reality with soft and simple sign-offs by a fluid scintilla of modern and traditional percussion.
Aside from Gan-gan fusion, Ara combines easily with old and contemporary artistes in studio and on stage with her mastery of drum.
Tuface Idibia, King Sunny Ade, Femi Kuti and Yeni Kuti are some A-list Nigerian acts with whom Ara has performed live on stage. Wyclef Jean, Angelique Kidjo and ALL 4 One are part of the large pack of globally famous foreign performers who have worked diligently with Ara.
Professionalism
Rehearsal. A regular feature of life on board Ara!. Never a dull moment!
As leader of Ara! – her elastic and ecclectic troupe, Ara manages a united family of dancers, drummers and singers. Her strong attachment to the business of providing captivating African entertainmnet to discerning audince is characterized by the professional culture of continuous rehersal.
Consistent upgrade of stagecraft propped with approparite themes of contemporary aptness is a major pillar of Ara’s sustained relevance in Nigeria’s increasingly competitive entertainment sector.
A management crew of dedicated stringers and permannet staff makes it possble for the tirless artiste to effectively mange her multi-cultural cast.
Initiatives
Off her highly demanding professional schedule, Ara finds time to conceive and build ideas that tally with her copious passion for society. The African girl-child is faced with many a heavy odd in her formative years.
As an African girl-child growing-up in Africa, Ara had a lingering taste of surviving at the mercy of the odds! Having been able to rise to a place of privilege in the same society, one of her prominent give-back initiatives is: The Girl-Child Project. This exercise focuses on facilitating the education and healthcare of less-privileged young girls.
Extending from this on-going poroject is: The Girl-Child Book Series which basically is about writing and publishing a girl-child-specific book series for female pupils of primary and secondary schools. The underlinning idea is to use the books to transfer knowledge that are capable of assisting young girls to make the right decisions as they grow-up in the face of the challenging and temptations of the pressures of life.
Other projects lined-up for execution in due course by Ara are:
Inspire Me (a special project focused on street-kids)
Mother ‘n’ Child (anti-malaria campaign)
Ara Empowerment (special support for needy mothers)
Sustainable Water Development For Africa (special alliance with major organizations to provide portable water to selected African on the African continent)