Balafon Presents: Black River Performance | Down By The Riverside

Balafon brings the Black River African Dance Fest to the Kelly Strayhorn Theater this weekend, with the main performance, Down By The Riverside, running Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The festival has been a fixture since 2012, and the name comes from Balafon founder Mama Kadiatou Conte, who drew on the Bafing River—which runs through Guinea, Senegal, and Mali and was the seat of the ancient Mali Empire—as her metaphor for connecting those cultures to Pittsburgh. The festival pairs master artists who shaped global African dance theatre with Balafon's own West African Dance Ensemble, a generation born in the first years of African independence who brought traditional village rhythms to international concert stages and created the theatrical language that African dance companies worldwide still follow.

Down By The Riverside features Balafon's full live orchestra with special guests Sankofa Village for the Arts and Kaloum Djembe, joined by members of Pittsburgh's African dance community. The music is built around spirited drums and the haunting melodies of the ancient balafon, showcasing the orchestral complexity of West Africa across Guinea, Senegal, and Liberian traditions. The festival also includes a lobby market of African cultural finds and a series of workshops running alongside the performances.

The festival spans two days at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater's Alloy Studios, 5530 Penn Ave. On Saturday, October 17, the cultural market and workshops run from 10 AM to 8 PM, with the Down By The Riverside performance at 7:30 PM. On Sunday, October 18, the market and workshops run from 11 AM to 4 PM, and the performance is at 3 PM. The cultural market and workshops are free; the performance is "Pay What Moves You," from $20 to $45.