Tsidii Le Loka performed songs and stories that incorporated cultural elements from her hometown. Photo by Kathryn Phillips/The Choate News
On October 13, Choate hosted a performance of special guest artist Tsidii Le Loka. Originally from South Africa and The Kingdom of Lesotho, the dancer now resides in Massachusetts. Ms. Le Loka is a Broadway performer who originated the role of Rafiki in the original Broadway production of The Lion King. Throughout her Choate performance, she and her percussionist performed numerous percussion-vocal pieces that incorporated language from Tsidii’s hometown.
Naomi Koo ’19, who attended the performance, said, “It was fascinating to actually experience a culture that I have never experienced before through her music. It felt like I was in Lesotho myself.”
Ms. Kalya Yannatos, Director of the Arts Department, said, “I didn’t know Tsidii personally before this past week, but I heard that she was a powerful performer and that what she shares, beyond great music, is a message of profound meaning that I thought would be healing and helpful to our community at this time.”
Joanna Ding ‘19, who also attended the performance, said, “Tsidii and her accompanying percussionist presented a masterful combination of storytelling and performance, as her clear vocals were complemented by various energizing beats that had the audience up and moving.”
During her show, Ms. Le Loka invited her audience to sing with her, first teaching it a range of Lesotho vocabulary. This created a connection between the artist and the audience that added to Ms. Le Lokas’s incredible voice and musicianship.
Esi Dunyoh ’20 said, “I really liked the amount of variety in her music as well as Tsidii’s use of audience participation. The percussionist, Tony’s part was both rhythmically captivating and lyrically nourishing.”
Ding added, “The duo did an excellent job of motivating and pumping up the audience with their high-energy: Tsidii Le Loka’s first dress was traditional and formless, allowing her to move gracefully across the stage while both kicking smoothly and twirling to complement her vocals. At the end of the performance, she revealed that she’d danced and sang the entire time while in stilettos, and her act of kicking them off provided a fantastic finale to her show.”
Ms. Le Loka’s performance reflected her cultural background. Ms. Yannatos said, “She comes from a culture that values music as a way to create, communicate, enhance, and celebrate what it means to live with a sense of reverence in connection to the earth, each other and all living, sentient beings.”
