Thirty men and women in gumboots, or knee-length rubber boots, stomped their feet and danced to the beat of eight different drummers.

The sights and sounds of Africa permeated McCormick Auditorium Wednesday night when Northwestern’s African Drum and Dance Ensemble gave its first performance, in front of about 300 people.

The ensemble consisted of about 30 dancers and eight drummers.

The group performed five dances, including the Gahu, in which the performers formed a circle. Swaying from side to side, they followed the person in front of them. They then broke the circle and faced the person next to them. While half the dancers moved counter-clockwise, the other half moved clockwise while expanding and contracting the two circles. The Gahu is a social dance and drum beat of the Anlo-Ewe people of Southeastern Ghana.

South African mine workers use the gumboots and developed the dance to communicate with each other without talking.

During the interludes, Habib Iddrisu, the show’s director, danced until the performers were ready to come out. In one of the breaks, he explained the way a drum is made.

“I will keep coming back until you guys tell me to stop,” he said.

Malena Amusa, a former Daily columnist, produced the show. She ended the show by inviting others to speak about their experience.

“I hope you all were exhausted just looking at that,” the Medill senior said. “I will sleep for two days.”

Iddrisu, a doctoral student in performance studies, and Amusa formed the group. Iddrisu, who is from Ghana, said he wanted to offer students a new way to express themselves.

“I wanted to create an avenue for students to try different things,” he said. “They did not have anything (like the ensemble) before.”

African dance can help bring people together, Iddrisu said.

“It makes people feel like a part of something,” he said. “We have one of the more diverse groups on campus, and I’m not surprised. It offers people a unique opportunity.”

The group had to get funding from outside resources since it has not been recognized as a campus group by ASG, Iddrisu said.

He had to write a grant to the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts. He received $5,000 to buy drums from Ghana. Iddrisu said he flew to Ghana to buy the drums himself.

Because the group is not recognized by ASG, they were not able to book space in Norris for the performance, Amusa said. She said they had to get CaribNation to co-sponsor the event. Amusa said she had wanted to start the ensemble since her freshman year.

“Initially, I wanted it for selfish purposes because African drumming and dancing was liberating for me,” she said. “It allowed me to break away from college life and connect with my heritage. But I began to realize that other people wanted it too.”

Amusa said she hopes the ensemble will be an argument for why students would benefit from an African drum and dance program. She said African drum and dance currently show up as “featured acts” in the curriculum.

“I want to come back here in five years and see the group flourish,” she said.

Weinberg senior Yuna Rapoport, who participated in the ensemble, said she was initially scared about dancing.

“The first day I came in, saw everybody in a big circle, and said, ‘Oh, I’m late for something,'” she said. “My friends literally dragged me in. I’ve never done choreographed dance before, but I really enjoyed it.”

Medill sophomore Lisa Matuska said she enjoyed the show.

“I wanted to get up and start dancing,” she said. “I have friends in there and it was interesting to see them step out of the normal atmosphere.”

Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].