In late March, NIMBAYA's! energy lit up New York's Symphony Space. They performed as part of a series hosted by the World Music Institute. They are a fifteen women troupe from Guinea; the first such group to play percussion.

The song "ATO! Ayendimina" (meaning "Stop! You are hurting me!") opens the night. An elegant woman dressed in white keeps a steady rhythm on a wooden xylophone (balafon). Aminata Camara, a tall, full figured woman, steps forward, dressed in a long, dark robe.

She has a firm grip on a long knife which is held upright in her hand. She speaks in low, earnest tones, while a few women gather around. She is the circumcisor. They are her chorus. Three young women dressed in pink and white kneel on the ground, their arms behind their backs, their hands clasped together. Aminata walks over to them, making sure their hands are locked in place. They are frozen. There is a sense of foreboding.

A woman from the chorus steps out and begins to twirl around, ecstatic. The three young women who were kneeling, step off the stage. Immediately, cries go out and there is a sense of violence in the screaming. The three young women return in slow procession, their heads to the ground, back to the center of the action. One woman is sick and lies down convulsing. The other women crowd around her. The balafon sends out high, shrill notes in response to the woman's shaking. These young women have just experienced genital mutilation. Here the somber, sad notes of the balafon bring out the tragedy of what has occurred.

In the second song, the music's pace picks up. Three balafon players work together, making a full and deep sound. The rhythm is lulling and intoxicating. Six limber djembe players line up (the djembe is a rope-tuned drum indigenous to West Africa). The sound is synchronized. The players exude power as their hands slap the drums. The sounds are like sparks flying out into the audience. Men play these rhythms too, yet there is no machismo here. The performers unite, singing together, marking the drumming with their eager steps. The scene is festive, as one drummer comes forward to take a solo, the others gather behind her, backing her up and almost hold her as she plays. The musicians and dancers tease the audience with shakes of the behind and by blowing kisses. Members of the audience in turn run up to the stage and dance to the music, pasting dollars on dancers foreheads in appreciation.

The following day at New York University during a panel discussion on female genital mutilation, Aminata Camara, a lead performer, speaks about the group's work:

We don't want the pain of what happened to us to happen to the younger generation. We have decided to fight even if we have to give up our lives to make a change. We want you to join to us so we can break open doors. We need to perform at the United Nations to show them what is happening. People can see, they can understand. We are building a women's center in Guinea, we want this to be a place where young girls can speak when they fear to speak, and can be educated or seek treatment after mutilation. We are coming to you, even though some of our families are fighting us. This is not one individual's work, so please help us to take this message out, talk to the people you know. Don't wait to stop FGM; do it now.

Female Genital Mutilation is a focus of this tour. The fact that the women are taking on this issue shows their courage. When asked about their performance, Aicha Conde relates, "We want to inspire not only African women, we want women all over the planet to be strengthened by our performance." During an interview, Mamoudou Conde NIMBAYA'S! Director and the creative mind behind the group spoke to their strength, he said, "The name Nimbaya! comes from the Nimba mask of the Baga people of the Coastal region in Guinea. It's about a woman at the full zenith of her power, embodying power, beauty and joy." When we talked about the experience of Guinean women, Conde said, "From a young age, I helped my sisters, and two of them, Aicha and Seregbe are in this group. I have seen how much women need. For example, in Guinea, 80 percent of girls are illiterate, so the question is: who's going to help them?"

Formerly banned to women in Guinea, their playing of the djembe is breaking an ancient taboo. Conde sees djembe playing as a way to motivate women: "Some of the musicians found themselves in bad situations and then they were built up by being in this group. A few performers went to look for orphan girls in Guinea to help them. Some women here send money home to girls who are dependent only on them, nobody else. And I know one thing when I fight for women, a lot of men are not going to like it, but I want us to understand that we are all human beings, and I want women to be able to depend on themselves, so that they can become somebody."

I asked Conde about the source of his inspiration for NIMBAYA! He described his relative Keita Fodeba who in 1952 founded the group Les Ballets Africains in Paris, France. Les Ballets presented traditional African arts in a theatrical and powerful way. Conde said, "In Europe, they thought this African dance wasn't ballet, so Keita fought until the group was given the name 'Les Ballets Africains.' In 1958, he gave the company to Guinea when it became independent. Les Ballets became the first major national dance company in West Africa. So I thought if Keita can show through performance the power of African culture, I can share the beauty of African traditions in an innovative way with women percussionists."

After the intermission at the performance, a muscled, tall male percussionist, Mohamed Lamine Camara, (Technical Director of NIMBAYA!) tries to steal the scene. During the song, "Moussoloule," he takes over one drum and is warned off, and then he is thrown off the next. There is delight in his mischief, and as each woman announces herself with pride on her given instrument. The rhythm played during this song is called "sofa" meaning "warriors." And the women do become warriors encircling one another with high energy beats, not only from the djembe, but from the a deeper sounding drum which lies flat and is hit at the side by a mallet (sangban), and a drum with a cowbell that harmonizes the music (kenkeni). The interplay of drums is full force, as the rhythms are more elaborate. The music is mesmerizing. The bass of the dundun calls out. These women are unstoppable.

As the night continues, the dancers’ hands and legs move with heightened energy. The dancers appear to fly, spinning fast head over heels. The rhythms resonate with the quicker steps. And again Aminata Camara’s performance stands out. She has maturity and great stage presence, holding attention with her firm, decisive djembe beats. She is the musical guide to the team. By the end of the evening, everyone is on their feet clapping. The performers fly higher and higher. The players climb up on top of their djembes, and sing with strength. By the end, NIMBAYA! have embodied the full meaning of their name: power, beauty, and joy.