It looked like a dreary winter day outside, but inside the Father Ryan Arts Center in McKees Rocks, it sounded like a West African celebration.
The sensation of four hands and two drum sticks hitting five drums pulsed through the theater, as three drummers, dressed in purple African garb, played traditional West African songs.
The audience members sat back in their chairs, listening quietly until, at the urging of one of the drummers, they accompanied the ensemble's rhythm with whooping and clapping and arm waving.
February is Black History Month, and Sunday evening's "Celebration of African American Arts" was the first held at the McKees Rocks arts center. The theme was "past, present, future," and the focus was paying tribute to the African-American arts and artists in the Pittsburgh area.
"We wanted to do something special during Black History Month to commemorate and to bring the community together for art and music," said Barbara Owens, the co-chair of the event.
Ms. Owens and her co-chair, Isaiah Dent, gathered a long program of performers eager to show off their musical talents to the audience. Wanda Jones Dixon, a McKees Rocks councilwoman, and Debbie Norrell, lifestyle editor for the New Pittsburgh Courier, emceed the event.
Members of the Langston Hughes Poetry Society recited published and original poetry, sang spirituals and performed musical numbers on topics that ranged from slavery to the Harlem renaissance to the 2008 election of Barack Obama.
Sto-Rox High School senior and aspiring architect Terrance Moses, also known as Sergeant Streetz, performed a rap song he wrote called "One Way Road," about the path he's taking in life, as pictures and drawings to illustrate his words flashed on the screen behind him.
Four women in the musical group "Chosen" performed an original song and choreography called "Step Up Ya Game," a message directed at absent black fathers. There were other singers, dancers and performers, and in the small room next to the theater, an art exhibit displayed work by African-American and African artists.
