Cirque Kalabanté Comes to the Carpenter Center This March
Cirque Kalabanté brings contemporary African circus to the Carpenter Center
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Cirque Kalabanté's Afrique en Cirque celebrates contemporary African cirque at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 8 p.m. Created and directed by Guinean-born multidisciplinary artist and former Cirque du Soleil performer Yamoussa Bangoura, the Afrique en Cirque is inspired by daily life in Guinea. Featuring gravity-defying acrobatics and human pyramids, all set to live Afro-jazz, percussion, and kora, Afrique en Cirque vividly communicates the strength, agility, and communal traditions of West African culture in a performance for all ages.
Kalabanté Productions has toured extensively across Canada, the United States, and internationally. Their appearance at the Carpenter Center offers SoCal audiences an electrifying evening of acrobatics, music, and cultural storytelling. Tickets to see Cirque Kalabanté start at $43.75. Families save with a buy three, get one free offer at online checkout with code FAMILY4PACK.
Yamoussa Bangoura began studying circus arts in the 1990s in Conakry, Guinea, drawing inspiration from European circus broadcasts and training independently on local beaches and open spaces. He also studied the Nyamakala tradition of circus practiced by the Fula people of West Africa and later joined Guinea's original circus company, Circus Baobab, touring Africa and Europe.
In the early 2000s, Bangoura joined Cirque Éloize, the Montreal-based contemporary circus company. He subsequently performed with Cirque du Soleil and Cavalia. In 2007, he founded Kalabanté Productions in Montreal, establishing a multidisciplinary company dedicated to African circus arts and recruiting members of his extended family—including siblings and cousins—to join the ensemble. In 2018, the company opened a studio and school in Montreal offering training in African dance, circus, and drumming.
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