An Afternoon at the Palais du Sport

I’m not entirely an introverted person. Mind you, given the choice between attending an event in which I have mild interest and a quiet evening at home to myself or maybe a few friends, I will go with the latter maybe 75-85% of the time. But when my friend Mananjara invited me to a Christian chorus concert at the Palais du Sport (sports palace or national indoor stadium) just down the hill from my apartment, I figured, in the words of Doc Brown, “what the hell?”

So Mananjara and I met up at my apartment, had a quick bite to eat, and made our way down the hill that was already packed with people. In fact, the same day as the chorus concert, at about the same time actually, was the celebration of the Barea soccer team being held in the Barea stadium just next door. This significantly larger event dwarfed the much smaller gathering of charismatic Lutherans singing and raising their hands to the heavens next door. It’s not much of a surprise, to be honest. The Barea team is Madagascar’s national soccer team, and they had just returned from CHAN (African Nations Cup) having, against all odds, soared their way into third place overall. This is a big deal for Madagascar. To given you a good analogy, the Barea team is kind like the Detroit Lions in the NFL. They’re a terrible team and sometimes they almost win. So liken this event, if you will, as if the Lions made it to the semi-finals during Superbowl Season. Now take that level of excitement and then concentrate it in a city of nearly 4 million people who don’t have much else to look forward to. Should I even bother to mention that there were people trying to scale the 15ft fences surrounding the stadium just to get in?

But that’s not where I was. I was next door in the Palais du Sport where, to my genuine surprise and delight, the chorus concert started on time. It was a pretty neat thing to see, even given its simplicity. Many of us in America are desensitized to pure talent these days because we have become so engrossed in fantastical displays of pyrotechnics, complicated orchestrations and choreography, and complex lighting and animations. Nonetheless, as much as those things send wave after wave of dopamine to our brains, it does little to drive home the emotional impact of pure, raw talent on display. And that’s exactly what I saw at this chorus concert.

What I saw was dozens of singers totally engrossed and immersed in their art. They are called, in the English translation, the young singers of Itaosy. Itaosy is a pretty rough neighborhood in the capital. I’ve been there to teach a few times and wouldn’t take the risk walking around alone, although it’s safe enough in car. But these young people sung with passion and with grace, something which, as cliché as it sounds, cannot be supplemented with fancy technics. If given the choice between this concert and watching the meaningless and crass chorography and technological spectacles of the Superbowl Half-Time Show, I’ll take the concert 100% of the time. Anyways, I did manage to get some photos and videos of the event. So please enjoy.

Also, I must sincerely apologize. Upon further investigation of the afindrafindrao video of the nuns and I dancing, the video of me dancing was accidently deleted. Please do not be too upset. The poor little old nun who accidently deleted can’t catch a break in the community. It’s become a sort of running joke, of which I was unaware of until I inquired about the video and one of the nuns just started laughing and told me, to the embarrassment of the poor sister, to ask the sister who had taken the video. Anyways, I’m sure there will be something for your entertainment in the future.

As always, know that you are in my prayers each day. All I ask is that you do the same for me.

May God be praised.