Benkadi offers an authentic experience of West African traditions: doundouns, djembes, balafons… The percussive instruments play a major role in this colorful show, commanding the acrobatic movements of the dancers, who abandon themselves to their jerky rhythms.

The Benkadi Traditional Artistic Group, which means “union is strength” in Malinke, was formed in 2011 by the union of talented artists from Guinea, Senegal, Haiti, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, France, Mexico and Canada.

Presenting several disciplines such as dance, singing and percussion, the group is founded on their love for Guinean culture and their desire to promote its traditions around the world.

Known for being purely traditional (ambassadors of the culture of the Hamana and Sankaran districts), Benkadi stands out for being one of the few, if not the only artistic group to present the “Konden Mask” from the Hamana region. The group sporadically displays the “Kawa Mask” from Upper Guinea and the “Tassaba Mask” from Hamana. Benkadi also offers the warriors’ dance, performed with wooden rifles, which represents the return of the hunters to the village and the Doun doun Ba dance or dance of the strong men, which glorifies male strength. 

In 2012, at the 6th edition of the Syli d’or de la Musique du Monde, Benkadi and their intoxicating rhythms won the Syli de bronze and became known to the public of Montreal. 

Following performances at several festivals such as African Soundfest Montreal (2014), La nuit de Makossa (2014), in preview of Petit-Pays, the Muh Tadi Festival in Toronto (2013), the Festival tradition de Sherbrooke (2013) and La Nuit du Saba (Montreal 2013), Benkadi continues its rise while spreading the wealth of traditional Guinean culture.