"When Kidjo came here like 10 years ago, she actually came up into the audience and started dancing with a woman who was pregnant," Hopkins Center for the Arts Director of Programming Margaret Lawrence said. "Anglique did this personal dance with her and this woman has never forgot it. She has said that her daughter has never stopped dancing."
Kidjo returns to Spaulding Auditorium on Thursday night at 7 p.m. This time, the young girl plans to dance on her own when she returns with her mother, Lawrence said.
Kidjo said she looks forward to returning to Hanover because the energetic atmosphere of the College's campus gives her hope for the future.
"For me, the best part is to be able to spread my music to young brains, the future of tomorrow," Kidjo said. "With music, we can communicate for a better future. I want to give all these young people the strength to have them govern this world in a way that is better than it is today."
Kidjo, who is from Benin, has recorded 11 world music albums, including "Logozo," "Ay" and "Djin Djin," which won the 2008 Grammy for "Best Contemporary World Music Album." Her most recent album, "Oyo," was nominated for the same Grammy in 2010. On her records, Kidjo can be heard singing in Fon, French, Yrba and English, all of which she speaks fluently.
Kidjo performed her songs "Move on Up," "Afirika" and "Malaika" at the 2010 FIFA World Cup kick-off celebration in South Africa alongside Alicia Keys, John Legend, Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas. She has previously collaborated with musicians such as Bono, Josh Groban, John Legend and Diane Reeves.
"Wow after all the people saying Africa cannot do this, we did it," Kidjo said about the success of the World Cup in South Africa. "I love soccer because soccer is one of those rare sports where you learn to work together for one goal. We tend to forget it because we [live] in a society of individualism."
Kidjo has worked as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002. In 2006, she founded The Batonga Foundation to provide African girls with a secondary school education and opportunities for higher education.
"People need to work together for every single human being on this planet to have access to freedom," she said. "You can't say, Oh, I have this and I don't care about the rest of the world.' We shape the world."
Kidjo said her creative process starts when she travels, but to finish her songs, she has to be at home in New York City. She is able to relax and serve her ideas most completely when in New York, Kidjo said.
"You have to serve the inspiration without losing it," she said. "If you lose the truth of your inspiration, then it is hard to make anything beautiful."
Kidjo said she does not give thought to genre or style while writing her music.
"We like to categorize everything and sometimes it's not needed," Kidjo said. "Inspiration has no color, no language. Whatever way you choose to express your inspiration, it's yours. It's just music."
Lawrence, who said she has loved Kidjo's music for 20 years, described Kidjo's style as continually evolving and dynamic. Adding to a sonic palate of influences from around the world, Kidjo has most recently incorporated Bollywood influences into her songs, according to Lawrence.
"The thing that I love about her is that her music is really high-energy, fun and really danceable," Lawrence said. "Then when you see her, she's tiny, but she's this nonstop ball of energy. She just wills you to dance."
Kidjo said her music is mostly inspired by people so happy with their lives that they stop thinking about themselves and give to others.
"I think happiness is when you feel at ease with yourself when you're okay with what you have and you know you can achieve greatness with what you have," she said. "So my inspiration is people who do that, who inspire me to be a better person."
