Tights, tutus, toe shoes and Mozart will not be seen or heard at this production, but brightly colored costumes, bare feet and pounding drums will.

Le Ballet National du Senegal will be performing “Kuuyamba” at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Stephens Auditorium. Despite the title of “ballet,” this company dances anything but the traditional ballet style.

“This is African dance,” says Eleanor Oldham, director of 2Luck Concepts, the tour’s management company. “It is totally different than ballet as we know it today. It’s where breakdancing comes from. It’s extremely athletic and exhausting.”

The group of 30 to 40 performers are all native to the West African nation of Senegal. Their performance depicts the rite of passage of a young boy to manhood through dancing and drumming.

“The whole evening is the initiation ceremony of boys,” Oldham says. “The elders take them into the woods and they come back as adults.”

This ceremony is a Senegalese tradition that shows the progress and sacrifices of becoming an adult, she says.

“The choreography is based on the choreographers’ own experience,” Oldham says. “This initiation still happens today.”

The performance displays several aspects of this West African country’s traditions.

“Senegal is made up of eight separate ethnic cultures living together in peace,” Oldham says. “This is the only place on earth that this happens.”

“Kuuyamba” portrays six of these ethnicities in the show, says Antoine Bieni, interpreter for Ballet National du Senegal.

“Each ethnic group has its own dance and costumes,” he says.

Along with the ethnic specific costumes and dancing is drumming. Drumming is one of the most important aspects of the show, Oldham says.

“The drums are a big, big part of the production,” she says. “They also have other stringed instruments as well, but there are a great number of drums.”

Patty Cotter, performing arts program manager for the Iowa State Center, thinks of the music as very authentic.

“It’s very, very spirited music from West Africa,” she says. “It’s really percussive with lots of drums. It is what you would see in a village in Africa.”

Each of the drummers is also a dancer, Oldham says.

“Even if drumming is their specialty, they have to dance as well,” she says. “All the performers do everything. It is pretty much chaos.”

Like the music, the costumes are completely traditional as well, Oldham says.

“The costumes are glorious,” she says. “The colors are absolutely beautiful.”

The dancers do not wear shoes or makeup. Everything is totally natural, Bieni says.

Le Ballet National du Senegal started in 1960 when Senegal gained its independence from France. The company chooses its performers from all of the ethnic groups in Senegal. Representatives go to the villages and watch potential performers execute their traditional moves. A select few are chosen to join the company and study with the school, Oldham says.

“To be able to perform is a very big honor for the kids,” she says. “It is also a big deal for the village when this happens.”

A career with the company is not everlasting, however. Because of the highly athletic and acrobatic style, dancers can usually only perform for a few years.

“The dancers have a short shelf life and burn out quick,” Oldham says. “They are not in the profession more than five years. This way, everyone dancing is in top form.”

The dancers train for six months before going on their first tour. Then, when a new show is produced for the company, they train for another three months, Bieni says.

Even though each ethnic group is shown in the production by dancers from that ethnicity, each performer needs to have expertise in every other ethnic group’s dances as well.

“The dancers can dance any dance from my country,” Bieni says.

Sometimes, the end of the show is performed not only by the company. The audience may be invited on stage at the end of a performance to dance with the group.

“It has been known to happen on tour,” Oldham says. “People in the audience that are former dancers or Senegalese people get on stage and dance with the performers.”

“In Africa there is no show without an audience,” Bieni says. “The audience dances the finale.”

Along with their performance that night, several members from the company will be holding a workshop at 1 p.m. Friday in 196 Forker.

“The demonstration is part of an outreach program,” Cotter says. “We are working with Youth and Shelter Services, home schoolers and ISU dance classes. We want to get the artists in closer contact with the community.”

The members of the company will be performing and giving a commentary afterwards.