Adowa; The story teller

Some people usually say that dance is the life of the African.  Most Africans believe that dance is a way of thinking, communicating, and generally a way of living. Dancing takes place at naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals, durbars, festivals and parties.

Two women dancing Adowa

One of the traditional dances in Ghana is the ADOWA dance. Infact it is my favourite dance. I love to watch this dance a lot. The Adowa dance is the most widespread  and frequently performed dance  of the Akan speaking people of Ghana. This unique dance is usually danced by men, women and even children.

A man and a woman gracefully performing the Adowa dance

The dance is unique because it most often uses a symbolic language. The way and manner in which the dancers of Adowa move their hands and legs always tells a story. The Adowa dance is most often performed at state functions. The dance is usually led  by a female who is referred to as Adowahemma. The dancers of Adowa are most often seen in nicely woven kente accompanied with gold ornaments such as anklets and golden rings and earrings.

A girl dancing Adowa

On other occasions, the dancers of Adowa are seen in simple cloths. The men usually have the cloth wrapped around their waist. It is so beautiful to watch this dance. The dancers are usually seen smiling throughout the dance. What interests me most is the way and manner in which the drummers happily play their drums to produce good music. The gong is most often played as well.

 Ghana's former President J.A Kuffour dancing Adowa with a woman

Whenever you visit Ghana, just tell any one you want to see the Adowa dance. If you are not able to attend an occasion to see it, the person can just give you a few steps.

Enjoy this wonderful dance in the links below…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9uLcOCkLGw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_NUWCHjZRrY

 Kiitos... Am out!

Bamaya Dance in Northern Ghana

Dance is a form of entertainment isn’t it? Some people define dance as steps or movements usually performed to music for pleasure or as a form of social interaction. I think dance is just a movement of the body. Interestingly, day in day out there are different dances that emerge from different cultures. These dances are usually categorized into traditional dances and modern dances.

Taking Ghana as a typical example some traditional dances include; adowa, bamaya jara, takai, tora, agbadza, kete, kpalongo among others. Most of these traditionlal dances are danced to the music produced from drums, gongs and other traditional musical instruments.

Men dancing Jara in the Northern Region of Ghana

Some modern dances in Ghana include; Azonto, cripple, moon walk, alarm shake and many others. Most of these dances are performed to the rhythms of gospel, highlife, hip pop and hiplife music.

My focus however is on Bamaya, a dance by the Dagombas; a large ethnic group located in  the Northern part of Ghana. Bamaya means “the river (valley) is wet”. This dance is mostly performed by men who are usually dressed in feminine clothes. 

Bamaya dance by both men and women

Bamaya which was first danced in the 19 century marked the end of a long drought . It is said that when the drought ended, the men had to dress as women to give thanks to the gods because it was believed that the prayers of women usually got a quicker response.

Bamaya nowadays is however danced by not just men, but also women. It is so lovely to watch as the men especially gracefully move and twist their waists  and act just like women in the dance.

Enjoy some bamaya dances in the links below;

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL9kn6_9WHI 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKly3V8Kcp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnr8Au5uCpc

KIITOS!

A visit to the art gallery in Helsinki

After staying in Turku for some time, my friends and I together with our student tutors decided to visit the national capital of Finland, Helsinki. It is fun to explore different places. At least I didn't know that until I got to Helsinki. Helsinki is indeed a beautiful city with so many interesting things to see.

I had seen the river get frozen in Turku as a result of the heavy snow. But seeing a frozen sea fascinated me. I would have loved to walk on the frozen sea like I saw others do. This however was not possible because I was on the bus. We went sightseeing in Helsinki and got to see a lot of wonderful places including the “doom” church and the art museum.

A display of art works

The museum was beautiful I must acknowledge that fact. However, at the mention of museum, I expected to see something big. I mean a big building with a lot of paintings. After watching the photographs in the museum, I got to appreciate a little more of art. I actually love to watch art work. The funny thing however is that, I do not understand what I watch.

 Eva at the art gallery

I most often just look at an art work without thinking of any deeper story behind the work. But it is interesting how these artists appreciate the work they do. A photographer after taking a photograph can actually explain what exactly the photograph means. But the situation is different in my world. I just watch the photograph and that is it. Interesting isn't it?

Sculpture in Ghana.

Nowadays the craze for art work  is very high. I sometimes wonder why this is the case. I love to talk a lot, go shopping or better still, surf the internet. But some people prefer to go to art exhibitions or just tour around. I have observed keenly that  when the white folks come to Ghana, they mostly buy a lot of wood carvings.

Its good anyway, at least it provides income to the dealers of wood carvings. Most of these wood carvings are also used in the homes of many people as decorative pieces.

But I admire these craftsmen. You should see the way they work,  it's very interesting to watch. Sculpture is defined basically as the art of shaping figures or designs. It is interesting how wood, metal, plastics and stones can be shaped into beautiful pieces appealing to the eye.

A wooden carving of a woman with a pot and a baby.

In these modern times, some people think an individual is only important when he or she has a formal education. This however should not be the case since not all humans can have that. Some people definitely have to tow a different line. Some of these sculptors actually carve a wood piece for it to look extraordinarily beautiful. They actually look so real, from afar a person may even mistake it for a human being.

 A wooden carving of a xylophone player.

Sometimes I just wish I could paint, draw or do something profitable with my bare hands like others do. But it is just not the case. Anyway I only console myself with the fact that everyone is unique in his or her own small way. Enjoy some art videos in Ghana in the links below;

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVubah8YVVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckUTFgmDc9g

Africa UMOJA-The Spirit of Togetherness

My love for theatre prompts me to attend any theatrical event advertised in Accra. I have attended so many of them. However, the Africa UMOJA-The Spirit of Togetherness was a different experience for me altogether. I watched it at the Ghana National Theatre on May 2, 2011. 

Event Logo

Africa UMOJA-The Spirit of Togetherness was a two hour explosion of song, dance and drama performed by an energetic and creative South African crew. It tells the saga of South Africa, its people and the changes that the years, especially those of the Apartheid era, have had on them. I have heard a lot about them so I was eager to watch them when I heard that they were coming to Ghana.

One of the vigorous theatrics

Their costume was a unique one. It consisted basically of stripes of cloth covering the genitals but the upper parts of the body were exposed. Breasts stuck out; protruding sensationally. I learnt it was to expose energy and natural beauty. The men too displayed their ‘warrior’ muscles and enticing chests. African beads form an essential part of their costume.

Performers

The performance itself was full of energy. There was lots of calculated choreography that was full of jumping, running in circles, ululation, drama and story-telling. One can classify the performance as dance-drama as stories were told with stylistic theatrics. One key story I got from the performance was the slave trade. I can vividly recall how the performers were chained and whipped and the resistance put up by ‘victims’. I shed tears at the climax.

I wish Africa UMOJA-The Spirit of Togetherness would be staged again and soon so that I can relive those moments.

My First EHALAKASA Night

My first experience at a spoken-word poetry performance has formed a vignette on my memory. It was at an EHALAKASA night, introduced to me by a friend.

EHALAKASA is a monthly spoken-word poetry performance in Accra, Ghana. EHA means “song” in Ewe language, LA means “sing” in Ga-Dangbe language and KASA means “talk” in Akan (Twi) language. These separate words form EHALAKASA literally meaning “song sing talk”.

Normally, poetry performances are perceived to be boring. Many people do not attend these performances. However, the audience-space was almost full, by the time I arrived at the venue. It was left with thirty minutes to the start of the program.  “This is unusual” I told myself. I found myself a seat and waited for the real show to start.

Edzordzi Agbozo, a poet, in performance

The master of ceremony came onto the stage and shouted “EHALAKASA”. The audience responded “it lives in us”. He then asked someone to prove to the audience that he deserves the name he bears. This was his way of introducing the first performer. I heard a song from behind me. It was a folk song. The audience took up the song and started clapping. I joined in. He moved onto the stage and performed; followed by many poets.

I enjoyed every bit of the program and vowed not to miss the next edition. Unfortunately however, I left for Turku. But I know that, EHALAKASA will be my home on every third Sunday of every month when I return to Ghana.

A good experience on Facebook.

Everyone has a reason for surfing the internet; especially social media. Whilst some people use social media to make friends, others go there to advertise their products and some others buy goods from social media.

I personally use Facebook to connect to my long lost friends. Aside that, there are a lot of businessmen and women, entrepreneurs and other companies who sell their products on Facebook. I love to shop and buy a lot of things. Thanks to Facebook, I buy commodities online, nowadays.

There are a lot of beautiful items on sale online and at affordable prices too. I never knew until recently. I am a Ghanaian, so I love African prints a lot. I bought this African-print bag at a cool price, very affordable. Then I didn't just end there, I went further to buy shoes, earrings and necklaces from this same dealer on Facebook. The prices were pretty cool.

                                                               

Then I regretted that all these years, I had been wasting a lot of money. "How come I didn't know about this?" I asked myself. I could have saved thousands of Ghana cedis all this while.

Facebook also gives me the chance to view the photographs of my friends and actually see how they look now. Frankly I haven’t seen some friends of mine for over decades. I am now able to see them; if not in their physical states, then in their imaginary state. I do not just watch only their photographs, but I also chat with them. I enjoy doing this a lot.