Centre for african music and dance at the university of ghana has embarked on. The dance of agbadza, which features contractionexpansion of the torso and birdlike arm motion, is the ewe national dance. An interactive arts approach provides an indepth look at dance from the dawn of time through the 20th century. I found a chapter on traditions in africa in the book. Secondly, by narrating the history of the ghana dance ensemble, i would like to argue that. History and contemporary performance legends of origin. The book highlights traditional songs from the anloewe, lobi, gaadangbe, egu.
Agbekor is a style of dance by the west african peoples of ewe and fon. It is now performed by the people of dzogadze, a farming community near akatsi in. Highly recommended for those looking to learn more about african american culture and. When intertribal war subsided agbekor becomes an object of art and other dances developed out of the agbekor dance. There may be myriad dances special to each tribe, and it is the purpose of the dance master to ensure that everyone knows. Agbekorperformed by africana dance ensemble youtube. Once known as atamga, it is an ancient and traditional dance form often performed in many. Different definitions given for the music one person said it signifies enjoying life we make ourselves happy in life. The basic beat of abioueka seems te be essentially the same as the toto gi deep drum part of the ewe piece agbekor. Using the casestudy approach, the text presents indepth explorations of music of several cultures from around the world. Originally a war dance, agbekor has been popularized due to its dance and percussion ensemble performances.
Agbekor became the dance of the monkeys through the ritualistic performances of the hunters, who brought their sightings back to the tribe and performed what they witnessed. Performance of the vutsotsoe solo dance flights from the ewe dance agbekor, at anderson center, binghamton university on may 5, 2011. He founded the agbekor drum and dance society, a communitybased performance group dedicated to the study of traditional ghanaian music, and the samanyanga mbira club, a communitybased performance group dedicated to the study of shona mbira music. The ewe moved to the southeast, and settled near the volta river where they grew in numbers. Now, it is often performed at cultural gatherings and to entertain tourists. During the period of intertribal wars, agbekor dance was performed to incite people for war. Use the interactive drumming mixer below to hear what all six ensemble accompaniment parts sound like in the presentday agbeli family arrangement of the fast section of the ewe war dance atsiagbekor commonly referred to as agbekor isolate different rhythmic parts and create original mixes by adjusting. About today, agbadza is a very popular recreational dance. Further musical understanding background information and performance circumstances agbekor dance is a war dance which originates with the ewe people who live on the atlantic coast of western africa the area around southeastern ghana. Funerals replaced war as the appropriate occasion for such drumming because it is full of the passions aroused by death. African and asian rituals theme rain dance free essays. It is now performed by the people of dzogadze, a farming community near akatsi in the southern part of the volta region of ghana. The ewe people ghana religious worldview human world marriage coming of age birth music dance death mawu deities ancestor spirits spirit world agbekor clear life agbekor songs cd 1 track 11 call and response singing flexible melody series of short songs sung back to back lyrics about war praise loyalty and valor reflect on death celebrate. Antubams book ghanas heritage of culture antubam, 1963 that.
African drum music slow agbekor paperback january 1, 1997 by kongo zabana author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Ewe funerals and agbekor drumming thoughts from michelle. It is mostly performed at community social events such as weddings or funerals, or for tourists entertainment. In so doing, this text provides a number of ways to create, perceive. This marketleading, bestselling text covers ethnomusicologythe study of music in a peoples way of life, which treats music as a distillation of cultural styles. The famous ewe rhythm and dance its probably agbadza, if theres only one traditional rhythm you remember upon return from ghana or togo. The dance is performed mostly by the ewe communities in ghana. I really enjoyed learning about how society, slavery, and the african heritage shaped the african american dance form. African drum music slow agbekor paperback january 1, 1997. It is now performed by the people of dzogadze, a farming community near. To tourists without any knowledge of ewe drumming, this fun piece is simply known as the chicken dance. History of african dance many tribes have a dedicated authority whose sole purpose is to pass along the tribes traditional dances.
Agbekor became the dance of the monkeys through the. Ewe funerals consist of a special type of war drumming, known as agbekor. Unlike modern dance, traditional dance requires you to understand the meaning or purpose for a dance in order to execute the steps correctly. African drum music slow agbekor african books collective. Mustapha tettey addy ghana agbekor dance for unit 6. People rise to dance as the mood strikes them, usually in a small group of two to four people. University of ghana for research into african dancetheatre, a group of thirteen students. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. Join a live hosted trivia game for your favorite pub trivia experience done virtually. Dances are generally performed to teach values to the community, to praise people, to tell historical events and proverbs and also to praise gods. Kpegisu through the video on, kpegisu, and the reading on the agbekor dance one can readily conclude that the differences between the two out weigh the similarities. Once known as atamga, it is an ancient and traditional dance form often performed in many functions, and also in funerals. Dances such as mbalax are a fusion of popular western music and dance including jazz, latin, soul, and pop blended with the traditional sabar dance and rhythms.
Agbekor is a well known dance drumming piece from the ewe people of ghana, nana banini on atsimevu lead drum. In african drum ensembles, a musician establishes a time line which establishes the points of entry for the different instruments. The agbekor music then became part of the music of funerals. So the player must know the role of the particular instrument in the totality, and also the rhythm or rhythms assigned to it. It is interesting to note that the ewe sometimes think of the. There are many aspects that affect the african dance types. The origins and brief history of the ewe people narrated by dr. African dance types africa is a vast continent, consisting of many countries and hugely diverse culturesafrican dance mainly refers to the collective dance type of the subsaharan africa, which is the african tribal dance. After the elders went through suffering and they settled, the dance was named. Shawn logue prof easley music 102 sept 26, 2007 agbekor v.
Aboiueka abiweika is a sousoudance for small children. According to titon, elders explained that their ancestors performed it before combat, as a means to attain the required frame of mind, or after. Agbekor music of the ewe people by aqua rempel on prezi. At first they dance in place at the perimeter of the performance area, marking time until the sogo. Using an investigative approach, this book presents the who, what, when, where, why, and how of dance history in relation to other arts and to historical, political, and social events. This book offers an indepth look into the history of africanamerican dance. Agbekor is a style of dance by the west african peoples of ewe and foh. Agbekor vutsotsoe by the nukporfe african dancedrumming.
Published on jul 23, 2016 a performance of agbekor, a highly well known and challenging traditional ewe dance piece which usually lasts about an hour, performed at cycc community youth cultural. It is an ancient dance once known as atamga, ga meaning great, atam meaning oath. This extract consists of a score for bell and two drums in bar over bar format. This information is not intended to be a substitute for a true history book on ewes.
Agbekor is one of the popular warrior dance forms that is originated with the ewa and foh people who live on the atlantic coast of western africa. Kobla dotse published in 2011 xxxx publications disclaimer the material we present here is provided to you mainly for educational and information purposes only. Live in southeast ghana, southern benin, and the southern half of togoin africa most people are farmers, and many fish their religionhas great influence on their lives is organized around a god called mawu, and numerous lesser gods. Study of akan traditional musicculture is lockes most recent focus. Worlds of music an introduction to the music of the worlds. We can see differences even at the start of the dance. Pages in category african dances the following 49 pages are in this category, out of 49 total. Songs of west africa songbook by dan gorlin alokli. Why is the agbekor dance most commonly performed nowadays. An interactive arts approachprovides an indepth look at dance from the dawn of time through the 20th century. So the player must know the role of the particular instrument in the totality, and also the rhythm or rhythms assigned to it and precisely where they fit into the music.
Aboiueka abiweika is a sousou dance for small children. Also major secular and historical music including agbekor, kinka, atsia, gahu. What does agbekor mean definition of agbekor word finder. Agbekor dance mustapha tettey addy the war dance quiz. The alokli songbook is out of print but the entire book and cd are now available here for free download. An introduction to the music of the worlds peoples is written to make music accessible. The library of congress blogs nls music notes music history and appreciation. The text and audio content provided here from songs of west africa by dan gorlin is distributed under the creative commons attributionnoncommercialnoderivatives 4. The authors of this text approach diverse musical styles with the desire to. The agbekor dance is a war dance of the ewe people of southeastern ghana, which often depicted scenes of battle. The version on the a level syllabus was recorded by mustapha tettey addey, who plays the atsimevu.
Titon introduces us to the ewe people who reside on the western african coast particularly ghana and togo. In the kpegisu dance we see the elders leading the tribe so what looked to be like some sort of. The first dance is known as rain season dance, second is a quick dance with feet and the last one last one as hand and neck dance, all from kavango region. According to ewe master drummer emmanuel agbeli of kopeyia, ghana, atsiagbek. Shorter version with 3 cds 3rd edition 9780495778356 by jeff todd titon for up to 90% off at. Play sporcles virtual live trivia to have fun, connect with people, and get your trivia on. To honor the family heads, who were often war heroes, the ewe celebrated their life through the performance of the agbekor war music. This is the 4th installment in our great grooves series. Intended for students with no prior musical training, this textbook for a beginning appreciation course studies the music of the worlds peoples by region, describing the older musical layers in a given region first, then presenting increasingly more contemporary musical styles, forms, and. Alokli songs of west africa songbook by dan gorlin.
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