Covering letter from Ukachhi Akalawu
Title: West African Performing Arts
course
Date: 12 July - 12 August 2008
Place:
Timescale: 4 weeks
The purpose of my project
was to travel to the
How far the purpose of my project was achieved
My aim was to gain an
understanding of the integral nature of African arts and incorporate that into
my work within education. Having been a professional dancer for a number of
years, my career and further professional development have tended to be dance
centred. However, I have been involved in enough African dance and African
theatre to be aware that all artistic disciplines are incorporated into a
performance piece, and that an artist is expected to be skillful in a variety
of expressions. Thus, through the study and subsequent crystallisation of many
aspects of West African performing arts, the purpose of my project was fully
achieved.
Particular highlights
Performing with Mbeurody
I have observed Simba
performances for many years, and never imagined being a part of it – for a
start, it is a spectacle only performed by men. It is true street theatre and
has the power to engage people of all ages, so it was a privilege to be a part
of it.
Observing the Kumpo festival
in Casamance (
I find watching masquerade a
very spiritual experience; one is able to see the beliefs of a people in
action, and the importance of a festival in terms of their existence and
worldview.
I have described both these
experiences in more detail in my report.
Suggestions that could help future Awardees
Do everything you can, see
everything you can, get actively involved, network, and savour every
experience. Document everything – take pictures, video, notes, etc. I also
found that writing a daily diary really helped me to reflect upon and
understand many of the amazing things that I encountered.
Plans to share the information about your project
with others
I will be writing an article
on my experience for Hotfoot (an online magazine published by the Association
of Dance of the African Diaspora [ADAD]) and will be approaching other
publications with aspects of my research which have been developed through this
trip. I will be incorporating many
features of what I learnt into my teaching with view to developing a course in
African dance studies that offers students essential knowledge about African
dance in its wider context.
This was a powerful and
unique experience in which I was able to consolidate many ideas as well as
begin to put certain plans into action. I am truly grateful to LUTSF for giving
me this opportunity to further develop myself as a dance professional.
Thank you
Sincerely
Ukachi Akalawu
REPORT
My project was to travel
to the Gambia to study West African Performing Arts with a long-term view to
develop a course in African dance studies in the UK (my ultimate plan is that
this UK based course would incorporate a field trip to Gambia to study West
African Performing Arts at the University of the Gambia). The Programme
Directors for the course were Iris Walton and Emily Eller who are both
lecturers at UTG.
The field of West African Performing Arts is
a massive one, and to say ‘West Africa’ can be misleading as, for example, the
culture in
Dance and drumming
Dance was a major part of the study
programme. We had dance class in the mornings followed by a drumming class.
Intermittently we would have sessions in acrobatics, storytelling,
improvisation, and meditation, as well as rehearsals, lectures and language
classes. So the days were very packed,
but the course was well scheduled but flexible enough to accommodate individual
students needs. We studied a broad range of
dance styles and were fortunate to be able to see them in a variety of contexts
– the festival, the social occasion, the concert, the youth club, the night
club, etc. I believe that in order to move towards full understanding of a
dance style, it is crucial to see the various ways it is practiced. The morning
dance classes focused on Djembe dances (i.e. dances that predominantly use the
Djembe drum as accompaniment). These are the dances that form the basis of much
mainstream West African dance performance, so whatever ones level of ability,
one is expected to have even a rudimentary knowledge of these dances, as they
are commonly practiced. The teacher was Yusupha Sonko from Ziguinchour in
Casamance. (He was also an acrobat so assisted in the acrobatics classes).
Yusupha taught the following dances;
·
Kuku -from the
Susu people of Guinea-Conakry
·
Lenjen -from the
Mandinka people of
·
Wango -from the
Toucouleur people of
·
Lamba -from the
Malenke people of
·
Kumpo -from the
Jola people of
We learnt Sabar
dances also (i.e. dances that use the Sabar drum as accompaniment). Our teacher
for these sessions was Miesa Diouf who was the lead performer for the Mbeurody
Simba group. I also managed to learn a little Sabar drumming from the Simba
group as that is a particular interest of mine. The Sabar dances we learnt
were;
·
Simba (or Faux
Lions) -from the Wolof people of
·
Ndeup -from the
Lebou people of
·
Gumbe -from the
Lebou people of
Our Djembe drumming sessions
were with Almamy Camara and Karamou Bangoura from Education through
Communication and Culture Organisation (ECCO), and we mainly focused on Diole
rhythms from Guinea-Conakry. These sessions with the ECCO artists included two
dances taught by Ayesha Bangoura (the niece of Karamou). The dances we learnt
with Ayesha were;
·
Shoshonah -from
the Baga people of Guinea-Conakry
·
Diole -from the
Mani people who live on the border between
For all the dances,
we learnt the songs that accompanied them, and some background details about
where and why they are performed. (To give a couple of examples of how the
underlying theme was present in the dances; Kumpo is a spirit that descends on
a village in the form of a raffia covered masquerade; Ndeup is a healing dance
that is conducted when an individual is suspected of having a mental or
emotional illness, or possession by a bad spirit). I found the dance aspect of
the course quite advanced in terms of what was expected of the students, and it
was very enjoyable to have that challenge.
The lectures
The course also
included lectures on a variety of subject matter;
·
Emily Eller gave
a lecture on West African empires
·
Ousmane Samba
gave a lecture on the roles of the Griot (e.g. storyteller, event organiser,
mediator, etc) and the important part that Griots play with regards to
preserving history
·
Dr Omar Jah
(Head of Performing Arts at UTG) gave a lecture on the practice of Islam in
·
Dr Saja Taal
(former editor of the Observer newspaper, and lecturer in Political Science at
UTG) gave a lecture on the role of the media and changing social attitudes in
the
These lectures
provided a great context for us in terms of understanding issues that affect
Gambian people. All the lecturers were very engaging, and hugely experienced in
their respective fields, and it was encouraging to learn about the fascinating
work that each of them is doing, and their belief in the importance of helping
the country to progress.
Sense of
place
There were a number of
trips and events scheduled into the course that were to help students gain a
sense of place, and understand the naturally vibrant and poetic nature of the
region. We were encouraged to investigate and integrate whatever we saw, read
and heard into ideas for the performances, whether it was physical, visual,
auditory, or literary. In Kartong, we visited the sacred crocodile pool at
Folonko where female elders residing by the pool from Muslim Madinka and
Christian Karoninka communities prayed for us. We visited Lemonfish art gallery
which showcases the work of West African artists, and we visited the Gambian
Reptile Farm which is a research and education centre as well as a reptile
refuge. In
In Casamance, we observed the Kumpo festival of the
Jola people in Kafontine. There are various interpretations of the Kumpo
festival - some say it has links with male circumcision rituals, some say it protects
the community from negative forces and that the community calls the Kumpo
spirit which then descends for the festival. The Kumpo takes the form of a
raffia covered figure with a long flag pole at its head. It spins, jumps,
swings the pole and speaks. It was then joined by another masquerade figure who
we were told was called Bos, (or Ayssamaye) which wore a large wooden mask with
horns and carried a whip. Bos would bring people out to dance in the middle of
the square under the threat that if they didn’t dance well, he would whip them.
However, it was all done with humour. The festival took place at 1am and the
whole village came to participate through singing, drumming and dancing. The
women played metal bells, the men drummed and sang, and everyone danced
(including very young children). It was wonderful to behold.
Total theatre
What I’ve described above are just some of the
experiences that enabled us to begin thinking of our upcoming performances as
‘total theatre’ as opposed to dance with a bit of drama and music on the side.
I recognised many recurring themes throughout the trip which influence much of
Gambian artistic expression, such as; the role of the Griot, trance and
healing, the overriding influence of the natural world, the sea (both as a
giver of food, and mode of transportation and migration), the importance of the
crocodile as a cultural and spiritual symbol, and the fact that dance and music
is not just practiced and appreciated by ‘professional’ dancers and musicians,
but by everyone regardless of age,
ability, or status. Being from West Africa (
The performances
In total, we put on three shows, each one radically
different from the others. The first was a short site-specific piece performed
around the hotel complex in front of a small 
invited audience (and some curious passers-by).
The second was the performance with the Mbeurody Simba
group. The Simba (or Faux Lions) are a form of popular street entertainment
from the Wolof ethnic group of
The
third and final performance was a culmination of all that we’d learnt and was
quite an extravaganza with a narrative involving a man with two wives, a love
duet, a tree that turned into birds, fire-eating, a Djinn, lions, an Abounyara
(medicine woman), and lots more. In the context of the course, this all made
perfect sense as essentially it was a presentation of what we had learnt, in a
form fitting to the environment. The audience was a mixture of locals and
ex-pats, who recognised and appreciated many of the themes and the mode of presentation.
All the dance and drumming tutors participated in the performance, so it was a
wonderful group effort.
Conclusion
I found this experience to
be hugely significant with regards to deepening my understanding of the integral
nature of performing arts practice in
Ukachi Akalawu
2008
(Pictures courtesy of Paul
Blore and Abdou Njie)