Introduction
Dance implicates an expression that originates from the human heart and uses gestures and movements, that revolve around daily events to define ordinary and unique experiences for people. African communities highly regard dance as a sacred art that serves as the pivot around which African lives spout. This paper aims at educating people across the globe on the importance of African dance and how unique it is. It will be narrowed down to a comprehensive analysis of the Agbadza dance and to understand it well, key components shall be emphasized upon. These will include the origin of the dance, performance, parties involved in the dance, valid reasons for supporting the dance, why it is performed, and various body parts that are engaged through the BASTE model.
The Agbadza Dance and The History Behind It
The Agbadza dance belongs to the Ewe people from Ghana in West Africa, their origin is Nortsie, Togo, and how they escaped to South East Ghana, their current home is on unclear terms. The event took place in the fifteenth century in the year 1474 and during the transition period, they encountered hardships that inspired them to document the dance for future generations. At the time, data preservation in the country was done using archaic methods (Kuwor 49). The community owns Agbadza dance as their identity mark, and it is a symbol for their culture comprising two words, “agba” means life, and “dza” stands for fresh and is denoted as pure life for the people
Performers of The Agbadza Dance, Why and Where It Is Performed
The dance is performed in rituals, naming occasions, festivals, political ceremonies, religious events, and philosophical arenas. Any human who has the desired body structure will perform it and mothers play crucial roles in shaping their babies. They massage their bodies using shear butter, warm water, a towel, and other existing materials. The music and the dance have a very close relationship that separating them will change the whole meaning (Green 9). It becomes entertaining when performers use various instruments to make the dance lively.
The tools include the Agbadzu drum set consisting of the rattle, doorbell, master drum, three supporting drums, and the alternate master drum. The role of the doorbell is to generate the primary rhythm for the master and alternate master drums (Green 10). The sounds made by drums are understood as a unique language, and only experts have the power to produce them. There are instances when singers will vocalize the rhythm of playing drums, and the critical player instrument is the master drum while the support drums will respond accordingly. (Schauert 50).
Body Parts Performing the Agbadza Dance (BASTE Model)
It is important to note that the dance takes effect by moving various body parts. The systematic movement develops through the preparation stage, the main motion, and the climaxing stage. At the preparation stage, soft trends are demonstrated as the feet develop concurrent side steps while the arms open and close with the feet motion observing time in a unique and desirable manner (Kuwor 49). The events occur repetitively and it uses less energy and according to the Ewe culture, the preparation stage is an important reminder to make significant systematic steps as they progress in life.
Life in Ewe land is believed to begin at the center of the spine and this is evident in the dance as it starts there and builds contractions that free the Torso as the dance will take shape in the motion stage. Hands are positioned at the waistline while palms face the ground. Both arms will flex, and shoulders will move up and down in response to the music’s tempo pulse (Kuwor 50). A very sharp movement is triggered on the pelvic area, and the brain codes it and depicts a facial expression. This serves as a constant reminder of the pace one is progressing in life.
The climax point is simple yet the most treasured stage of the dance as it differentiates gurus from beginners. The dancers will sway their arms and waists repeatedly both to the left and right and then moves to the front and bows with their arms and head, and it mimics a very sharp bow. This has a role to play in society in resolving disputes that arise and reach an amicable solution without taking sides.
Reasons for Choosing the Agbadza Dance
It was not a biased decision to settle on analyzing the Agbadza dance but an involving decision of weighing the possible outcomes of the dance for existing cons and pros of which the latter carries the day. The greatest contributing factor is the uniqueness in the dance as it is performed in more than one ethnic group and event as compared to the others. Second, any member of the community can participate in the dance, unlike the rest that has specifications. Third, it has a cyclic rhythm with pleasant dance movement it is integrated with the Greenotation system that will enable the reader to understand the notation in the music and dance using the rich readily available resources. The other valid reason for showing support for Agbadza dance is the covalent bond it has with the music.
Conclusion
Throughout this paper, emphasis has been put on observing the African dance by focusing on the key elements of the Agbadza dance. This includes the selected dance for study, places where the dance takes place, the history of the dance, the performers, reasons that lead to its performance, and the various body parties that coordinate the dance and why the dance is selected for study over the rest. The dance is a source of entertainment and a tool that preserves the culture for the Ewe people. By adopting the Greenotation system, the Agbadza dance is safe from misinterpretation by foreigners and will retain its originality unlike relying on the human memory that is prone to failure.
Works Cited
Green, Doris. “The creation of traditional African dance/music integrated scores.” Journal of Movement Arts Literacy, vol. 4, no. 1, 2018.
Kuwor, Sylvanus Kwashie. “Understanding African Dance in Context: Perspectives from Ghana.” The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.10, no. 4, 47-64, 2017.
Schauert, Paul. Staging Ghana: Artistry and nationalism in state dance ensembles. Indiana University Press, 2015.