By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

A thought provoking dance piece that illuminates and addresses communal and categorized intricacies in Ghana last week charmed a cool audience at the Alliance Française in Accra with movements that seesawed between humour and empathy.

Titled “Dance Time”, the dancers managed to incorporate futuristic and innovative imagery while allowing freedom of artistic processes as well as spatial formations, which reflect troubled communities and marginalized groups to inundate the stage.

Choreographed by Felix Ofosu Dompreh, the dancers appear to be suffocating while sliding together alongside hand-to-hand combats, which denote inequalities and reliance instead of collaboration and partnership.

Undeniably, the language of the choreographer is easily spoken and quite streamlined – and it proudly presented itself through young talented dancers whose bodies have been crafted by an act they have so gracefully mastered.

“Unquestionably, Dompreh is one of the most promising new crop of choreographers who have emerged on the Ghanaian dance circuit – indeed, the future of contemporary dance in Ghana is definitely going to be interesting”, said Nii Tackie Commey, a dance enthusiast in Accra.

Set to live music from traditional Ghanaian instruments including xylophones, bells and calabash drums, the dancers move in unison with arms, hands and fingers in constant motion that culminates in complicated but highly expressive movements.

Alongside an effective integration of Afro-revolutionary representations that direct ones imaginations into a space of creative thought, the piece equally exhibits simple movements that are not technically challenging for the dancers.

Nevertheless, the piece draws from this simplicity to create a powerfully dark, focused atmosphere alongside energetic and graceful movements that are devoted to the theme, which reflects on the intricacies of the world.

Dancers from the Noyam African Dance Institute in Dodowa (near Accra), opened the evening with “Joobee”, a short piece choreographed by Akwei Addotey, which was characterized by subtle, vigorous and nimble movements.

By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

A one-woman theatre performance characterized by a satire within a satire last Friday captivated an enthusiastic audience during a brilliant performance at the Goethe-Institut in Accra.

Dubbed “It’s in the Blood” and performed by Germany based Ghanaian actress Gifty Wiafe, the piece virtually took the audience on a cool journey of issues facing contemporary Germany and Ghana as well as other parts of the world.

With a boundless power of words and jargons courtesy of a wonderful script by Petra Kindler, Wiafe’s prowess at storytelling was evident as she conjured humorous anecdotes on diverse issues ranging from religion, imported food, visa problems, migration, gender issues, snow, traffic offences, e-waste, culture shock, traditions and spirituality.

“It is a remarkably clever piece of comedy that reminds us of past experiences alongside issues that currently confront us. Undeniably, the performance while commenting on various issues equally managed to leave us with our own thoughts and imaginations”, said Yaw Annoh, a theatre director in Accra.

With stories honestly delivered without any form of embellishment, the piece is charismatic with personal stories alongside a chain of events that touch of the lives and experiences of most of the members of the audience.

The play does not meet all expectations, but that is what makes it impressive – it is actually thought provoking without being preachy while exposing uncomfortable truths about the world – a feat the director archives in an hour and a half.

Exiting from an extra-large “Ghana Must Go” bag at the beginning, Wiafe exhibited amazing skill and dexterity as she played calabash / talking drums, sang local folk songs while showcasing her prowess with traditional Ghanaian dances – a scenario that regularly interspersed her narrative.

With a simple scenography comprising printed photos of fabrics and paintings on wood panels by Henry Nyadiah, the young actress infused the show with a string of terrific jokes and comic routines of her own, which attracted constant cheers from the mixed audience.

“It’s in the Blood”, was directed by Barbara Kemmler and choreographed by Frank Sam with Henry Nyadiah as lighting / sound engineer. It was presented and supported by Cactus Junges Theatre (Germany), Goethe-Institut Ghana and Sisimbom Theatre Group in Accra.

By John Owoo

(At the Museum of Science & Technology)

“Orderly Disorderly” – A three-month long exhibition that completes a trilogy of large-scale end of academic year exhibitions terminated last week at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra.

Organized by blaxTARLINES KUMASI, a contemporary art incubator project at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST – Kumasi), it features works by fresh graduates, alumni and guests – both dead and alive.

It combines political attitudes and principles underlying Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s practice – notably “The Bread and the Alley” (1970), “Orderly or Disorderly” (1981) and “The Chorus” (1982) as well as the Ghanaian academic Dr. karïkachä seid’ou’s emancipatory art pedagogy.

Undeniably, dozens of artworks that have inundated three floors of the Museum investigate how pre independence practices has expanded and evolved in recent years while boldly showcasing the new spirit of the College of Art and Sculpture, KNUST.

“Orderly Disorderly” is certainly not about aesthetics or artistic techniques – it is a serious comment on diverse issues ranging from political, social, religious, security and cultural crises that has bedeviled the world at large.

The exhibition is far from elitist – indeed, it has opened its doors not only to art lovers but also the general public at large with students and lecturers regularly at hand to guide visitors while providing information.

It features some of the first generation of Ghana’s post-independence artists, who were given the challenge of linking the emerging economy of Ghana to its rich and glorious traditions with contemporary issues.

Tucked on a wall behind an installation, one cannot fail to notice two paintings by the acclaimed modernist Prof. Ablade Glover (whose is being honoured with the exhibition), with thick layered crowds that tend to glow from a distance while skillful brush strokes accumulate mass in radiant lights and shade.

Paintings of nude and semi nude women by veteran painter Kofi Dawson show influences from his time at the Slade School of Art (UK) while reminding viewers of Ghanaian art in the 1960s. His works generally show him as a remarkable designer with a flamboyant post-impressionist aesthetic.

Giant sculpture pieces by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts (KNUST), Dr. Edwin Bojawah are crafted from discarded lithographic plates and aluminum roofing sheets which he assembles through techniques from multi layered processes embedded in African mask systems.

Two-sided fabrics by Dorothy Amenuke comprise cotton, jute fibre and raw cotton fillings that hang loosely in the giant hall. On close observation, blown up sections of the material become visible, while making subtle allusions to tools in her studio.

Comprising tree branches, clay, square wire meshes, nails and binding wires, an intense installation by Esther Anokye, inspired by children’s uninhibited drawings inundate the first floor and is quick to catch the attention of the visitor.

Livingstone Amoako reminds us of the sharp depletion of forest reserves in the country by stitching snail shells on columns and floor of the museum. The piece is nostalgic as it recalls how snails abound during the rainy season in his village as a young boy.

Va Bene Elikem Fiatsi (aka CrazinisT artisT), who is noted for his nude performances, continues his focus on conditions of feebleness and susceptibility of marginalized people with a recapitulation of his “nazaKU” photographic installation and performance, which among others call corrupt systems in the world to order.

Grotesque installations of severed cattle horns – which are strung together, dry and fast decaying – comment on the excruciating journeys faced by cattle when transported from Northern Ghana as well as brutal forms of slaughtering, a practice, which is widespread in the country.

Silas Mensah imitates layouts and designs of urban present-day residences by painting fabrics with manganese dioxide obtained from discarded alkaline batteries and diverse clays while sticking them with cassava starch and gum binder, which hung loosely on one of the walls of the museum.

The fight against galamsey (illegal mining) and its attendant health issues is taken on by Praises Adu Benhene, who showcased decommissioned costumes of galamsey miners, which have been preserved in their natural state with accumulation of dirt, oils, sweat, dust, fungi among others.

Larry Akuma invites us to childhood enchantments and fantasies with an interpretation of Akan mythical characters including the famous / infamous Kweku Ananse, which was realized in clay, iron rods and chicken wires. He allows grasses and weeds to germinate from cracks and boxes nearby while folk music engulfs the area around the piece.

Large-scale installations from non-descript discarded processed food cans by Kwame Asante Agyare turn into a huge “water fall” as it dangles from the roof of the museum. The piece, which is found elsewhere in the museum, criticizes the excesses of consumerism.

Undeniably, “Orderly Disorderly”, which took the city of Accra by storm for three months has Dr. karïkachä seid’ou, Kweku Boafo Kissiedu and Goerge Ampratwum as artistic directors with Bernard Akoi Jackson, Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, Mavis Tetteh-Ocloo, Selorm Kudjie and Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah as curators.

Friends of balxTARLINES and the Department of Painting and Sculpture at KNUST sponsored the exhibition.

By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

Theatre director / academic Abdul Karim Hakib’s stage adaption of a classic Ghanaian film “I Told You So” recently brought a discharge of nostalgic feelings by elderly members of the audience during a splendid performance at the Accra International Conference Centre.

With the cast largely comprising students of the School of performing Arts, University of Ghana (Legon), the play offered a sharp glimpse of life in Ghana in the late 1960s and early 1970s while showcasing the fact that life in the past is palpably and demonstrably present.

A comedy that reveals the travails of a young woman who was compelled to employ riches as a tool for marriage and the consequences that befell the union, the play gradually reveals the travails, disgrace and ridicule the family encountered owing to their inability to effectively verify the background of a so called rwealthy man.

Director Hakib, who uses humour to a fine effect, equally employs singing, dancing, practical proverbs and adages that were in vogue during the period while interspersing the production with highlife, traditional and folk music as well as free style Ghanaian dances of the 1970s.

“It is a story of greed, a sense of self fulfilment in wealth and a false belief that riches is the solution to all problems on earth thereby turning it into a critical element of marriage. I watched this film over thirty five years ago and it has suddenly brought memories of the period – we need more of these historical productions”, said Yaw Adu, a writer in Accra.

The performance was delivered with the lightest of touches as the director adapts an easy conversational tone laced with intense humour while employing a choir to unveil part of the story thereby bringing on stage an atmosphere of a past era in a relaxed and entertaining manner.

Interspersed with music from a palm wine highlife band comprising students and lecturers, the relationship between traditional Ghanaian culture and western pop culture that was equally in vogue in post-independence Ghana, was clearly visible through mannerisms, dressing and social ceremonies.

Undeniably, this stage adaption of “I Told You So” has brought into sharp focus themes in current Ghanaian films with enthusiasts pointing to the style of this film as one of the directions our industry should pursue.

By John Owoo

(On the hills of Dodowa – Ghana)

A dance piece titled “Idioms of Distress, Wellbeing and Resilience” recently enchanted a cheering audience at the Noyam African Dance Institute, which is located on the hills of Dodowa, near Accra.

Directed by Prof. Alison Phipps / Gameli Tordzro and devised by Cynthia Onoma / Akwei Addotey, the young Noyam dancers showcased extraordinary movements that transmitted images of anguish, comfort and resilience among diverse communities.

With references to Akan idioms of expression and funeral rites of the Dangbe District of the Greater Accra region, the artists explored formal dance practises and expressive theatricality as diverse languages including Ga, Adangbe, Twi, Ewe, Shona (Zimbabwe), Lusoga (Uganda), English, French and Arabic flowed from the stage.

Interspersed with imaginative projections of poetry from team members who could not make the trip due to visa difficulties – a situation, which equally befell the dancers on a recent trip to Europe – the artists appeared to perform with blunt, raw and quite engaging honesty.

“I hope that this project continues to inspire these young artists to create, feel empowered and explore their own artistic voice, while highlighting a sense of community and voicing out issues through their agile and talented bodies”, said Joe Attim, a journalist in Accra.

With academic inputs from Professors Kofi Anyidoho / Kofi Agyekum, Ross White, Bella Hoogeveen, Giovanna Fassetta, Nii Tete Yartey and others during the research stage, the piece equally employed the use of Adangbe proverbs, folk tales from the Buganda traditions in Uganda as well as a variety of sounds, which added to the diversity and beauty of the performance.

Alongside refreshing music composed by Gameli Tordzro with inflections of tradition Ugandan music by Roscoe Kasujja / Obed Kasule and costume design by Naa Dansua Tordzro, the piece, which is laced with brilliant multilingual monologues, is an issues driven production that is deeply intensive and focused.

Refreshing solos by Addotey with huge calabashes together with communicative duets and movements in unison turned the performance into a visually stimulating one – indeed, one that would compel those who hate dance to take a new approach.

Undeniably, “Idioms of Distress, Wellbeing and Resilience” is proof that by coming together, we can create our own reality – undeniably, we can build a community wherever we are.

By John Owoo

(National Theatre – Accra)

A classic dance piece titled “MUSU – The Saga of the Slaves”, last week recounted horrid experiences by African slaves at the hands of white slave dealers and their African collaborators in a fast moving, passionate and highly inventive performance.

Co-choreographed by late Prof F. Nii Yartey (Ghana) / Monty Thompson (US Virgin Islands) and performed by the National Dance Company, the piece opens with gestural phrases alongside facial expressions that exude fear, uncertainty, frustration, sorrow and anger.

Directed by Nii Tete Yartey, the performance took the audience deep into history including the Danish involvement, less discussed issues relating to the slave trade debacle and local chiefs in full regalia accepting gifts (bribes) from white raiders in exchange for slaves.

Organized by the National Theatre of Ghana as part of activities marking PANAFEST 2017, the irony of the situation of Africans fighting Africans for slave trophies is vividly revealed through fantastically designed costumes and suggestive movements that interchange in unison with various weapons.

“This is a pure historical production that takes us back in time – we need more of such creations in Ghana. Indeed, our musicians, film makers, choreographers, theatre directors and poets must work with historians in this direction”, said Atta Yaw, a designer in Accra.

Interspersed with music from the Pan African Youth Orchestra, the dancers created emotional conditions within strict forms that are movingly perceptible. In the process, the brutalities, murders and gross inhuman treatment of our forefathers and mothers were relived on stage.

Attempted escapes end in executions while successful escapees commit suicide when recapturing is imminent – indeed, scenes of this nature simply left some members of the audience clutching the sides of their seats while imagining the agony suffered by their ancestors.

With an impressive stage design that comprise a giant stylized baobab tree by David Amoo, the piece, which is laced with traditional Ghanaian movements included clashes that led to frantic and frenetic movements which climaxed the evening in a melodramatic manner.

Earlier the National Drama Company performed an equally traumatizing piece on how the slaves were treated by white slave dealers and their local African accomplices during the long period of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

Ivorian guitarist / composer Constant Boty last week delighted a cheering audience at the Alliance Française in Accra during a magnetic concert that marked 60 years of relations between Ghana and France.

With components of jazz idioms and European classical music alongside rock and diverse African rhythms, Boty thrilled the audience with a succinct style that transcended the usual blend of jazz and world music, which is currently in vogue in many parts of the world.

Undeniably, Boty and his group went into their own world and dished out a brilliant mix of Afro pop and jazz that transmitted a deep cultural dialogue besides a meticulous arrangement, crispy sounds and a cool sonic clarity.

Joined by Ghanaian singer / composer Yasmeen Helwani (The Golden Voice), the group exhibited high energy on stage while stretching its diverse explorations into Afro Pop, Jazz, Classical and traditional African rhythms.

“Boty is an amazing and indeed highly influential songwriter – his background as a classical guitarist has heavily influenced his work – it was a wonderful evening of infectious sounds, rhythms and lovely voices”, said Kofi Mensah, a music enthusiast in Accra.

Earlier, Local Dimension Band led by Aaron Babe surprised the audience with a performance that revealed the beauty, power and diversity of neo traditional Ghanaian and African music with refreshing tunes.

With instruments such as Mbira (Zimbabwe) as well as seperewa, xylophone, prempremsiwa, kpanlogo drums among others, they equally entertained the audience with northern Ghanaian Dagari fusions, Palmwine Highlife, Afro Beat as well as compositions based on Adowa and Kpanlogo rhythms.

Hip Hop / Soul fusion artist K Steez (Coco Stone) opened the concert with issues driven lyrics including “galamsey” (illegal mining) as well as experiences he gathered while living in France, Switzerland, England the United States and other parts of the world.

By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

An educative play titled “Ten Blocks on the Camino Real” recently enchanted and challenged audiences in various locations in Accra through magnetic performances by the National Drama Company (Abibigromma).

Directed by the American theatre maestro David Kaplan, the production – which is an outdoor one – delighted audiences on street corners, markets and community centres with its message of people taking full charge of their lives and making taking right decisions while planning for their old age.

Originally written in the 1940s by Tennessee Williams, it is interspersed with subtle drumming and xylophones while unveiling a dramatic story of a popular American boxer, who travels to a place known as Camino Rail, meets strange people while experiencing equally abnormal situations, which compelled him to engage in a rather bizarre manner.

“It is an interesting play that engages your mind in various ways – the actors and actresses are truly professional thus they constantly grabbed the attention of the audience. We need more of such performances to educate our people”, said Nii Otto Darko, a primary school teacher during the performance in Teshie, a suburb of Accra.

With scenes revealing visits to fortune tellers and logic defying events, the play equally touched on the complexities of life while calling on the audience to be aware of such possibilities in life and urged them to take charge of their lives and handle such difficulties with utmost care.

Indeed, it is a drama of huge ideas – it reveals the need for logic and rationality as well as events relating to the physical and the supernatural – all presented by powerful acting by experienced actors and actresses including Mawuli Semevo, Abena Takyi, Eldad Womtumi, Yaa Ocloo and Godwin Awador.

“Performing this play on streets and markets is a laudable idea – it is very important to take theatre to people who would normally not be in a position to see shows in a theatre. It is refreshing to see local drums infused into a foreign drama”, added Yaa Pokua, a dancer / choreographer in Accra.

Produced by David Kaplan, the play is scheduled to be performed later this year at the Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival in Princetown (New York), United States of America.

“We were not made – only to wash dishes launder clothes, mow lawns…”

These words are recited loudly by a girl still in her teens – her passion for women’s rights and more than an uneducated village life is shining through her speech. It is a poem called “Freedom” written by the Ghanaian author Aba Oppong and forms part of a series of workshops by two Danish volunteers from “100% for the Children”.

Moderated by Camilla Olesen and Kristoffer Bressum, who employed their university background in literature to create a project titled ”Poetic Empowerment: Youth in Dialogue”. It aims at establishing an intercultural exchange between Danish and Ghanaian youth through the use of poetry.

The project involves teaching children how to take notice of themselves by writing literature while encouraging them with the fact that they can learn about other cultures by reading foreign poetry.

During the workshops, participants first get to describe themselves by writing letters to Danish students before using their voice to produce poetry. The workshop places maximum emphasis on creativity emphasize, which is often neglected in education.

“Writing and reading poetry may teach them how to think beyond themselves, but also get to know themselves better – indeed, it has the potential to create independence and expand their consciousness” said Olesen.

With Catholic Action for Street Children, Rural Education for Empowerment Programme as partners and support from Civilsamfund I Udvikling in Denmark, the primary goal of the workshops is to give the young boys and girls tools to use their own voices and become empowered to tell their personal stories through poetry.

“Their poems will be distributed in a poetry collection printed by a Danish university press. The assembled collection will be brought back to the partners as an educational material with a purpose of further using poetry and creative writing to continue the empowerment of young and youthful voices”, added Bressum.

“Poetic Empowerment: Youth in Dialogue 2017” is a project that focuses on character building and intercultural communication between Danish and Ghanaian youth.

The aim is to enhance the youngsters’ awareness and understanding of issues regarding gender, identity and equality through seminar-sessions of reading and discussing poems and novels by Ghanaian and West African authors.

It will focus on how poetry can be creatively used to empower individual and collective voices by also carrying out a workshop in creative writing with a specific goal of making the youth produce a selection of personal material.

By John Owoo

(In Accra – Ghana)

A team from the University of Glasgow (Scotland) led by Prof Alison Phipps, Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow alongside affiliates from the University of Ghana and the Islamic University of Gaza are currently in Accra for a series of seminars and workshops.

Dubbed “Idioms of Distress, Wellbeing and Resilience”, the researchers, which include Prof Kofi Anyidoho of the University of Ghana (Legon), will examine the way in which people express their distress and develop ways of coping with anguish in many different languages.

They will examine Arabic from the Gaza Strip and the on-going siege, to the languages of refugees and displaced people / ethnic groups in Northern Uganda, young refugees in Scotland, artists as well as people enduring the loss of their cultural heritage in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.

Words, proverbs and phrases have been collected in these different contexts and the common themes and important differences have been analysed. This will help with more accurate diagnosis of the forms of trauma or distress while providing a vital well of support from indigenous knowledge that are readily available.

As well as publishing academic findings the team are also working with Noyam African Dance Institute (Dodowa), under the leadership of Nii Tete Yartey, to explore sounds, music and languages for expression in dance. These dance pieces help reveal a world of assistance and substances beyond that of the medical or clinical setting.

Gameli Tordzro and Naa Densua Tordzro are leading the artistic work, which includes a production focusing on the distress caused by separation of families and people by borders – not only refugees but also for others caught in the web of entanglements which is the experience of visa application and refusal processes.

In addition, the team will present a documentary about their work with Noyam. This includes recording the experiences of young Noyam dancers who recently visited Scotland to perform as headline acts at the annual Solas Festival, as well as the inaugural lecture of the UNESCO Chair at the University of Glasgow.