Agbekor dance - traditional Ewe

Context

• West Africa - Ewe people of Ghana
• Musical heritage is rich in rhythmic complexity
• Simultaneous layers of opposing rhythms produces a texture known as polyrhythm - gives music a sense of vitality
• In many parts of Africa, drums have special significance as symbols of political or religious power - often associated with tribal chiefs and royal families
• African musicians do not refer to playing their instruments, but to teaching them how to speak - they do not like playing drums from other regions because these 'do not speak the same language' 
• This link between language and music is important
• The relative pitch of spoken words affect their meaning in most African languages and these inflexions can be imitated by the 'talking drum' to communicate messages
• The performance is directed by a master drummer, who, on this recording, is Mustapha Tettey Addy

The dance

• The agbekor is a ritual war dance which was originally intended to be a preparation for battle
• Nowadays it is performed for entertainment at social gatherings and cultural presentations
• The dance is presented in platoon form (with the dancers in one or more lines)
• It features stylised movements to represent such features as reconnaissance, surprise attack and hand-to-hand combat
• Main part of the dance is fast-paced

The instruments

• Each of the instruments has a fixed and unchanging role in the performance
• The gangkogui consists of two bells joined by one handle and struck with a wooden beater
• The bells are made from iron and in NAM 62 are roughly an octave apart in pitch
• The main function of the gangkogui is to play a repeating pattern called a time line - a rhythmic obstinate which acts as…