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"Agbekor Vutsotsoe" by the Nukporfe African Dance-drumming Ensemble May 5, 2011

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Slow Agbekor at the Dagbe Center of Kopeyia, Ghana

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2:40

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6:36

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5:21

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a red scarf like material going a cross the chest and over the shoulder with a black knee length with black long under pants with a green headband for women

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a red scarf like material going a cross the chest and over the shoulder with a black knee length with black long under pants with a green headband for women

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a red scarf like material going across the chest and going over the shoulder with no shirt on and colorful shorts with a black band around both ankles and bands going down right arm

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church front background with Vachellia xanthophloea trees surrounding it. and other tall trees and sandy ground, with a sun setting background with a orange and yellow sky with little mountains in the background and a nice lake with many different animals.

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0de - we gather here today for the death of Zane Chipo, he was a great friend to all, but most importantly he had a family, a wonderful daughter, a beautiful wife and a caring mother who all loved him a lot Now his wife Asha would like to say some words.

Mrs. Azikiwe - He was such a kind, caring person to all, I’m at a total loss of what to say, but I want you all to know that I am so very grateful to have had a wonderful man in my life and so I provide a dance with my daughter lmani and other ladies from the city.

lmani – I have prepared a special dance in memorial of my father and I am very proud to show you all today my father was a very kind-hearted man to everyone and for his great doings I will honor him in every way with this dance.

Ode- Mrs. Azikiwe and lmani you may now present the agbegor traditional dance.

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one day in the city of aburi, asha found her husband Zane lying on the cold bathroom floor not responding, she later found out that her husband Zane did not make it, so she started planning out the funeral she knew who she was gonna invite all of his friends and family but since aburi was a small town

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Zane- corpse
Ode- priest
ms.Azikiwe - zane's wife
Imani- zane's daughter

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The Agbekor dance is a style of dance by the african people of Ewe and Fon known as Atamga, Ga meaning 'great', Atam meaning 'oath'. Today it is used for cultural presentations, but in the past it was a war dance and the oath in question was an oath taken by the ancestors before going into battle. The setting today for this dance would be social gatherings such as weddings and funerals or tourist sights for entertainment. The setting for an agbekor dance would be very dry sandy ground or a hard rock floor.

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The Ewe culture is very different from typical American culture, but there are some similarities. Among the similarities, both cultures have funerals to celebrate the life of a deceased person. Although the fact that both cultures have funerals is the same, not everything that goes on at a funeral is the same, or even close to the same.

The biggest difference between the two is that the Ewe perform cultural dances at funerals. Spirits love music and dance, so to honor the spirits, funerals involve singing and dancing. The number of individuals or groups that perform depends on what groups the deceased person was part of. These can be both religious and secular groups, again, depending on what the person was involved in. The family of the individual works closely with all the groups to carefully plan out which group will perform at what time and place. One group may dance at the wake ceremony and more groups may perform at the burial, and so on. An interesting tradition I found is that groups perform in honor of an individual for many years after they pass away, in celebration of his or her life. For example, if someone or a group wants to pay respects for the person, but cannot be at the actual funeral , they may perform a dance in that person's honor a few days later, on his or her birthday, or on the date of the funeral, a year or two later. It all depends on the group, and when the members are available. http://www.dancedrummer.com/funerals.html

If the person belonged to a dance-drumming group, he or she would be sure to have a grand funeral. The music at both a grand funeral and a regular funeral is dominated by drumming and dancing. Funerals consist of much traditional dancing and exciting festivities. The drumming during these festivities features polyrhythm, which is a rhythm that makes use of more than one rhythm at the same time. Within the polyrhythm, there is a polyphonic pattern, which means there are two or more independent lines happening at the same time. Sometimes with the ceremonial drumming there is accompanying call-and-response singing, or antiphony (Titon 73-75). Throughout the entire linked video, there is antiphony going on, while the women are dancing to the many beats of the drums.

The Ewe funeral is a significant social interaction because "without ritual action by the living, a soul cannot become an ancestral spirit". It is considered a celebration because another ancestor can now watch over the living. Funerals are so important in the Ewe culture because they believe that ancestral spirits are an important force in the lives of Ewe people. The Ewe believe that part of a person's soul lives on in the spirit world after his or her death and must be cared for by the living (Titon 73-75).

Ewe funerals consist of a special type of war drumming, known as Agbekor. Funerals replaced war as the appropriate occasion for such drumming because it is full of the passions aroused by death. According to Titon, "elders explained that their ancestors performed it before combat, as a means to attain the required frame of mind, or after battle, as a means of communicating what had happened"(Titon 73-75).

Titon, Jeff Todd. Worlds of Music. 3rd ed. Belmont: Schirmer College Learning, 2009. 73-75. Print

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The Ewe culture is very different from typical American culture, but there are some similarities. Among the similarities, both cultures have funerals to celebrate the life of a deceased person. Although the fact that both cultures have funerals is the same, not everything that goes on at a funeral is the same, or even close to the same.

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Today, it is used for cultural presentations, but in the past, it was an actual war dance, and the oath in question was an oath taken by the ancestors before going into battle

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a setting for this type of dance today would be social gatherings (weddings, funerals) or tourists sights as entertainment

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Agbekor   is a style of dance by the poot African peoples of Ewe and Fon. It is an ancient dance once known as Atamga, Ga meaning 'great', Atam meaning 'oath'.

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a setting for a agbekor dance is a very dry sandy ground or a hard rock floor or a stage if you do it professionally

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The costume worn by the performer (mainly male) includes a red cloth tied to the bare upper body and a colourful cloth wrapped around the waist to cover the lower body.

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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.

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Dagbe Cultural Institute and Arts Centre When

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Agbekor Performed by: Dagbe Cultural Institute and Arts Centre