I thought that nothing could beat my Andalusian flamenco experience in Spain... enter the Noyam Dance Institute located in the town of Dodowa, Ghana. If I had known what was waiting for me while I flopped in the bed like a beached whale yesterday, cursing the early hour my alarm clock, I might have arisen with a better attitude. After way too little sleep, I was obliged to get up, grab a quick breakfast of a croissant and oj, then jook and jump on a too-big tour bus across the sprawling metropolis of Accra into the forest.
The bus couldn't even make it to the front door of the place, the roads were so narrow and unpaved. At seeing this, my heart started to lift. I hadn't been at all sure what to expect when I signed up for the innocuously titled Drumming & Dance Group B. I didn't even know what to wear, but was reassured by the fact that each and every item of clothing that I'd packed is completely disposable.
After a five minute uphill walk through the forest, we arrived to the Noyam Dance Institute facility. I was suprised and pleased to be handed an itinerary for our day and a menu of our lunch choices. I entered the placeto find a large open air auditorium dominated by a large stage. Although the building is covered to protectfrom rain, it cleverly has no windows in the auditorium as well as exposed rafters. My excitement hit a fevered pitch to note that according to the agenda I'd been handed, we were going to spend our time not listening to a lecture or watching a performance, but in dance and drumming classes! Despite my lousy wardrobe choice of a tank and long white skirt, I couldn't be more pleased.
We started with a tour of their facility while we sipped on coconut juice straight from the coconut. Noyam includes a library, small dormitory, and outdoor lecture circle. Next, classes began. We started with a warm-up. At the warm-up I could hardly contain myself. I had noticed several things: the fact that this group performed for Obama during his visit to Ghana, the framed Alvin Ailey poster autographed by Judith Jamison herself, the way all the instructors carried themselves, and finally the structure of the warm and across the floor exercisess that I had stumbled onto a fully functional dance company and was taking their master class! I nearly squealed with delight.
After the warm-up and some across the floor exercises, everyone was sweaty and ready to broken up into groups. During the first two hours we learned the Kpanlogo dance and accompanying traditional songs. This dance was really fun, performed in round counts with drum signal change indicating a change in movements. After practicing and perfecting an entrance and exit, each group perfomed on stage for the others to live drum accompaniment from the instructors. I made sure to get video (can't load right now!). It was high impact and difficult enough to challenge, but not too difficult for every participant to have a prayer of getting it right. Delight and a sheen of sweat coated every face in the room.
After the performance, we had a great buffet style lunch of fried chicken or fried fish with jollof rice, a red rice like jambalaya without the peppery spice or meat. In addition to that there was a tomato and cucumber salad, plaintains, and best of all... greens!!!! Everything was homemade and made my tastebuds explode. I nearly cried, and everyone exclaimed over the tasty lunch. We were served such large portions that I feared for our ability to continue exercising at the same level we had before. There was even a huge Ghanian fruit salad dessert of pineapple, banana, and water melon. Luckily we had an entire hour to eat and digest.
The second half of the master class was spent in groups again, this time split into drummers and dancers. We learned the Gota dance, a dance perfomed with male/female duos. Again, it is performed in round counts with drum signals guiding the dance. After practice with our partners, the group performed to the accompaniment of the drummer group. At the end of the intense class, hands were chapped and red, feet were dusty and beaten, and hearts were filled and open. Last, the company performed 2 peices for us: a traditional women's dance, the Atsia, was performed to the male drum accompaniment, and an African contemporary dance, The Dance of the Forest was performed to recorded music accompaniment. The Dance of the Forest in particular was impressive; it rivaled anything you can pay to see in American dance theater and seemed to shock some of our group participants. I was proud to have instruction and interaction with them. Dance and movement is a visceral and important form of communication, I have been blessed to have the opportunity to communicate this way in 2 of the cultures we have visited so far; it's my goal to continue the pattern -- and get the video!
The 2 hour ride back was calm and uneventful except for a chocolate stop at a Shell station somewhere. Most of us were too tired to cause any trouble. Coated in dust, sweat, and laughter, we returned to the ship having truly experienced Ghanian drumming and dance.
The bus couldn't even make it to the front door of the place, the roads were so narrow and unpaved. At seeing this, my heart started to lift. I hadn't been at all sure what to expect when I signed up for the innocuously titled Drumming & Dance Group B. I didn't even know what to wear, but was reassured by the fact that each and every item of clothing that I'd packed is completely disposable.
After a five minute uphill walk through the forest, we arrived to the Noyam Dance Institute facility. I was suprised and pleased to be handed an itinerary for our day and a menu of our lunch choices. I entered the placeto find a large open air auditorium dominated by a large stage. Although the building is covered to protectfrom rain, it cleverly has no windows in the auditorium as well as exposed rafters. My excitement hit a fevered pitch to note that according to the agenda I'd been handed, we were going to spend our time not listening to a lecture or watching a performance, but in dance and drumming classes! Despite my lousy wardrobe choice of a tank and long white skirt, I couldn't be more pleased.
We started with a tour of their facility while we sipped on coconut juice straight from the coconut. Noyam includes a library, small dormitory, and outdoor lecture circle. Next, classes began. We started with a warm-up. At the warm-up I could hardly contain myself. I had noticed several things: the fact that this group performed for Obama during his visit to Ghana, the framed Alvin Ailey poster autographed by Judith Jamison herself, the way all the instructors carried themselves, and finally the structure of the warm and across the floor exercisess that I had stumbled onto a fully functional dance company and was taking their master class! I nearly squealed with delight.
After the warm-up and some across the floor exercises, everyone was sweaty and ready to broken up into groups. During the first two hours we learned the Kpanlogo dance and accompanying traditional songs. This dance was really fun, performed in round counts with drum signal change indicating a change in movements. After practicing and perfecting an entrance and exit, each group perfomed on stage for the others to live drum accompaniment from the instructors. I made sure to get video (can't load right now!). It was high impact and difficult enough to challenge, but not too difficult for every participant to have a prayer of getting it right. Delight and a sheen of sweat coated every face in the room.
After the performance, we had a great buffet style lunch of fried chicken or fried fish with jollof rice, a red rice like jambalaya without the peppery spice or meat. In addition to that there was a tomato and cucumber salad, plaintains, and best of all... greens!!!! Everything was homemade and made my tastebuds explode. I nearly cried, and everyone exclaimed over the tasty lunch. We were served such large portions that I feared for our ability to continue exercising at the same level we had before. There was even a huge Ghanian fruit salad dessert of pineapple, banana, and water melon. Luckily we had an entire hour to eat and digest.
The second half of the master class was spent in groups again, this time split into drummers and dancers. We learned the Gota dance, a dance perfomed with male/female duos. Again, it is performed in round counts with drum signals guiding the dance. After practice with our partners, the group performed to the accompaniment of the drummer group. At the end of the intense class, hands were chapped and red, feet were dusty and beaten, and hearts were filled and open. Last, the company performed 2 peices for us: a traditional women's dance, the Atsia, was performed to the male drum accompaniment, and an African contemporary dance, The Dance of the Forest was performed to recorded music accompaniment. The Dance of the Forest in particular was impressive; it rivaled anything you can pay to see in American dance theater and seemed to shock some of our group participants. I was proud to have instruction and interaction with them. Dance and movement is a visceral and important form of communication, I have been blessed to have the opportunity to communicate this way in 2 of the cultures we have visited so far; it's my goal to continue the pattern -- and get the video!
The 2 hour ride back was calm and uneventful except for a chocolate stop at a Shell station somewhere. Most of us were too tired to cause any trouble. Coated in dust, sweat, and laughter, we returned to the ship having truly experienced Ghanian drumming and dance.
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