Dancers Charm Audience

Dancers from the Noyam African Dance Institute last week charmed their audience at Alliance Francaise with “Spirit of Dance”, a piece that is definitely on the contemporary tip but with its heart firmly imbedded in Africa. With bodies well built by the craft they have so stylishly mastered, the young dancers moved severally and in complete unison as they tried to find an answer to the mystery of the future and its relationship with the continuous survival or extinction of the human race. As tree branches sway back and forth softly, the dancers moved with controlled intensity as they intensified the search for the future - indeed a future depicted through highly symbolic and abstract movements. Accompanied by several recorded music and loud African drums, they created some kind of transition through several elements such as wind, earth, fire and water while connecting Mother Earth to humanity; They run, jump, hop and turn at remarkable angles while their agile bodies tell a story of humanity and its direction. Choreographed by the Ghanaian dance maestro Prof. F. Nii Yartey, “Spirit of Dance” is an aesthetic wonder - sequences move into each other with an amazing ease while transitions from neo-traditional to contemporary movements create a groove of silence characterised by an uncanny condition of peace and tranquility. Refreshing solos by Akwei Addotey and Joshua Trebi, who recently graduated from the Fontys University in The Netherlands, drew wild cheers from the audience. With highly inventive movements that are full of emotional power, depth and sensitivity, the pair managed to sway the crowd, some of who have not seen contemporary dance in Ghana for quite some time. Ritualistic dances from several parts of Ghana turned into moments of communion for the dancers as they depicted trance-like movements. With accompanying drum rhythms they transferred the audience into a remote village as they attempted to transform neo-traditional dance movements into contemporary forms. A number of traditional musicians cheered as the dancers played “Togo Atsiagbekor” with only bells, thus bringing memories of the famous “Adawura Kasa”, a piece composed by Nana Danso Abiam and recorded by the Pan African Orchestra on their maiden CD Opus One. Based in Dodowa, near Accra, Noyam derives its technique and methodology from movement characteristics, aesthetic qualities and philosophy of African dance traditions as well as the enormous movements and rhythmic resources available in various communities throughout the country. The style and vocabulary of Noyam is based on the philosophy that the human body is the manifestation of an unknown energy – indeed a tool for the creation and dissemination of dance pieces to mirror the experiences and aspirations of diverse communities. With support from the Ghana Cultural Fund, Noyam African Dance Institute is currently involved in the creation of a dance piece that is aimed at sensitizing communities in and around Dodowa on some aspects of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Noyam is a member of the United Cultures for Development Network which was established in January 2007 under the direction and support of Mundial Productions, a cultural outfit based in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Its objectives include the use of the arts to create awareness on the MDGs. The performance was sponsored by Alliance Francaise in collaboration with the French Embassy in Accra.