News Release
September 2002
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) — The Arts and Lectures
Series at Moravian College presents a special performance of Ananse
Ghanaian Drum & Dance on Wednesday, October 2, at 8 p.m., in Foy
Hall. Ananse is a drum and dance ensemble which presents authentic folk
music and dances from the various regions of Ghana and some other West
African countries, each associated with specific African social events
such as coming-of-age rituals, royal ceremonies, funerals or social
merry-makings. The artists explain the meaning of the music and dances
presented by sharing related folk stories.
Ananse is composed of former members of well-recognized
folkloric dance ensembles at the Center for National Culture in Accra,
the capital city of Ghana in West Africa. They have gathered from various
regions of the United States for this performance. The group has most
recently performed at the New York State Fair and Syracuse University.
Ananse is the spider-trickster god of West African folklore,
similar to the coyote-trickster of the Indians of the American Southwest.
Because all art is a kind of fiction or trickery, Ananse also is the
god of stories and entertainment. Hence the use of his name for the
dance and drum troupe from Ghana that performs Wednesday at Moravian.
The company is led by David Etse Nyadedzor Brown, who
is based in Syracuse, New York. He trained as a drummer with Salamta,
based at the Center for National Culture in the Ghanaian capital of
Accra. He also has played at the Dance Factory, part of the National
Theater in Accra, and was a founding member of the group Aziza, whose
other members come from the Pan-African Orchestra. He founded Ananse
in 1993, and most of the members emigrated to the United States in 1997,
though some still live in Africa.
Patricia A. N. (Trish) Glazebrook, visiting professor
of philosophy at Moravian in the 2001-2002 academic year, studies drumming
with Nyadedzor and recommended Ananse to Moravian’s Arts and Lectures
Committee.
Ananse offers material from several countries of west,
central and southern Africa, including a Zulu warriors’ dance
from South Africa and ritual drumming patterns of Senegal, Gambia and
Guinea. It also represents the rich music and dance heritage of Ghanaian
tribal groups: "Sekyie" from the Fante of central Ghana, "Bawa",
from the Dagomba of northern Ghana; Kpanlogo, from the Ga fishermen
of Accra; and "Fume Fume," commissioned by Kwame Nkrumah,
the first president of independent Ghana, to create a national music
and dance work for his young country.
Foy Concert Hall is located on the Priscilla Payne Hurd
Campus, Main and Church streets in historic Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 senior citizens, students, and
children 12 and under. For more information, call 610-861-1650 or send
an email to music@moravian.edu.
The axatse shakers sound out a steady "ckaka-chaka-chaka,"
while the gakonkoi bells ring out "tin-kon-ko-kon-tin-tin-kon."
Meanwhile, the master drum shouts out "gide-gaze-gide-ga-gi-tot,"
signaling the dancers to walk forward while waving their hands.
