AGBADZA

©D. Green 1993

Agbadza is a war dance of the Ewe people of Ghana. It belongs to the Bekor movement form. The Ewe people in Benin and Togo also use this dance. Cultural records indicate that the Ewe people originated in Dahomey (Benin) under the leader Agokoli. The rule of Agokoli was so inhumane that the Ewe people planned to escape. According to the legend, they continually poured water on the clay walls of their compound. When the clay wall was weakened, they pulled it down, turned around and marched out the compound backwards. The concept of walking backwards would fool the centuries to believe that the people were entering the compound not leaving. Under the dark of the night all the Ewe escaped and left Dahomey. On their way to the home in Ghana, they had to march through many hostile territories. They say that a bird that flew overhead guided them to safety. The wings of the bird are incorporated into dances of the Bekor form.  Today Agbadza is performed as a recreational dance, but it can also be seen at funerals, as it is customary to perform war dances at funerals.

RHYTHM

African dance cannot be separated from its music. Dance and music are conterminous.

In Africa dance does not exist without some form of  music whether it is the voice, hand clapping, simple gourds or orchestras of different instruments.  To paraphrase the words of Professor Albert Mawere Opoku, the first director of dance at the University of Ghana, "music and dance reflects the culture of  African people. It is their way of life. Therefore, we have the need to jealously guard it against external influences that have the potential  of diluting its purity."

In the African ensemble, there is a time line that denotes a specific pattern, which all the other instruments follow. Each instrument, as well as the dancer,  has their entry point into the time line. The music and dance is viewed as a single unit creating multiple rhythms. Agbadza has a 12/8 time signature. The principle rhythm of Bekor forms of dance is composed of the time line and the dancers foot pattern against the time line. Therefore, it is important to understand how the dancer relates to the pattern of the bell and you can see and understand the rhythm created. This concept generally takes people who are trained in western notation "out of their comfort zone". It was found that when the students used the nonsense syllables, they were able to perceive and maintain the rhythm with ease. The following is the pattern used in the class.  "GO, Dzi. GO, GO, Dzi, GO, Dzit, GO, Dzit. Or it can be expressed as a hand pattern  Right, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Both, Right, Both.   A third way of maintaining the rhythm was to say "Kon. Step, Ko. Lo. Step. Both Ko Both. Pattern three reinforces the rhythm using the "Kon Ko Lo" phrase. Using these patterns, the students were able to grasp and maintain the rhythm as they danced Agbadza..