History of art || Bawa Dance

in Zero to Infinity3 years ago

Hello comrades on the steemit block chain, I am very happy for this contest. It is going to help us share any knowledge we have about our cultures and also to learn some, this will help us to have some have some knowledge about each other's cultures.
My entry is about the Bawa Dance of the Dagaabas. Bawa also known as Bewaa is one of the indigenous traditional harvest dances, performed by Dagaabas in the upper west Region of Ghana. During this dance, there are a lot of rituals that are carried out as a sign of Thanksgiving to the gods and ancestors of the land, and in a way to seek for good harvest in the upcoming farming seasons.



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Leader of the dancers

This dance of harvest was created by Too Lincoln in Accra specifically, Sakumo Tsonshi in the early 1960's. As we all known, clothing is a part of every cultural dance and this Bawa dance is purely cultural. The men wear trouser "Kuri-lani" and normally a singlet, whiles the ladies wear kante wrapped as skirt and another tied round their chest. They also add head wraps which is hang around their necks, especially the men and other African adorning accessories.

Some of the common instruments used in the production of the best are, whistle, xylophone, drum made from large Calabash, metal leg jingles, metal wrist jingles, metal finger cymbals and also beaded girdles. The whistle is what the leader uses to control their movements in the dance floor, as to when to take a step. All these instruments come together to produce a very pleasant and attractive sound.



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Dancing Bawa

While the beat is produced using the instruments, the leader then intones the song and the others respond , he then blows the whistle to set them ready for action. The songs can also be changed by those playing the xylophones, normally the one with the "female" xylophone.



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Xylophone

This dance is very good because it requires a lot of energy and straight, which is also as a form of exercise. There is a lot of skills displayed in the dance, such as, the front and back movement of the dancers.
This dance dance is normally performed in evens such as, funeral, birth rites, traditional marriages, puberty, and festivals such as the Kobine festival. Bawa is not only restricted to the to be performed in only their localities, but also, they go to neighbouring villages or towns for those evens especially their in-laws homes. Money is only given to the skillful dancers in the group.
I Conclude by inviting all to come and have a witness of this wonderful dance.
With the above information I presented, "I consent to the publication and distribution of my article in the electronic and paper versions of "Steemit Weekly"and in all social media."

Thank you all

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Nice to read your post .

Keep posting and stay with our community.

Thank you

Great job, very informative - I loved it. Keep it up!

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