Members of the Akuma Dance Ensemble
It was a night of great entertainment for some visiting students from Brown University in Providence, United States, on Saturday, June 4 when the Akuma Dance Ensemble performed for them at the Oak Plaza Hotel on the Spintex Road in Accra.
The evening featured fireworks and acrobatic display topped up with powerful Ghanaian music and dance, as the ensemble offered a wonderful account of the vibrancy of Ghanaian cultural artistry.
The students happily joined in the performances as they tried their hands on the local drums and other percussion instruments, sang along and danced away the night. It was evident they thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the enlightening Ghanaian experience.
“We were so happy the American students loved what we offered. It was a completely new happening for most of them and their response was appropriate,” said Joseph Annang, Akuma Dance Ensemble’s leader and master drummer.
The group has in recent times enhanced its already impressive showings with the addition of more seasoned performers. This has enabled Akuma to expand its scope of activities, thus becoming more entertaining and engaging to audiences.
“We’ve widened our wings so much over the last year or so and we are pushing hard for more attention for performers of our type. We help bring strong cultural identity to the nation, the sort of identity that fosters national development,” the leader added.
The Akuma Dance Ensemble had earlier on May 20 2022, provided superb accompaniment for Black or White or Human, a three-act play written and directed by Kofi Nelson at the British Council in Accra.
The play was an ArtNobles Expressions production with support from the British Council. It formed part the New Narrative Project initiated by the British Council to help stimulate new perceptions about migration and relations between Africa and the United Kingdom.
The Akuma Dance Ensemble was chosen to be the musical arm of the production because of its delightful ability to interpret musical forms from Ghana and across the continent.
By George Clifford Owusu