Gallery

Agbadza is a war dance of the Ewe people of Ghana, Benin and Togo. In fact there have been more studies done on the music/dances of the Ewe people of Ghana than any other ethnic group in Africa. Agbadza gained prominence in the writings of A.M. Jones in his book Studies in African Music, Volumes 1 and 2.  Desmond Tay, a brilliant drummer from Ghana, served as the cultural informant or master drummer for this study. Agbadza today can be viewed at funerals and other social gatherings.

Sabar is a popular dance of the Wolof people of Senegal. There are at least twelve different distinct styles of this dance such as Thiebou Dienne, Sabar, Niare Gorong and Goombey to name a few.  The movements consist of five aerial movements with different leg gestures.  The National Ballet of Senegal in their premiere performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music popularized this dance in October 1971.  This dance literally changed forever the way African dance was viewed, studied and performed throughout the States.

Tokoe Is a dance that originated among the GA people.  Around 1964/65, Appiah Kubi a GA person, shared this dance with C.K. Ganyo and Vincent Ladzekpo while they were members of the Workers Brigade Cabaret Troupe.  It was originally a puberty dance. Today it is a popular dance among the Ewe people of Ghana. This  dance is connected to DIPO - the female rite of puberty. During the early seventies, this dance was performed frequently, but it was not being performed with great frequency in the early 2000s.  The students wanted the dance to be documented. I was sent to Ghana to teach performers and students how to write dance on the computer in order to have a written record of the dance, and to document the culture. When the archive of integrated notated scores is erected, TOKOE will  be the inaugural score exhibited.