Pre-Performance and other Contexts within Which Adzewa and Adzeba Music and Dance are Performed along the Fanti Coastline of Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the contextual meaning of adzewa and adzeba in some traditional Ghanaian institutions and the new meaning that the music and dance was acquiring in contemporary Ghanaian society. The study made use of audio-video recordings and interviews from the Central Folkloric Dance Company at Cape Coast, the Winneba Dentsefo Adzeba group and the Mankoadze Adzeba groups. Data for the study was collected between August 2012 and January 2014. Pre-performance and post-performance, traditional state festivals, funerals, the context of Asafo warriors’ music, and occasions of ritual importance and conflict were examined under the traditional Ghanaian context. Ghana national state functions and performance on stage were examined under the contemporary context. Pre-performance and post-performance of libation showed how deep adzewa and adzeba performances were rooted in tradition and exemplified the bond of relationship between the living and the dead as well as the keen interest of the ancestral spirits in the activities of the living. Performances of adzewa and adzeba on stage and in other contemporary contexts manifested the changing role of traditional music in contemporary society such as the use of dance drama and harmony of songs in four parts instead of two parts.

Keywords: Pre-performance, Post-performance, Contextual, Adzewa, Adzeba, Music, Dance.