Shai Initiates/Krobo Initiates

Shai Initiates Perform the Klama Dance

Shai girls celebrate three stages in their Outdooring ceremony. At the end of the first week of instruction, the girls put on Dipo-pe straw hats and perform the klama dance, which emphasizes the graceful movement of hands and feet. With small rhythmic steps and heads turned demurely downward, the dancers embody quiet elegance. The different movements of the dance are designed to reveal the beauty of the dancers. Suitors watching from the sidelines will often approach a girl's family after the ceremony and make an offer of marriage.

Two Krobo Initiates

Krobo initiates entering womanhood are presented to the community during the annual Outdooring ceremony. Beginning with a ritual that severs all ties with their childhood, the initiates start a three-week period of seclusion, during which they learn the ways of adult women. To celebrate the completion of their training, they adorn themselves for their Outdooring ceremony. Here, they publicly demonstrate their dancing skills for the chief, relatives, and, most importantly, prospective suitors who gather to admire their display of feminine grace and beauty.