Kusum Gboo In Estonia

About eighty Estonians recently experienced the variety and beauty of Ghanaian traditional dance movements during a workshop by the Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Estonians who participated in the workshop, which formed part of the Midwinter Night?s Dream Theatre Festival, simply warmed themselves to basic movements of traditional Ghanaian dance pieces such as "Atsiagbeko", "Kpanlogo", "Kisa" and "Adowa".

With rapt attention, they followed every single move by the young Ghanaian dancer Stephen Osono as drum rhythms from assorted Ghanaian traditional drums filled the hall, which was filled to capacity.

Although, the Estonians did not exhibit the kind of energy associated with Ghanaian traditional dance forms, participants, which included people from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany managed to grab the sequences with amazing ease.

"I did not expect to follow the movements so easily ? I am really excited that I managed it. I have been involved in martial arts ? and the feeling was just the same", said Kristi Pumbo (aka Potsa), an actress in Tallinn.

"It was real fun ? we were really fascinated with the dance movements ? we wanted to get the best out it so we cheated by joining both groups. We did not leave the stage whenever it is the turn of the other group," added Lea Kass and Kadi Janisoo, both residents of Tallinn.

"It was intensive and spectacular ? it brought a lot of energy to me. In spite of the crowded hall, there was friendliness and love among all the participants, which included dance students, circus artistes and musicians", continued Anu Randha, also a resident of Tallinn.

The festival was organized by the Tallinn City Theatre, which was founded in 1965 as a repertory theatre. Currently, its resident company includes 4 directors, 27 actors and a scenographer. It is noted for high artistic standards as well as its unique medieval building, which houses seven different performance spaces and a large open-air stage for summer productions.

The festival, which was initiated in 2000, also witnessed high quality performances by theatre groups from Japan, Russia, Iceland, Ireland and Estonia. This included the Japanese master Issei Ogata and the skillful Icelandic actress Harpar Arnardottir.

A Ghana Music Awards Best Traditional Group for 2005, Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble has performed to highly enthusiastic audiences in Norway, Sweden, Holland, and Belgium. It has three albums and over two dozen dance pieces to its credit.