Kusum Gboo?s Sankofa!: Wings Of The Past, Flight To The Future

Sankofa, the mythic bird of the Akan people of West AfricaSankofa is the mythic bird of the Akan people of West Africa that flies forward while looking backward with an egg in its mouth.

The egg, a symbol of the future, and the head tilted backwards, a constant memento of the past, teach us the concept of Sankofa according to which ?it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot? (expressed as ?se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki? in the Akan language).

In a postcolonial world threatened by an increasingly globalised economy and a rapidly spreading cultural uniformity, the idea of going back to one?s roots in order to move forward can indeed prove an essential lesson for survival.

That is precisely the mission of the Ghanaian dance troupe Kusum Gboo, who on January 17 presented its new show Sankofa! at the Kumulus theatre in Maastricht.

Based in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, Kusum Gboo is currently touring Europe with this powerful production that did not disappoint the sold-out house at the theatre. The skill of the three dancers and the five musicians filled the intimate auditorium with an explosion of colour, rhythm and energy that thrilled the audience.

Kusum Gboo performing in Maastricht, photograph: Hector F. Pascual AlvarezKusum Gboo came to Maastricht as part of ?Mundial on Tour,? a cultural initiative conceived by the Tilburg based Mundial Productions company which specialises in organising multicultural events.

Sankofa! featured eight dances from different regions of Ghana, including a harvest dance, a sequence influenced by African royal music - characterised by its formality and the use of the ewe drum - , a war dance and a sensual courtship number.

The show opened with a solemn procession in which the entire troupe entered the auditorium intoning a prayer. The following dances presented a variety of styles which ranged from the purely acrobatic imitation of birds in flight to the mesmerising vigour of frozen poses through which the virtuoso dancers demonstrated their craft.

In the courtship dance, which narrated the story of two fishermen fighting for the love of the same woman, the humourous traditional scenario had been transposed to modern Ghanaian society by showing the two men speaking on their cell phones and riding motorcycles. The dancers expressed themselves through pantomime and hyperbolic gestures and some of the sequences clearly exuded a highly sexualised energy.

Kusum Gboo, drums, photograph: Hector F Pascual AlvarezThe musicians provided live drum music for the performance. With more than fifteen drums of seven different varieties and other percussion instruments, the musicians created a vibrant soundscape of interlocking rhythms.

In Ghanaian culture, the ?dwene? (drum) represents the community. One drum alone is nothing, but together with an ensemble is capable of creating the wondrous miracle of music. This music in turn serves as a powerful channel to express the feelings of the community.

The audience at the Kumulus theater could certainly feel that power thanks to the proximity of the musicians and the perfect acoustic of the auditorium, and vocal encouragements were frequently heard during the show.

At one point, one of the dancers invited the spectators to clap along with the drums, thereby transforming the theatre into one giant drum through which the waves of sound and tradition could run freely.

?It is really intense and full of rhythm in terms of movement and sound. There is no artificiality? it pulsates with vitality and energy,? commented Patricia Campa?a, a Spanish Law student at Maastricht University.

Kusum Gboo in Maastricht, photograph: Hector F Pascual AlvarezMore remarkable, however, was the fact that all this artistic display did not stand on its own, in the middle of a void ready for consumption by Western audiences. Indeed, the performance was sustained by the company?s philosophy and mission.

According to its website, Kusum Gboo, which means ?Tradition never dies,? is dedicated to ?promoting and sustaining African culture through dance and music, in order to illuminate the richness and diversity of African traditional values.?

Founded more than twenty years ago under the name of Peoples Cultural Troupe, the company went through a series of transformations culminating in the rebirth of the group as Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble in 1991. Under the direction of Richard Danquah, an instructor in traditional African Dance and Music at the University of Oslo and at the Nordic Black Theatre School in Oslo (Norway) the company began touring extensively and soon became known as the ?cultural ambassador of Ghana.?

Kusum Gboo performing in Maastricht, photograph: Hector F Pascual AlvarezKusum Gboo visited the Netherlands in the summer of 2001, performing in more than thirty venues across the country and offering workshops at Maastricht University and at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. (source: Kusum Gboo website)

Inspired by the meaning of the Sumu dance, which is the last act of the Sankofa! show, Kusum Gboo seeks to ?sustain? the rich and diverse tapestry of African performance traditions. Paradoxically, thanks to the new technologies of mass communication and advertisement, the dancers and musicians from Ghana are now able to bring their traditional cultural heritage to many other countries.

More important, however, is that their message is heard, not only in Europe but at home as well; that the pulsating energy of Sankofa is incorporated into the daily lives of modern African societies, so that the drama of tradition versus modernity does not become a tragedy, but a blooming epopee full of potential and vitality.

Hector Pascual Alvarez, 21, is a Spanish student enrolled at Macalester College in Minnesota (US) where he is majoring in International Studies and Theatre Arts. He is spending the first semester of 2007 at Maastricht University as part of a study abroad programme.

Kusum Gboo will continue its European tour to Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Estonia.

Kusum Gboo?s former director Richard Danquah passed away last October, at the age of thirty-six. Fellow Ghanaian artists have seen his demise as a tragedy for the community of professional performers of African culture.

Kusum Gboo?s Sankofa! show was organised by Studium Generale. Studium Generale offers a broad programme with academic and cultural activities. The programme consists of lectures, workshops, concerts and theatrical performances. Most of the scheduled events are in Dutch, but Studium Generale also hosts several English events.