In Pursuit of an African Traditional Dance

Thomas Jing

Description

Africa is rich in (neo) traditional dances; yet, not much exists in the form of written literature on the subject. Even worse, existing documents date back to the colonial period and are often disparaging. Dance to Africans is what martial arts are to Asians. Embedded in them are some of the solutions to many of the problems wracking the African diaspora: gang violence, drug addiction, and high school dropout rates, etc. When Guinea's Ballets Africains first bursts on the international scene in the late fifties and sixties, the black revolution in the US was in full swing. The troupe's emancipatory message enkindled in African Americans a new sense of cultural pride and a return to their African roots. For once, dance became something else other than the ballet. With that burst of enthusiasm came the need to introduce African dances in the academia. Most of the research, however, focused mainly on dances which use drums (djembe). Departing from that tradition, in this detailed and richly choreographed ethnography on the Buum Oku Dance Yaounde, Thomas Jing's investigation into a xylophone-based dance opens up new research avenues and exposes the challenges involved. An Afrocentric theoretical framework to the research counters imperialist notions of African dances, thus setting them up as a tool for emancipation.

Chapter 1: Afrocentricity/Afrocentric Theory

Chapter 2: Data Collection and Methods

Chapter 3: Theoretical Conceptualization and Methodologies of Study

Chapter 4: Background to Historical Production of the Buum Oku Dance

Chapter 5: Historical Production of the Buum Oku Dance

Bibliography

Glossary: Some Important Eblam Ebkuo

(Oku) Terms

Sujets

• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Les Ballets Africains
• African dance
• Social sciences
• Folk dance
• Anthropology
• Social
• Culture

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 28 février 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956552313
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

dropout rates, etc. When Guinea’s Ballets Africains first bursts on the international scene in the late fifties and sixties, the black

In Pursuit of an African Traditional Dance

In Pursuit of an African Traditional Dance An Afrocentric Historical Study of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde

Thomas Jing

Thomas Jing

In Pursuit of an African Traditional Dance: An Afrocentric Historical Study of Buum Oku Dance Yaounde Thomas Jing

L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN-10: 9956-552-65-8

ISBN-13: 978-9956-552-65-8 ©Thomas Jing 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

Dedication

I dedicate this work to my late parents, Rosaline Ndobih and Joseph Fombuh Jing, who worked tirelessly to ensure that I obtain a decent education.

Acknowledgements In the Western Grassfield of Cameroon, during important festivals such as the village annual dance, just before the event kicks off, as soon as the xylophones strike up and the drums start to roll, thekam, as the lead dancer is called, struts alone into the circle of assembled villagers and dances around until he reaches the grandstand where the Fon (king) and notables are seated, he goes down in prostration in acknowledgement of the accomplishments and services, not only of the dignitaries but of the villagers whom they represent. Harkening to that tradition, I express in writing similar acknowledgement for the contributions of all those whose actions have helped in making this research come to fruition. This book is a segment of my PhD research work, so I begin by expressing my most profound gratitude to Dr. Ken Montgomery, my thesis supervisor, who guided me throughout the entire investigative process; to Dr. Patrick Lewis, Dr. Valerie Triggs, Dr. Ann Kipling Brown, and Dr. Claire Carter who accepted to become members of my thesis committee and provided me with invaluable information and advice on this research; and to Dr. Kariamu Welsh of Temple University in Philadelphia, renowned African dance and Afrocentric scholar, who was my external examiner. My gratitude also extends to Dr. Carol Schick, Dr. Paul Hart, Dr. Jennifer Tupper, Dr. Marilyn Miller and other members of the university teaching staff from whose fount of knowledge I drew inspiration. I would like to thank Dr. Barbara McNeil who provided me with some invaluable tips on how to conduct research with high school students and within the black community in Regina; Naomi Frecon, who gave me numerous books and rides on my way to school; April Chiefcalf for her advice and car rides; and the staff at the office of the Faculty of Education and at the libraries of both the Universities of Regina and the First Nations for their assistance. Of tremendous importance to this research has been the contribution of the Caribbean Folk Arts Dance Troupe which trains at the Multicultural Council Building Downtown Regina on Broad Street. My special thanks go to Nimone Campbell, the main instructor, who made it all happen by inviting me to her dance school and encouraging her students to participate in the research as well as providing me with literature on her school and the Saskatchewan Caribbean Canadian Association; to Kweira and Kabari Quaye, Jennifer Kuger, Isaiah Bennett, and to Sierra, the dance students who

sacrificed their time and other pressing matters to take part in the interviews. Across the Atlantic Ocean, in Cameroon, my greatest thanks go to Dr. Peter Ntaimah, my greatest collaborator, who mediated this research at all levels in Yaounde and Oku and who provided me with abundant literature and explanation on the dance and on Oku. He was gracious to abandon pressing family and work issues in Yaounde to travel with me to Oku where he introduced me to Francis Jick, a veteran of the dance, as well as to the Late Fai Baimenda, Yang Cletus Ntam, the village notable heading the lineage that owns the original Subi Dance in Oku. The interviews I conducted with these personalities as well as members of Buum Oku Dance, such as Gladious Keja, Dr. Dinsi Stanley, and Nsakse John, had profound impact on the research and for that I am highly indebted. I also wish to thank Dr. Martha Ngum of the University of Buea for granting me an interview as well as providing me with literature on Oku; to John Tatah Gamse in Douala, firstbam eykumof Buum Oku Dance Yaounde and cultural adviser to the dance troupe Mawe in that port city, for his interview and literature; to Dr. Tatah Mentan, a Professor at St Joseph’s University in Minnesota and an eminent authority on Oku history and culture for his in-depth analysis and clarifications which greatly reinforced the inquiry; to Dr. Bill Ndi, a professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama whose sound knowledge of West Cameroonian Grassfield traditions, institutions and dances gave me a clearer picture of the subject under investigation; and to Professor Moses Nyongwa who drew from his experience in Nkongsamba and the Mungo area in French Cameroon to enlighten me on the political upheavals which rocked the region before and after Cameroon’s independence. My thanks go to some of my family members who made my stay and this research possible: to Judith Selambi and her husband Christopher; to Colonel Emmanuel Jing of the Cameroonian military and his family; my beloved nephew Ndifor Selambi currently studying in England; to Pa Ngufor Jing in Douala and his entire family; to Freda and Evaristus Joko in Old Town Bamenda; Tangie Ndiforndeh and his family in Buea; to Vincent and Hilda Ndumu for their warm reception at their Bamenda hilltop mansion; to Christopher Ntembi and late Ayeh Fidelis Jing, for taking care of the family homestead while I was away studying at the university; and to His Royal Highness Late Fon Fongwa II of Bamendankwe for his incisive observations on Grassfield traditional dances.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance and encouragements of the following: Madeleine and Clement Marchildon of Prince Albert, Celena Kalusky, Felicity Vindevoghel, Dr. Beatrice Wamey, of Donna Chouinard, Kaity Rossmo, Jason D’Souza, Clement Burikukiye, David Deng, Mabior Alier, Rev. Fr. Okai of St Jean-Baptiste Parish, of Chris Taylor at the Education Computer Centre, of Gillian Nowlan, of Chip and Dale Company in Regina, and of Focus Studio in Essos in Cameroon.

Map Illustrations

Map 1: Oku and its villages and surrounding districts