OHAFIA WAR DANCE AND ITS INTRINSIC STEPS

Описание: Beyond the beauty and thrills that come with the Ohafia war dance steps and vigorous body movements, it is a history of 'a dance for great men, memorable times and a most treasured culture.
Significantly, the Ohafia war dance is traditionally performed as a mark of honour for the rich cultural heritage of particularly the Igbo of Nigeria's South Eastern region and for great men
The whole Arena is charged, colourful and full of nostalgia as people watched the artistic expression.
Beats from the traditional drums, tune from the local flutist, movements and dancing suggests that drums are used in all spheres of everyday life to regulate rhythm of labour. It is the pulsating force, like the heart, which gives life and meaning to music.
Several young, robust men in short, coarsely woven blue loin cloth, their muscular arms are draped with the long hair of ram's manes, and on their heads are red, black and white knit caps known as leopard hats, each pierced with an eagle feather. They move with confidence and pride but their leader seems even more imposing; balanced on his head is a board upon which human heads are displayed.The dance leader, holding a short cutlass in his right hand, stares fixedly ahead as he dances with short deliberate steps.
Three Akwatankwa players sit on a wooden bench defining one edge of the dance space. The musical instrument called akwatankwa is indigenous to Ohafia people. It is a homely device: two slats of bamboo are struck together. Ensembles of three play, in unison, the aggressive time-line of the war dance. This single repeated phrase constitutes the core of a complex performance which embodies the ancestral foundations of Ohafia manhood. A legacy of aggressiveness, courage, and achievement are infused in the sound and movements of the war dance.
With casual concentration they tap out the heartbeat of the dance. Beside them a drummer begins to play, not a dance rhythm, but drum language which is echoed by the antelope horn played by one of the dancers.
The dancers are joined by other men, some mature, some mere boys. Each moves his feet in a rapid side-stepping pattern. They roll their shoulders in tight circles causing their chest muscles to flex rapidly. Gradually, deliberately, the tempo builds. As the pace of the music increases the pectoral flexing accelerates. The men's chests pulsate with rippling undulations.