Ayanagalu is made of two parts, the first are members of an extended family of acrobatic dancers, masqueraders, and praise singers who, for centuries, have passed down their skills and knowledge from generation to generation. Members of masquerade lineages are known as Oje (masquerade) performers. Oje families or eléégún òjè are entertainment masqueraders (also known as agbégijó, alárìnjó and apidán). Egúngún are ancestral masks representing the revived spirits of dead ancestors. They take the material form of costumes typically made of assembled strips of old, important cloth. Only a member of an Oje family can bear the costume, and only at particular times of the year or for scheduled performances. The performer's body should be completely covered, as the egúngún is not an earthly human.
The second part of Ayanagalu, "Yorùbá Bàtá ", are members of an extended family of traditional drummers who have also trained their children for centuries. Children born into a drumming lineage bear Ayan names, such as Àyánkúnlé meaning "drum spirit fills the house." The prefix, Ayan, is a shortened form of Àyànàgalú, the Yoruba òrìsà (Yoruba deity) for drumming families. Bàtá music is said to originate in Oyo, where the drums became the favorite ensemble of the Oyo's third king, Sango. After his death, Sango was deified and worshipped as the god of thunder. Bàtá drums are also played for other deities, including Oya (Sango's wife), Osun (goddess of fertility), Obatala (god of creation), and Ogun (god of iron). As you will notice, the ensemble includes four conically-shaped drums called: ìyáàlù (the leading drum which "speaks" Yoruba and rhythmic texts); omele abo (middle drum which assists the ìyáàlù in its spoken and rhythmic texts); omele ako and kúdi (smallest drums joined together to provide a constant rhythmic background against which the other drums may improvise). Today, bàtá drummers can add the àkúbà (one-headed, cylindrical drum played with the hands) to enrich rhythmic texture.
Historically and presently, Oje families work closely with Ayan families: Oje performers typically dance, praise sing and perform acrobatic displays while Ayan performers provide the accompanying drum rhythms and texts. The staged performance you will observe today presents a wide variety of masquerade and dance styles and skits, accompanied by the respective drum rhythms.
Listed below are brief explanations of the different scenes you are likely to witness. However, the order in which the performers present the scenes will not necessarily correlate with the order in which they appear in this program. This is because the performance tradition is inherently improvisational, even on stage! That is, the performers decide which dance, song, or masquerade to present when they think the time is right, depending on the level of their energy, audience response, and a number of other circumstances. The improvised nature of the bàtá and masquerade tradition makes such performance exciting and variable for both audience and performers.
Scenes (not necessarily in order of their presentation):
• Egúngún Appear -- The egúngún, dressed in their masks for entertainment, always open the performance. They enter the stage singing praises to their ancestors who gave birth to them and thus gave them the chance to perform today. These praises are called "ìbà." The drummers play a variety of traditional pieces, while the egúngún perform the accompanying dances, including:
• Elésèé -- music/dance originally performed for the Elésèé , the king of Igbàjà, a town in Kwara state. Now, this piece is played for any elder who can dance bàtá.
• Ijó Oge -- music/dance for enjoyment and social occasions, characterized by its relatively slow tempo and butt movements, said to suitable for women's dancing.
• Kogba -- music/dance characterized by precise feet and hand movements which correspond with the drum rhythms. This piece is generally played for elder men, including the egúngún, Sango.
• Small Children Dance -- Children of Oje families begin to dance for audiences as soon as they can walk. The two small children, Iyabo and Bidemi Ojeyemi, are three and four years old. Their senior sister, Yidiat Ojeyemi, is eleven years old and has virtually become a master dancer. The children dance to variations of ijó oge (described above).
• Small Bàtá Drum -- Today bàtá drummers may add an extra kúdi to the smallest drums in the ensemble (omele ako and kúdi). Together, the three drums can be played to imitate the three tones (high, middle, and low) of the Yoruba language. The three drums are called "omele méta" and can be used for rhythmic accompaniment and talking. The omele meta player, Tunde Ayanyemi, though a young man, is well-versed in Yoruba proverbs and "speaks" many proverbs with the omele meta during the performance. One example of such a proverb follows: "Awo egúngún ní obìnrin lè se, awo Gèlèdé lobìnrin le mò, tí obìnrin bá fojú kan orò, orò yóo gbe." That is, "If a woman sees the ritual of an egungun masquerade or of the Gelede masquerade, its spirit will affect her." This proverb reminds us that the secrets of the masquerades are not meant for women.
• Master Bàtá Drum -- The ìyáàlù drum is well-known for its speaking abilities. However, its production of the tones of the Yoruba language is quite complicated. In addition to speaking the Yoruba language, this drum also speaks a particular drum language known as "enà bàtá," a professional slang which only Oje and Ayan family members understand and speak. The master drummer, Lamidi Ayankunle, is well-known and respected throughout Nigeria as well as many parts of the world. He will speak many proverbs throughout the performance. For example, "Gbere fun ni yóo din alákàrà tómbé elépo sòtá, gbere fun ni yóo din." Literally, "If you do not cooperate with the palm oil seller, your akara (fried bean cakes) will not fry." That is, unless you cooperate with those who contribute to your work, you will not succeed.
• Yidiat's songs -- When the eleven year old dancer, Idya, commands the drummers with her songs, she tells them to play ijó oge so that she can use her butt to dance. She explains that though she is a small child, she is a very able dancer.
• Acrobatic Masquerades -- The masqueraders in striped, skirted costumes with face masks and stockings are called "olókìtì, " those who do acrobatic tricks. In order to begin the tricks, the head dancer, Tunde Ojeyemi, sings prayers so that "they will have the lightness in their bodies which allows them to do difficult tumbling tricks." Tunde also informs the audience that he and his group have traveled very widely--to Germany, Italy, America, the Virgin Islands, etc.--performing these acrobatic tricks. This information is meant to impress upon the audience the professional experience of the performers.
Perhaps the most dangerous trick to execute is the backwards flip with both hands and feet tied together. Therefore, before performing this trick, Tunde greets the audience and explains that "God did not design humans with legs and hands tied together; it is no easy feat to flip backwards in this unnatural situation."
The vast repertoire of acrobatic tricks executed by the artists has been passed down from their fathers. The performers also add new tricks whenever they are inspired to experiment. From the time they are very young, the boys practice their skills on mounds of dirt or grass as well as at the moment of performance.
• Dancing Mat -- This masquerade is called "Fàfá Alágemo" originally from the Ijebu Yoruba tradition. "Agemo" is one of the many Yoruba deities. The leading drum speaks, "We can not see the one inside the mat as it changes (turns inside out)." This masquerade is respected for its ability to convince its audience that it has no hands, feet, or body.
• Puppet Show -- The male and female wooden puppets flirt with each other, until finally the male puppet convinces his woman friend to marry him and engage in sexual activities.
• Laughing Masquerade -- Known as "Elérin," the one who laughs, this masquerade is meant to make the audience laugh. A woman who jokes all the time is an example of a woman who is not serious--who laughs too much. In the Oje tradition, women are not allowed to bear the masquerades. Thus, men must develop the skills to imitate women's movements and dances in order to successfully enact female characters.
• Women's Praise Song and Dance -- Women masqueraders are well-versed in dancing and praise singing, though they are typically not trained to do acrobatics and bear the masquerades. Funke Ojeyemi, originally trained by her mother, begins her song with praises for her family members (father and husband) and ancestors. She then sings samples of masquerade praise poems called "èsà." A singer may initially greet an audience member by reciting that audience member's town history known as "oríkì" If the singer knows the person she is greeting, she may also sing that person's family oríkì. Praise singers are respected for their knowledge of these detailed oral histories and for their abilities to skillfully perform the appropriate poem at the appropriate time.
• Gbàmù -- This is a more aggressive dance than ijó oge and is characterized by its rhythmic punctuations, simultaneously performed by both drummers and dancers. This dance displays the drummers' and dancers' abilities to dialogue with each other, in their execution of precise skills. The dancer listens for the drummers' punctuations, which she then marks with sharp shoulder or foot movements.
• Egúngún Sango -- This masquerade personifies the deified Sango, who has his own drum rhythms and accompanying dances. Sango's costume consists of: a cloak of cowry shells, red face mask, a special skirt called "yerí," and a rattling staff called "séré." This skit is significant, as the bàtá drum ensemble is directly associated with Sango, known for having the power of thunder. The master drummer may greet Sango, "If I was Sango, I would use all of my body to dance with force."
• Farm Rat -- This masquerade mimics farm rats, imadò, which typically eat crops, such as cassava and maize. Farmers must control these pests to protect their harvests. This masquerade exemplifies the alárìnjó tradition of portraying everyday events or characters in a humorous light.
• Snake -- This masquerade is called "Erè," a common snake which has a patterned body and a triangular head. This snake also enjoys eating naira, if the audience is willing to feed it!
• Gelede -- Originating in the Yoruba area of Egbado, this masquerade features a husband and a wife dancing, enjoying each other's company. The Gelede tradition is rich and thus has its own drum rhythm and dances.
• Growing Cylinder -- Known as "Igunnu Ko," this is one of the most spectacular masquerades because of its impressive abilities to perform acrobatic tricks, grow to enormous heights and then shrink down to a very small size. Heralding from the area of Tapa near Jos, Igunnu Ko does not speak clear Yoruba. The drums that originally accompanied this masquerade were bèmbé drums, one-headed drums played with two sticks. The alárìnjó group thus imitates the bembe drum style with their bàtá
drums.
• The Wife -- Traditional alárìnjó performances always conclude with the "ìyàwó," wife, usually nursing her baby. The egúngún sings, "Bálè a dìde. Bálè, yóo nàró bi egún ba di ìyàwó. Yóo maa lo ilé." Literally, "The head of the household can stand up now. You can go home." The performance has come to an end." The wife egúngún is thought to be one of the most clever and funny transformations, and thus comes at the end.
• Bàtá Fuji -- The finale provides an opportunity for the masqueraders to dance and sing without bearing their masks. Their chorus, "Bàtá Fuji ," refers to their blended version of traditional bàtá music and dance with today's popular fuji music. These artists easily incorporate a variety of old and new styles of song and dance from all parts of the world into their everyday performance, as the alárìnjó tradition requires innovation and improvisation.
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