Two Ohio University professors helped to establish a concert in Ghana, in which 10 students will perform alongside nearly 200 other performers
Several students and alumni of Ohio University are traveling to Ghana to perform on stage in the National Theatre of Ghana alongside nearly 200 other performers.
The three-day event, called Diema, is taking place June 18 to 20 and will include concerts and symposia. Zelma Badu-Younge, associate professor of dance, and Paschal Yao Younge, professor of music education, took part in establishing the event with the theme “Ghana Meets the World.”
The event is the “first collaboration of its kind” organized by The National Dance Company of Ghana, National Symphony Orchestra Ghana and Ohio University, Younge said in an email. Seven world premieres will take place, and the event features artists from the United States, Canada, the Republic of China and several groups from Ghana.
After traveling to Ghana in the summer of 2014 for a conference, Badu-Younge said she and Younge were interested in discovering the different styles of dance in Ghana, which led to the creation of Diema.
“When you go to a ballet, your focus is on the dance. Here (at this concert), the focus is more on everything,” said Badu-Younge. “Everything is important. It’s a full experience of all the arts flowing through your whole body rather than just focusing on visuals. It’s what you hear, see and feel.”
Students from OU will be dancing side-by-side with members of the National Theatre of Ghana and will be able to understand the culture firsthand, said Jennifer Petrie, a fourth year doctoral student studying educational administration.
Badu-Younge said learning the choreography and music is a challenge for everyone, but she hopes the OU students blend in with the other performers.
“Even though it will be obvious that those who are foreign are a different color, we’re hoping that from a performing stance, you can’t tell who is who,” Badu-Younge said.
Badu-Younge choreographed the dances, and said images, movement, ideas and philosophy are a few of the many influences of her work. Some inspiration comes from climbing the pyramids in Mexico, watching at the traffic patterns in France and seeing the mist floating over the water in South Carolina, she said.
Badu-Younge and Younge are currently in Ghana preparing for the event. The others form OU are arriving in Ghana on Tuesday.
While collaboration allows different cultures to come together, it also creates different barriers, such as understanding someone with an accent, Badu-Younge said.
Badu-Younge was trying to teach a dance move by breaking it down in different ways, but it wasn’t until a dancer compared the foreign move to a figure 8. The other dancers then recognized and understood the movement.
“As soon as I told everyone ‘like an eight,’ everyone figured it out,” Badu-Younge said.
While taking a history class during her time as an undergraduate, Petrie said she became interested in not only the dance, but also the culture of Ghana. Petrie has travelled to Ghana multiple times, but she said this is her first time performing rather than to do research.
“It’s a great merge of my artistic and educational paths,” she added. “I’m really excited to be able to go with this group and be able to perform.”
Badu-Younge said many members of the group travelling to Ghana, including Petrie, are a part of Azaguno, an African drumming and dance ensemble directed by her and Younge.
Petrie said it’s amazing to be able to return to Africa, a place that changed her perspective.
“To be in a culture where people are so humble, giving and always looking out for you and so incredibly friendly, it gives you hope for the world to understand there are so many people out there that see the good in people despite the challenges they confront,” Petrie said.
The students coming to Ghana will be able to experience more than just the performance, Badu-Younge said. The group will go sightseeing and be able to experience the different foods in Ghana. She said students will have a life altering experience and a different perspective.
“You realize that you don’t know everything when you get to someone else’s country,” she added.
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