The Artist's Biog (pdf resource) Emmanuel has been developing his craft in Ghana since the age of five, and been performing since the age of ten. He combines traditional African acrobatics with skills learnt in training with a Chinese State Circus master. As well as being a dynamic and breath- taking performer, Emmanuel is committed to education and uses his talents to promote social cohesion, cultural awareness and self confidence.
Quotes ‘All children thoroughly enjoyed workshops and festival performance – especially the children who are often most challenging and harder to engage’511 Team. Canterbury City Council.
back to top West African dance and circus skills workshop
Geographical area Ghana and West Africa
Artistic area
West African dance and circus skills
History of workshop Dance accompanies most celebrations and festivals in Africa. These vary from festivals to celebrate harvesting, to activities such as laundering clothes at the river or cooking. This region has many major celebrations, rituals and rites of passage, such as coming of age, birth, courtship, marriage and death.
The dance moves are designed to reflect movements made during the act or events mentioned above, and are still carried out today in villages, towns and cities.Culturally, some of the dances are specifically carried out by either children, adults, males or females, depending on the ritual or celebration.
Dancing is an art form that is introduced at a very early age, where everyone attends and sees the dances being performed, and is passed on from generation to generation .Songs and 'call and responses' generally accompany the dance and music. This does not mean that West Africans only dance traditionally. Night clubs and dancehalls are open all night and people often dance until sunrise!
Popular western artists are played in clubs and bars. It’s not unusual to hear the likes of Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Atomic Kitten and Madonna blaring from the speakers!Circus skills are a universal form of entertainment that we usually associate with big tops and large international state circuses. In many countries children and young adults have developed circus skills as a form of street entertainment in order to make money, or as a competitive sport which can be paraded at carnivals and ceremonies to West African music and drumming rhythms. It is a great form of cheap entertainment, as no equipment is need, apart from perhaps the odd pot or pan!Emmanuel’s interest in circus skills developed as a young boy. He used to hang out on the beach with his friends, and develop tricks as a form of entertainment.
The beach was a perfect place to learn, as the sand would act as a cushion should any of the daring stunts go wrong! As competition grew to perform bigger and more exciting tricks, so did Emmanuel’s enthusiasm to learn more. When he returns to Ghana now, he heads down to the beach to teach the new generation of young performers. Skills learnt are then performed competitively, with innovative ideas and daring, creative moves being highly respected.
Content Each workshop or performance will take the audience on a fun filled journey to West Africa, where they will learn dynamic dance rhythms and some basic circus skills such as juggling, diabolo, balancing tricks, spinning plates and so on.
Ages/abilities Year 1 and above
Numbers
20 – 30 maximum per workshop
Time needed At least 60 minutes. More can be accomplished with one group for the whole day.
Space needed A large cleared space will be needed for Emmanuel’s workshops and performances.
Equipment/facilities to be provided by the school
Schools to provide drums and percussion where possible.
CD player
A map of the world/ African continent
Participants should wear PE kit.
School/class preparation for artist's visit
What do you know about Ghana? It’s music, food, culture?
Where is it on the map?
When, where and why do we dance in the UK?
Do you think people dance for the same or different reasons in West Africa?
Have you ever seen circus performers?
Where do you think you would see circus performances?
Do you think this is something you would relate to West Africa?
back to top West African dance and acrobatics workshop
Geographical area Ghana and West Africa
Artistic area West African dance and acrobatics
History of workshop Dance accompanies most celebrations and festivals in Africa. These vary from festivals to celebrate harvesting, to activities such as laundering clothes at the river or cooking. This region has many major celebrations, rituals and rites of passage, such as coming of age, birth, courtship, marriage and death.
The dance moves are designed to reflect movements made during the act or events mentioned above, and are still carried out today in villages, towns and cities.Culturally, some of the dances are specifically carried out by either children, adults, males or females, depending on the ritual or celebration.
Dancing is an art form that is introduced at a very early age, where everyone attends and sees the dances being performed, and is passed on from generation to generation.
Songs and 'call and responses' generally accompany the dance and music. This does not mean that West Africans only dance traditionally. Night clubs and dancehalls are open all night and people often dance until sunrise! Popular western artists are played in clubs and bars. It’s not unusual to hear the likes of Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Atomic Kitten and Madonna blaring from the speakers!Acrobatics have long been a part of traditional ceremonies and celebrations in Africa. From stilt walking to flying back somersaults to tumbles, acrobatic displays can be seen throughout history and throughout the majority of African countries.
Acrobatics in Africa can be traced back to the earliest days of human civilisation, when great physical skills were needed to hunt. Some hunting moves and techniques became embodied into ritualistic dance, eventually leading to great feats of showmanship, and acrobatic performance was born.
Acrobatics can be seen in festivals and carnivals throughout West Africa, both traditional and modern. As with circus skills, acrobatics is quite a competitive sport, with such moves as human pyramids and stilt walking, headstands, back flips and so on becoming more daring and dynamic as performers learn and progress! The most impressive acrobatic moves are ones that are different from the norm, where the performer has created his or her own style.
Content Each workshop or performance will take the audience on a fun filled journey to West Africa, where they will learn dynamic dance rhythms and some basic acrobatic skills such as tumbling, jumps, cartwheels and so on.
Ages/abilities Year 1 and above
Numbers 20 – 30 maximum per workshop
Time needed At least 60 minutes. More can be accomplished with one group for the whole day.
Space needed
A large cleared space will be needed for Emmanuel’s workshops and performances. Equipment/facilities to be provided by the school
CD player
A map of the world/ African continent
Participants should wear PE kit
Crash mats essential
School/class preparation for artist's visit
What do you know about Ghana? It’s music, food, culture?
Where is it on the map?
When, where and why do we dance in the UK?
Do you think people dance for the same or different reasons in West Africa?
Have you ever seen acrobatics?
Where do you think you would see performances?
Do you think this is something you would relate to West Africa/UK?
