No Longer an Oral Tradition

[Oju]

No Longer an Oral Tradition

Written by
Doris Green

Page 1 of 5


Music and dance in Africa are oral traditions that are practiced, learned and passed down from one generation to the next by a 'mouth to ear' process. Unfortunately, any tradition that is entirely dependent upon oral communication for its transmission is doomed to failure because of the breakdown of the human memory and outside interpretation.

For centuries young Africans learned their music from their elders in this manner, thus their music and dances remained largely in their place of origin - Africa.

This was largely the situation until the independence movement swept over the continent of Africa. During this time many African nations created National Dance Companies, which traveled abroad, giving greater exposure to the traditional music and dances of the diverse ethnic groups of their country. In 1962, under the aegis of President Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana became the first African country to create Institute of African Studies where traditional music and dance, and all other aspects of their culture could be studied. Now traditional African

music and dance was an integral part of education. But they were still oral traditions. This meant they existed in academia without written documentation. Any subject in academia without written documentation is not respected as a true course of study. How can one systematically write African music and dance so Africans who speak so many different languages could understand it? This would become a problem that would attract the attention of the continent of Africa and those outside who were intrigued by African music and dance.

Professor Albert Mawere Opoku, creator of the National Dance Ensemble of Ghana, had studied abroad. At Juilliard in New York, one of the courses he studied was Labanotation, a system for writing dance movements. He was intrigued by the fact that dance movements could be written on paper. Professor Opoku was anxious to have Labanotation taught at the University so that Ghanaian students could record their dances before they became corrupted by, the fastest growing form of outside interpretation, urbanization. Therefore, upon his return to Ghana, he was instrumental in bringing Labanotation to the University of Ghana. Odette Blum taught these courses.

The students studied Labanotation at the elementary and intermediate levels. These students became the task force of various indigenous dances of their particular ethnic group or region of Ghana. They committed these dances to paper thus creating a small archive of traditional dance. The project of applying Labanotation to the dances of Ghana lasted several years. Unfortunately, in the late sixties, when the project was over, there was no one left on the campus who had the skills to teach the more advance courses, such as Teacher Training, Teacher Certification, Score Readings, Reconstruction, Advance Notation and Notator Training. Although Labanotation has been taught on the campus for the past thirty-four years, it has not been taught at the level where the students can profit from the knowledge gleaned, or become certified teachers. The application of Labanotation to the dances of Ghana was only part of the solution of transferring the oral traditions into written traditions. In Africa dance and music are inseparable. Dance does not exist without its music. Since the Labanotation system was designed to annotate movements of ballet and modern dance, music does not have a conterminous relationship to dance. Therefore, Ghana still needed a way to write their percussion music and align it to dance.


Written by Doris Green

(C) 2007 Ntama Journal of African Music and Popular Culture

[Oju]

Page 2 of 5

For decades Africa has been searching for a way to write her music so it could be communicated between Africans regardless of the numerous languages spokenon the continent. This was the topic of numerous debates, symposiums and conferences. The International Music Council, in collaboration with UNESCO organized the project "The 3rd African Music Rostrum.' The theme of this project was the preservation and presentation of the traditional music and dance of Africa. There were several recommendations and suggestions that resulted from this symposium. One of the salient recommendations was the creation of a committee to study the problems of African music notation. Advocates of this recommendation suggested that any system of notation for African music must include more aspects of the culture, such as dance. The system must represent these aspects more accurately. Such a system must be economical in time and be readable bythe average literate musician.

Over the course of the last thirty-five years, there have been numerous attempts to notate African music through various renditions of the Time Unit Box System, commonly referred to as TUBS. The TUBS system could not include more aspects of the culture such as dance. There had never been a system that would notate both African music and dance in a single integrated score. But a young student of African dance, Doris Green, began to experiment with ways to write drum patterns. Her work proved successful in writing music for African bells, rattles and drums and certain dances such as Batakoto from Nigeria. She wanted to expand her system to include more instruments and to align it with movements of dance. She would get this opportunity when she entered college to study dance notation. As a musician she recognized the inherent value of the time line as expressed in Labanotation. With a minor adjustment in her percussion system, she was able to align both music and dance in a single integrated score.

She would continue to work writing African music and dance. In the sixties there was a cultural revolution which swept over United States. In order to quell the unrest on the campuses, the federal government decreed that courses in Black and minority studies be included in the curriculum "with all deliberate speed." Failure to do so would cause lost of government funding. This decree caused colleges to launch a hasty search for courses and personnel in this area. As one of a few Black students in the department of health, physical education, dance and recreation, I was asked for suggestions as to how the department could comply with this decree. I suggested courses in African music and dance, Caribbean dance and music. The department knew of my experiences as a dancer. Consequently, just after graduation, I was appointed to the staff as the first teacher of African music and dance in Brooklyn College.

Written by Doris Green

(C) 2007 Ntama Journal of African Music and Popular Culture

[Oju]

Page 3 of 5

At this time African dance began to rise out of the ashes like a phoenix. Colleges throughout the nation were offering courses in African music and dance. In 1970, Doris Green, ethnomusicologist, dancer, teacher of African dance, student of dance notation and creator of a percussion notation system, entered East Africa, to study and research African dances for her teachings. She slowly began working with the Africans showing them how she could write African music and dance. That was the beginning of transcribing African music and dance on paper. She would take selections from one country, transcribe them and show them to musicians in another African country to see if they could play themusic. After a short explanation, musicians read and performed what was on the printed page. Ms. Green would continuously return to Africa studying researching and gathering material for the courses she taught. Her work began to attract the attention of legends of African musicians. The simplicity of the percussion notation system and the fact that it aligned with the dance notation system brought joy to African musicians. Finally there was a system that could present both African music and dance in a single integrated score.

The percussion notation system, now called Greenotation is an innovative musical system specifically designed for writing music of African percussion instruments, It is aligned with Labanotation, a system for writing dance movement. The alignment of the two systems permits both African music and dance to be read from a single integrated score that keeping them inseparable as they are in Africa Ms. Green won a number of awards to study and research music and dance. She won the coveted Fulbright Award and taught her system of notation in the Ivory Coast and in the schools of the Gambia, West Africa.

In 2002, Ms. Green returned to Ghana as a cultural specialist of the U.S. Department of State to do a special project. She would teach students of music and dance at the University of Ghana at Legon, the National Dance Company of Ghana, and the Noyam dancers. One of the goals of this project was to transfer the rich oral traditions of African music and dance into written documentation. Current students and performers of African music would be trained in systems of notation (Greenotation and Labanotation) LabanWriter on the computer, thereby providing permanent documentation of their music and dance.

From the preceding paragraphs, one can readily see that the creation of Greenotation percussion notation system was not an overnight creation. It had its conception in the fifties. Thereafter, it went through several revisions of presentation. The format that it has today came in 1962. The system took its maiden voyage to Africa in 1970. In Africa I discovered new instruments which brought additional symbols. The symbols of the system are far too numerous to detail in an article. Therefore, the fundamentals and symbols necessary to read the ensuing sample notations will be presented. Since dance in Africa does not exit without some form of music, I will begin with the music. The basic symbol of Greenotation is the rectangle. Different shadings and designs within the rectangle indicate the instrument played and the sound produced.

Prolongation and subdivision of the rectangle represent timing of strokes played. Greenotation uses a vertical three-lined staff, which is oriented to the centerline that divides the left from the right. Symbols written on the left side indicate played with the left hand or the left side of an instrument and vice versa for the right side.

Written by Doris Green

(C) 2007 Ntama Journal of African Music and Popular Culture

[Oju]

Page 4 of 5

Fundamentals

One reads the score vertically from the botton to the top. Symbols that are placed side by side are payed together.Symbols that are placed consecutively on the staff are played one after the other sequentially in time. The absence of a symbol within a column indicates a rest. The music staff is written to the left so the dance staff can be joined to it to create a single integrated score. I have selected AGBADZA as the sample notation. The ensuing symbols are those necessary to underatand the sample notation. Review each of the symbols to familiarize yourself with the instruments indicated.

Labanotation is a system for notating dance movement. LabanWriter is software program that enables dance to be written on the computer. The basic symbol for Labanotation is the rectangle.

Modifications of the shape of the rectangle are pictorial and point to the direction they describe. There are eight major directions.

There are three main levels of movement in dance, high, medium and low reented by the below symbols respectively.

Labanotation uses a vertical three-line staff, which represents the body. The centerline divides left from side of the body. Movement and gestures for the legs are written within the three-line staff. Movement of the torso, arms and head are written on the outside. The standard staff consists of eleven columns.

Written by Doris Green

(C) 2007 Ntama Journal of African Music and Popular Culture

[Oju]

Page 5 of 5

The following will help to understand the principals of dance notation:

Written by Doris Green

(C) 2007 Ntama Journal of African Music and Popular Culture

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Wow! I know the basics of Agbadza, but I am really illiterate in reading the dance steps. This is like an iconography and writing system in and of itself!

Aane, Dr. Mawere Opoku was a very important man, along with Dr. Nketia. Unfortunately Dr. Opoku passed on right before I stayed in Ghana for a year, so I didn't get to meet him. I appreciate this info...stay BlackNificent!

Obadele Kwame

[aziza]

Wow this is amazing! Meda ase for posting this Oyu! This is something that I have not even heard about... I am going to learn more about this.

Aziza

[Oju]

Greetings [ch390]kyeame Kwame & aziza!

When I first came across this knowledge, I was in awe. It was so powerful,
and right on point. Our people are just brilliant.

[ch390]kyeame Kwame it sure is like an iconography and writing system in and of
itself! It is just so deep, you can actually feel the vibes just looking at the
diagrams, much less to understand and learn the intricate knowledge of
just what each diagram is all about.

Sis aziz amazing is an understatement, but I sure felt the way you do when I learned about it. It is what has made me do the follow up and came across this gem of hidden treasures, that more of our people needs to learn about.

Medase to you both for sharing in the joy of this treasure with me.

One Love & Respect Always

Oju'

[Oju]

AGBADZA

Agbadza is a war dance of the Ewe people of Ghana. It belongs to the Bekor movement form. The Ewe people in Benin and Togo also use this dance. Cultural records indicate that the Ewe people originated in Dahomey (Benin) under the leader Agokoli. The rule of Agokoli was so inhumane that the Ewe people planned to escape. According to the legend, they continually poured water on the clay walls of their compound. When the clay wall was weakened, they pulled it down, turned around and marched out the compound backwards. The concept of walking backwards would fool the centuries to believe that the people were entering the compound not leaving. Under the dark of the night all the Ewe escaped and left Dahomey. On their way to the home in Ghana, they had to march through many hostile territories. They say that a bird that flew overhead guided them to safety. The wings of the bird are incorporated into dances of the Bekor form. Today Agbadza is performed as a recreational dance, but it can also be seen at funerals, as it is customary to perform war dances at funerals.

RHYTHM

African dance cannot be separated from its music. Dance and music are conterminous.

In Africa dance does not exist without some form of music whether it is the voice, hand clapping, simple gourds or orchestras of different instruments. To paraphrase the words of Professor Albert Mawere Opoku, the first director of dance at the University of Ghana, "music and dance reflects the culture of African people. It is their way of life. Therefore, we have the need to jealously guard it against external influences that have the potential of diluting its purity."


In the African ensemble, there is a time line that denotes a specific pattern, which all the other instruments follow. Each instrument, as well as the dancer, has their entry point into the time line. The music and dance is viewed as a single unit creating multiple rhythms. Agbadza has a 12/8 time signature. The principle rhythm of Bekor forms of dance is composed of the time line and the dancers foot pattern against the time line. Therefore, it is important to understand how the dancer relates to the pattern of the bell and you can see and understand the rhythm created. This concept generally takes people who are trained in western notation "out of their comfort zone".

It was found that when the students used the nonsense syllables, they were able to perceive and maintain the rhythm with ease. The following is the pattern used in the class. "GO, Dzi. GO, GO, Dzi, GO, Dzit, GO, Dzit. Or it can be expressed as a hand pattern Right, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Both, Right, Both. A third way of maintaining the rhythm was to say "Kon. Step, Ko. Lo. Step. Both Ko Both. Pattern three reinforces the rhythm using the "Kon Ko Lo" phrase. Using these patterns, the students were able to grasp and maintain the rhythm as they danced Agbadza..

©D. Green 1993