KLAMAH; THE DIPO DANCE


According to my grandmother, who comes from Dodowa, the Dipo dance was originated from 'Klo Yomi' which means Shai Hills, where their forefathers came to settle after they came from Nigeria.
The whole story was of a man who married two wives at that time, the first wife of the man got pregnant and gave birth to a male child. After a few weeks the man and his wife agreed and circumcised the baby. The couple and the neighbors were very happy they circumcised the baby because their perception was that, the baby has been cleansed or sanctified all the people in the community came together to celebrate and offer gifts to the baby and the mother.
This drew the man’s attention so much on the wife and the baby boy, which became a legacy for all the people in the community that all their male children must be circumcised
Later the second wife also got pregnant. But instead of giving birth to a boy as she wished for, she gave birth to a girl. Due to her bitterness and jealousy, she also thought of doing something unique. Due to the fact that she can't circumcise the baby, she sat and created her own idea to let the man and the community know women can also be sanctified.
She waited until she entered her puberty age then she went to the market to buy plenty expensive beads, clothes, and "mim3"as perfume those days to dress up her girl to look gorgeous to signify she is ready for marriage
The dance she organized to celebrate the cleansing and sanctification of her daughter became known as 'Dipo'. She set up a final dance which she called "klamah" which they now called Dipo dance.
So, during the dance, you dress to expose your body to attract men to tell them you’re are ready for marriage.                                                                                                                                                          A DIPO INITIATE
                                  Girls in the second stage of Dipo initiation. - Nachrichtenfoto ...                                                                                                                                                      
Twisting the waist and the butts sends a message that yes, she’s matured enough to satisfy a man,
Bending downwards tells the men the back is strong enough to carry a baby
Dancing backwards and forwards means that wherever the men turns in bed you're ready to meet him
They usually sing and clap their hands during the klama dance
The turning of their hands and necks also symbolizes that, they are having their beauty all over them.

 THE KLAMA DANCE PERFORMANCE
Two female initiates perform the Klama dance at their outdooring ...  Girls in the second stage of Dipo initiation perform a Dipo dance ...

The Klama Dance, when performed, signifies the end of the Dipo rites and the final transition of a young girl into womanhood. The dance calls for suitors for the hands of the transitioned girls into marriage.

BY OSUBRONI FAUSTINA.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BORBORBOR DANCE

Image
THE BORBORBOR DANCE  It is believed that the root of this dance form has been embedded within the culture of a village called Wusuta located around the Volta Lake in Ghana.    Francis Nuatro an ex-police officer belonging to a village called Kpando first developed the musical genre called “Borborbor”.  Borborbor is the most popular style of recreational music in the Volta Region.  It links traditional drumming rhythms with proverbial lyrics that frequently include Christian themes. It is the ultimate blend of old and new.    Borborbor is often played at celebrations and funerals.  Borborbor drummers weave moderate beats while women dancers and singers revolve around them.  Women singers carry two white handkerchiefs that they twirl in the air at the end of a drumming period. And also this dance , involves ladies tweaking with their backsides. A bugle may be used to add spice to the music. There is usually one song leader who will sing the first line of a song and
Read more

AGBADZA - THE DANCE OF ENTERTAINMENT

Image
The dance "Agbadza" , is a dance performed by the people of Togo, Benin and the western part of NIgeria. When we come to Ghana, we have the Ewe tribe of the Volta Region performing the "Agbadza" dancee. The dance is not usually performed by the whole tribe of Ewes. We have th  Anlo's, who are the patrons of the dance, the Avenors , the Tongu's and some part of th  Wedome people performing this dance of "Agbadza ." " Agbadza " has many rhythms  likened to it. We have the Misornu, Agee, Awuna, Kinka, Atokoe, Adzida, Adzidasogbo, Atsafu, Atsiagbekore, Madedzi and Atrikpui. All these are rhythms likened to " Agbadza ." All these rhythms are performed using the same set of local instruments since without these instruments, the dance cannot be performed to perfection. The instruments include, a set of four drums, a "gakogoe "- which is a two conical metal joined to a tiny rod of metal at the base. The two sides ar
Read more

THE ASAFO DANCE

Image
Winneba was founded in 1515 by the Efutu settlers under the leader Osimpa, hence, the name Simpa Efutu which is also the dialect spoken in Winneba.  According to the history, the name Winneba originated from sailors who plied along the Atlantic Coast and who were often aided along the bay by  favorable winds.  From their constant use of the words windy bay, the name Winneba was coined. THE ASAFO COMPANY Winneba has a number of music and dance forms but the famous is the Asafo traditional dance which is performed with three drums and gong gong beating.  It is mostly the men who do the clapping and singing just to keep the rhythm and the tempo, but the dancing is non – restrictive. It is also known that women can perform the Asafo traditional dance very well even though, it is a warrior dance and for that matter it has to be performed and danced by men. THE WORRIOR DANCE BEING PERFORMED The Asafo dance is a traditional warrior
Read more