The World Dances to Afan Music

English Dancer in Afan Music

Abbey is English. She is not a dancer; but she was moved by the rhythm of afan music. This clip symbolises how her part of the world will likely receive afan on the Internet.

Indonesian Dancer in Afan Music

Chinese Dance Teacher in Afan Music

Feng is a Chinese dance teacher. This clip demonstrates the likely response to afan by that part of the world and the opportunities of afan in dance studios across the globe.

Czech Dancer in Afan Music

 

Markéta is a Czech dancer. She expresses her delight and appreciation for afan music. This clip demonstrates how her part of the world will likely respond to afan on the Internet.

Umobuarie Strums on the Afan

A clip of an interview with the afan exponent by the Nigerian Television Authority.

Umobuarie Dances to OMATA Music

This shows two different aspects of afan performance: where the exponent dances and where the entire ensemble sits to perform.

Afan Music

Afan music in performance. A separate shot of the exponent in an award-giving ceremony is shown at the end of the clip.

Afan Music and Drama

Chief Umobuarie Igberaese specifically staged this performance for a doctoral research student in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, upon her request. This clip shows drama as an integral part of afan music. Furthermore, raising afan high up while a song is being sung indicates that that particular song should be brought to an end.

Afan Music and Audience Reaction

Afan is audience-participatory. This explains a part of the audience's reaction during a performance.

Afan Musician Prays Before Performing

It was routine for the afan exponent to pray and commit the night's activities to God before the commencement of any performance. Thereafter, he would walk around beating a gong to announce the title of the night's performance and also advise the audience to be attentive and orderly. A performance would usually last from about 9.30pm to about 5am.

MY MASTER'S RESEARCH PROJECT

This post marks the beginning of my practice-based Master's research project titled, DIGITISING TRADITIONAL MEDIA: The Case of Afan in Africa. Previous posts represent my personal thoughts and research on afan; and although are directly relevant yet they do not contribute to the contents of my Master's project.

Posts, hereafter, are artefacts generated and produced for my project. They will be read, watched, assessed and scored by my examiners. This part of the blog representing chapter four, constitutes the practice part, of my research. It is subdivided into two parts: audio/video clips of afan and photos showing the process of constructing afan.

There are 17 posts in all:

• Six (6) are video clips of the afan exponent 
• Six (6) are video clips showing how afan music can be appreciated outside its traditional environment
• Four (4) are audio clips 
• One (1) shows the process of constructing afan.