BAOBAB YOUTH
PERFORMERS
click here to view the Baobab Youth
Performers scrapbook
Participants aged 12-18, in the Ottawa-Carleton area, make up the
membership of Baobab Youth Performers. This group was established in 1995
by Kathy Armstrong and Rory Magill. They rehearse once a week through the
academic year, and perform at numerous concerts and benefits.
In 1999, the group completed their first CD
and completed their first trip to Ghana in July, 2001
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AKPOKLI DRUM and DANCE
SOCIETY
Akpokli! is a command called among the Achiame (a-cha-may), a
small clan among the Ewe (eh-way) living in south-eastern Ghana, on the
coast of West Africa. It is a strong word denoting power, and gives
encouragement and inspiration. It is the name given to this Ottawa group
by its Ghanaian father, Kwasi Dunyo.
Akpokli was established for adult performers by Rory Magill and Kathy
Armstrong under the direction of Kwasi Dunyo. They made their debut in
1995 at Wakefield, Quebec's beloved Black Sheep Inn.
Akpokli has performed for celebrations at the residence of the High
Commissioner for Ghana, His Excellency Oliver Lawluvi, and for his
predecessor; likewise for the former High Commissioner for the Kingdom of
Swaziland.
The group has also performed for the Ghana Association of Ottawa, at
6th March Independence Day celebrations; at Black History Month
celebrations; at the CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival; for CIDA, GRACE Canada
and Worldwalk; and for enthusiastic audiences on nightclub dance
floors.
Akpokli (ak-po-kleh) is a community group with a variety of shared
interests and goals. It is a group of drummers and dancers dedicated to
presenting to the larger community a variety of traditional and newer
ïcreativeÍ styles learned from Ghanaian masters: Gahu and Bobobo as
examples of popular Ewe music and dance; Kpanlogo from the Ga; the
Ashanti Adowa; Takai from Dagbamba traditions. Knowledge of these styles
and their cultural significance has been passed directly from some of
Ghana's great drummers and dancers: Kwasi Dunyo, Godwin Agbeli, Abubakari
Lunna, Abraham Adzenyah, Helen Mensah, John Mensah, Joseph Ashong, Nii
Tettey Tetteh.
Akpokli is also a social group, inspired by the habobo or 'societies'
found in villages throughout the Volta Region. These are social
organizations which convene regularly to drum, dance and sing, discuss
pressing matters, raise funds for village projects (and for individual
need within the habobo - a sort of social security.)
Like Baobab Youth Performers and Chelsea School, Akpokli has an active
affiliation with the village of Dagbamete in Ghana. The group has helped
raise money and given from its own fund toward development projects in
Dagbamete.
Every year, someone from the group makes the trip to Ghana and spends
time in the village, fostering new friendships and studying the drum and
dance traditions under the magnificent shade tree in front of Kwasi
Dunyo's house and the new Kathy Armstrong Lodge.
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