Asakua-Dance Review

There are certain cultural experiences which I will never forget. However, there are also many cultural experiences (mostly from my time in Ghana) that I wish I could forget. This is the case of the production of “Asakua- Dance of Idioms” which I watched here on campus. It was dance performance by Ghanaian students, for the most part, and one very long number by a mix of Ghanaian and white students. The first half of the performance was magical. The Ghanaian men dancing were both graceful and strong, performing many near-acrobatic tricks as well as slow, precise moves. I instantly knew that I would never be able to accomplish the level of dance these talented young men have in their short lives. And I didn’t want to, either, because their dances are so specifically part of their own culture, tradition, and history. But then, of course, there were the international students who were featured in the third dance. Ugh. This may sound weird, but more and more I am embarrassed by fellow white women who have come to Ghana to “study”. First, they wear the traditional cloth and dresses. Next, they get their hair braided. Then they get the Ghanaian or Nigerian boyfriend. And then, it was this dance. It was embarrassing. The strength and power of the dancers I had seen in the previous acts disappeared as five or so white women joined the last dance. I’m not sure why they were smiling so much when they were yelling “Help!” and acting like they were trying to crawl out of a cave. To me, that’s not a very pleasant sounding experience, and it didn’t appear to be a pleasant experience by the faces of the Ghanaian students in the dance. A few of the dancers forgot parts of the dance, which I don’t understand because they had the entire semester to learn it. Even worse was the fact that all the white students were placed in the front of the stage and then they didn’t know all the moves. This obvious lack of skill caused the majority of the Ghanaian audience to laugh through most of the dance. I couldn’t help but turn away or cringe through most of it. Normally, I would be able to appreciate their efforts, but in this case, I couldn’t give them that kind of respect. If they were going to be part of this centuries old tradition and depict Ghanaian culture through dance, then they should have put as much effort as possible into learning the dance. Watching the Ghanaian dances is the perfect opportunity to appreciate Ghanaian culture, but I really believe the few white students who participated kind of disrespected the art of the dance and what it stands for. There are certain parts of cultures that are so different from our own that we couldn’t possibly understand them completely and can never be a part of them because they don’t belong to us. These dances, which carry much meaning, are the kinds of aspects of Ghanaian culture which we should just appreciate.