Asanti Dance Theatre presents ‘Sankofa’ – a fusion of West African contemporary dance styles and Australian influences.
‘Sankofa’ is an important symbol in the culture of Ghana, with the word literally meaning ‘go back and get it’. It’s about returning to where you came from in order to learn something, bring something back with you.
Director of ‘Sankofa’ and performer Appiah Annan talks about the importance of dance as a medium for telling stories. “My forefathers in Ghana told all their stories through dance, through movement. It has always been a part of our storytelling.”
Annan says he became a dancer around 10 years old, when he started paying attention to the different ways his body could move, and how that could help him as a dancer and performer. “Since then I have studied a lot as well – for four years, because I got a scholarship. Now I’m going back to do my masters.”
Annan describes ‘Sankofa’ as a stark, physically demanding dance performance that’s closely connected to the musical traditions of Ghana. The dancers of ‘Sankofa’ always move with the rhythm of the music, so it’s an important element to telling the story. He says researching showed how important the relationship between music and African dance is.
African dance and Australian dance – ‘Sankofa’ being a melding of the two. “The reason we wanted to have Australian elements too is that we are doing a contemporary dance, we are making our own dance vocabulary.” Annan says even though they mostly work with African traditional music, they hold their bodies in new ways and incorporate more modern movements they’ve learnt from being in Australia.
“People sometimes think of Africa as one, but Africa is many countries and cultures and languages,” Annan makes a point of saying, referring to the fact that this show is heavily influenced by traditions from Ghana specifically. “All African countries are individual, with different ways of doing things.” It’s important for Annan to tell stories about Ghana. “I can tell it well, because I know it. It's not very often that you know the story this well, the story you are telling with your dance.”
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And what is ‘Sankofa’ all about? They say you can't go home again, but Annan says the idea is to first look back at your past before you move on. “It's very important to have some kind of home. If you can't go back in order to move forward, that's okay – as long as you're still moving forward.” He adds that some people can never go back their home, for whatever reason, but either way it's the idea of embracing the past that 'Sankofa' presents to the audience.
As part of his work for Asanti Dance Theatre, Annan also raises money for a village near Accra in Ghana. “There weren’t any proper schools there, there was nothing to help the kids learn skills for the future.” He talks about how the only option for people in the village was to go into the city to try and find work, but thanks to Annan’s charity the village can have its own facilities. Other than performing and charity work, Annan says he’ll be very busy right up until the end of this year with community work as well. “I'll be doing some school workshops based on community engagement, and after that I'll be working in Africa – very busy!”
Annan encourages everyone to come and see ‘Sankofa’, even those totally unfamiliar with West African dance styles. “We are Australia’s best African contemporary dance company, I hope everyone will come and enjoy our performance, and I think they will understand the concepts.”
‘Sankofa’ performs Redland Performing Arts Centre 31 March.
