IGYMS (International Ghanaian Youth Movement of Strasbourg) in collaboration with the Ghanaian community of Strasbourg end the Cultural Week and the Celebrations of Ghana’s Independence@59 this Saturday, March 12, 2016.
It was held at the Centre culturel Victor Schoelcher Cronenbourg (56 Rue du Rieth, 67200 Strasbourg).
In the program were, Speeches, Presentation of trophies, Artists Benefit, Ghanaian Meals, Choreography (dance), and Traditional Dances.
Special guests: Timothy AIDOO: Consul General at the Embassy of Ghana in France
Pierre Gaetan Njikam-MOULIOM: Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux in charge of partnerships with sub-Saharan Africa.
Kpanlogo is a recreational dance and music form from Ghana, West Africa. It was first played by the Ga ethnic group, most of whom live in and around the capital city, Accra, but is now performed and enjoyed throughout the country. It began in the early 1960s as an innovative dance form, influenced by American rock and roll, and giving the younger Ga generations a point of distinction from their elders. Ghanaian master drummer C.K. Ladzekpo states that kpanlogo “is essentially an urban youth dance-drumming and a symbol of the commitment of a rapidly growing Ghanaian urban neighborhood youth in advocating their perspective in shaping the political vision of post colonial Africa” (1995: web).[1] The kpanlogo dance is often performed low to the ground, with bent knees and bent back, and frequently features sexually suggestive motions.
The music accompanying the kpanlogo dance is drawn from older Ga drumming traditions, such as gome, oge and kolomashie. Kpanlogo music uses three types of instruments: nono(metal bell), fao (gourd rattle), and kpanlogo drums. Nono plays the key pattern or timeline of the music, supported by the fao. It is common to have three kpanlogo drums in an ensemble, in the roles of “male voice”, “female voice” and “master drum”.
