A Socio-Cultural Interpretation of Àwòrò-Ọ̀sẹ́ Dance Performative Gestures

Abstract

Purpose: In African setting, festivals come with different essences for its celebrations, and such festivity often involve royalty, priest, women, key, and co-participants that are gender inclusive. The audience that may be partial or fully active in their reactions to the spectacles of the enactment are not left out in most cases. Therefore, the main focus of this study, is to conduct a survey to ascertain the level of interactions and understanding of the various gestural acts as communicated within the enactments of Àwòrò-Ọ̀sẹ́ festival of Ìlá-Ọ̀ràngún performances.  In addition, the study addresses the notion that festive performances come with certain gestural nuances of importance which may not be comprehensible to the audience, except the initiates within the performance fora. The relevance of understanding typical body gestures, space utilization and other gestural nuances within the festive performances is to demystify that festival poetic or dance events as socio-cultural nuances that come with different connotations, and are thus, conceived differently by people.

Methodology: The methodology engaged is a survey through participatory observation, interviews of women, young dancers, elders and the royal father of the ancient town, an audio-visual recording of the festive performances involving the key actor and the co-participants were done. The entire data collected were drawn from three stages of Àwòrò-Ọ̀sẹ́ dance performances. The data collected were transcribed, translated and content analysis within the frame of socio-cultural theory analysis were applied. The secondary source of information were through book publications, journals and old magazines in print.  Interviews conducted were subjected to content analysis, and due interpretation of reactions to drum percussions, poetic recitation performances and audience applauses beyond the physical artistry for understanding of the gestures of the priest at the festival enactments.

Findings: Findings from the analysis informs that ancient or cultural festive celebrations usher in poetic and chant performances, dance movements, songs, and recitations that calls for reactions of the audience.

Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The artistry of the performers communicates indexes of different role-play which informs those evidences of gestures and reactions, communicating different intents of historical-allusion, happiness, sad feelings, or indication of other sacred or non-sacred warnings in the enactment to the public.