Ghana

BORBORBOR DANCE from GHANA: An African Tribal Dance

Borborbor is an African tribal dance of the “Ewedome” community in Ghana, Africa. This tribal dance is said to have originated from the mid Volta region in Ghana. This dance is generally performed during festive occasions. In addition, this dance style essentially consists of music that involves the use of drums and is also accompanied by singing. The Borborbor dance form is mainly performed in a group from dawn right until dusk.

a. History and origin of the Borborbor Dance from Ghana:

It is believed that the root of this dance form has been embedded within the culture of a village called Wusuta located around the Volta Lake in Ghana during the late 1940’s. It was however an ex-police officer belonging to a village called Kpando called Francis Nuatro who first developed a musical genre called “Borborbor”. He apparently fused styles of music such as the Konkoma to produce this (Borborbor) genre of music. Furthermore, it was then to the rhythms of this music that this dance form was eventually produced, and was quite aptly named “Borborbor”.

b. Costumes used in the Borborbor Dance:

This dance form is performed mainly by females and the costume worn includes a colourful long dress and two white handkerchiefs.

c. Music involved in the Borborbor Dance:

“Traditional instruments” belonging to the Ewe community is basically used in this dance style. They include a pair of castanets, container rattles, a small drum called “vuvi”, a supporting drum called “asivu”, and a master drum called “vuga”.

d. Training availability and dance technique involved in the Borborbor Dance:

In terms of the technique, this dance involves the performers forming a circle, and swaying to the rhythmic beats of the music produced by the drums played by the musicians. In addition, while dancing the performers are supposed to twirl two handkerchiefs in the air. As for training centres/schools there are very few available around the globe since this is essentially an African tribal dance that is performed exclusively by a tribe in Ghana known as “Ewedome”.

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Best Borborbor Dance Videos

Edzordzinam Fafali Borborbor Band
Edzordzinam Fafali Borborbor Band on ShowBiz360 with Efo Giovanni Caleb
Edzordzinam Fafali Borborbor Band @Royal Senchi (Adome Bridge) performance
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