Teacher’s Resource Guide Dear Educators, Obo Addy Legacy Project (OALP) provides student audiences with presentations and performances that explodes with the sounds of authentic West African rhythm and song, vibrates with traditional dance and offers insight into African culture and its influences in America. Each presentation and performances showcases the life of Obo Addy and his homeland of Ghana, West Africa—a country that has over fifty different ethnic groups and languages. Students can expect to see traditionally clad musicians performing on unique hand crafted percussion instruments along with spinning and kicking dancers depicting stories and ideas through humor and powerful physicality. Our presentations, shows and workshops culminates with audience participation that is certain to make students jump in joyful celebration of cultural diversity. Our updated 2017 Teachers’s Resource Guide is put together by experts in the field of Africana studies associated with our Education Committee. The guide is designed to assist teachers as they prepare students for the performance and integrate the performance with existing academic curriculum. The guide will assist educators by pointing out elements applicable to Oregon Arts Content Standards and includes: biographical information about the performers, cultural and historical information about Ghana including African music and instruments. At the end we’ve included relevant vocabulary, classroom activists and various media resources such as links, readings and audio recordings for further academic inquiry. The suggested activities are also applicable to Common Core TABLE OF CONTENTS Standards as well as National Arts Standards. We look forward to bringing the music and dance of Ghana to you. 2 Introduction & About the Artists Performance & Lesson Expectations & Objectives 3 We look forward to bringing the music and dance of Ghana to you! Africa & Ghana: Quick Facts 4 Susan Addy Rose E Tucker African Languages in Ghana, Regions & Ethnicity 5 Executive Director Charitable Trust History, Geography & Political Economy 8 Primary Features of African Music in Ghana 10 Instruments & Classification 11 Appendices I - VI Teacher’s Resource Guide ABOUT THE ARTISTS Obo Addy (January 15, 1936-September 13, 2012) was a Nii Ayi Charles Armah Ghanaian Master Drummer, dancer and composer. Obo was is a Master Drummer and one of the first native African musicians to bring the fusion grew up in the Ga city and of traditional folk music and Western pop music known as capital of Ghana Accra world beat to Europe and then to the Pacific Northwest where and by the age eight he he based himself in Portland, had already learned all the Oregon in the late 1970’s. traditional drums of his His life-long relationship people. After joining the with music began while National Dance Company watching his father’s intricate of Ghana in 1993 he rose to drumming. His father who’s become Assistant Master a wonche or spiritual healer, Drummer. His drumming guided ceremonies with his has taken him to England, drumming. By six, Obo made France, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, the decision to become a S. Korea and the United States. Charles was featured on professional drummer. At the ceremonial fontomfrom drums in a performance for 18, he began to live his President Clinton during the President’s visit to Ghana in dream when he joined his 1998. Since the late 90’s he moved to Portland Oregon, first professional band and joined Okropong with Master Drummer Obo Addy as well as later joined the Joe Kelly Kukrudu; Obo’s world beat band. Since 2011 is featured in Band. He then joined the pioneer tour of Oboade, the first Portland’s only remaining world beat band “Wamba.” professional traditional Ghanaian performance troupe to tour the West. Obo originated his own world beat band To order cd’s: Kukrudu in Portland as well as the band Okropong. In his www.oboaddy.com/recordings last years Obo started to merge world beat and traditional www.cdbaby.com music with American hip hop music, dance, and MCing in a project called “Diatribe.” Okropong is now led by Master Drummer Nii Ayi Charles Armah who is co-director for OALP with Obo’s son Alex Addy. Alex Addy spent most of his youth in Ghana where he was involved in drumming performances at his church before moving to Portland, Oregon when he was fifteen. He joined Homowo African Arts & Cultures/Obo Addy Legacy Project in 1992 and his infectious energy has been an asset to the organization’s educational programs. Alex teaches the five hand techniques of Ghanaian drumming and believes in students working together to create a strong communal rhythm, yet embrace the confidence to use one’s voice in a solo. He has been teaching at Right Brain Initiative, Young Audiences, Saturday Academy, Open Meadow Alternative Schools, The Higher Stages Program,and the Sun School programs throughout the city. 2 Teacher’s Resource Guide PERFORMANCE & LESSON EXPECTATIONS & OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES: IMPACT OF THE ART FORM STUDENTS WILL LEARN THAT: TEACHERS WILL BE ABLE TO: • Ghana is one of Africa’s 53 nations, located in West • Lead students in an examination of the continent of Africa, that has a rich linguistic, cultural and musical Africa through the country of Ghana, by framing that heritage. within a country there is great diversity. • Ghana shares many connections with the Americas and • Understand the importance of storytelling in helping African Diaspora. students connect to the realities and experiences of • Music and dance is integrated into the every-day lives people from other cultures. of Ghanaians. • Determine the connection between contemporary • There are several unique elements and features of cultures and traditional cultures through music. African music and instruments. • Reflect on the role of music in diverse cultural ways of life. 3 Teacher’s Resource Guide AFRICA & GHANA: QUICK FACTS •AFRICA 2nd Largest continent • Over 800 ethnic groups • Over 2000 languages are spoken (40 have over 1 million speakers) • 56 Countries (newest S. Sudan, 2010) • Diverse Climate- 15% desert, 10% tropical rainforests, 35% grasslands • Africa is the birthplace of humanity, over 4 million years ago based on evidence from the human genome project, archaeology and linguistics evidence • Most wildlife live in protected reserves, parks & zoos •GHANA About the same size as Oregon • Over 50 ethnic groups • Ghanaians speak 3-4 indigenous languages • English is commonly taught in schools as a result of British colonialism • Religions include Islam, Christianity and traditional African religion • Lake Volta is the world’s largest man-made lake by surface area • Capital Accra population 2.269 million people • The national currency is called cedi named after the prolific cowrie shell • 42nd in world cell phone usage, more than Canada • Natural resources include gold, timber, silver, fish and hydroelectric power • First country in Africa to decolonize from European rule on March 6th, 1957 Locate Ghana on a map. Find the city of Accra. Look at the neighboring countries. Discuss how living in a country like Ghana could be different than living in The United States. 4 Teacher’s Resource Guide LANGUAGES, REGIONS & ETHNICITY TodayAFRICAN there LANGUAGESare more than 130 IN million GHANA people living in West Africa. This large region stretches from the Atlantic coast of Mauritania and Senegambia to Lake Chad and Mount Cameroon to the east. Although the region has been divided into fifteen modern nation states there is more culturally diverse than national boundaries. For example in Nigeria alone there are about 300 different ethnic groups. Modern Ghana has over 50 different ethnic groups. From the trans-Saharan belt stretching in to North Africa to southern savannah, rainforest and ultimately Atlantic coastline. West Africa as a region in Africa is well known, particularly within its indigenous music, for polyrhythmic, multilayer’s sounds. The languages of ethic groups in the eastern part of West Africa belong to the Kwa and Benue-Congo divisions of the Niger-Congo family. For example one category of the Kwa branch is know as the Akan; widely dispersed areas in modern Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The Akan groups in Ghana comprise of ten distinct languages that are not completely mutually intelligible from. Several Akan languages will be mentioned in the following section. 5 Teacher’s Resource Guide Western/Southwest - GhanaREGIONS is broken & ETHNICITYdown into ten general regions. The regions 3) The Akan people, located in with some brief note on cultures, from south to north are: southwest, Ghana, have been greatly influenced by British culture and have a matrilineal form of descent. They are 1) Greater Accra - This region lies along the Southeastern related to several other cultural/ethnic groups in Ghana Atlantic coast of Ghana and is home to the Ga people, the such as the Ashanti. original inhabitants of Ghana;s capital city Accra. Ga culture Ashanti - is featured in OALP programming because of Obo Addy’s 4) This region lies in the middle of the country ethnic heritage being from there. Ga people are coastal and is largely comprised of the the Akan speaking group people known for their hand drumming, singing and ability known as the Ashanti. The Ashanti in the south-central area to incorporate other cultural/ethnic group music into their well known for their beautiful artistry in ceramics, wood own. carving, pottery, and weaving the famous kente cloth. This cultural/ethnic group conquered a number of people during 2) Central Coast - This coastal region stretches from the reign of the Ashanti Kingdom (17th-late 19th century) Greater Accra further west along the Atlantic coast of and incorporated these cultures into their own. Ghana. The Fanti peoples live in the coastal areas and are the second largest cultural/ethnic group. The Fante are also apart of the Akan people who have a matrilineal descent.