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ABSTRACT
Theatre practice in Nigeria had shown a fusion of music, dance and
drama in a holistic nature. From the traditional to the modern theatre
practice, music, dance and drama have remained highly inseparable
in their performance context. Over the years, however, attempts have
been made by theatre practitioners of the literary genre to retain this
symbiotic nature of performance practice. Their attempts have failed
because most of their works have only made one arm of the performing
arts to be dominant and the others just supportive. This paper,
therefore, examines the unique approach of 'Zulu Sofola to the holistic
nature of African Nigerian performance practice. Her approach gives
each arm equal space to communicate as an independent arm, as well
as maintain simultaneous symbiotic relationship with the other arms
within the same play. The paper concludes that the 'Zulu Sofola's
experiment is a unique dimension to the existing integrative
co-existence of the performing arts in Nigeria and that is worth the
effort pursuing and developing in this 21st century.
Keywords: Music, Dance, Drama, Performance practice.
INTRODUCTION
The performance practice of music, dance and drama in the
traditional African society can be said to be that of a total theatre
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Fusing Music, Dance and Drama into Performance: The 'Zulu Sofola Experiment.
Felix A. AKINSIPE, Ph. D.
because it is holistic in nature. The performing arts freely enjoy the Akinsipe holds that the traditional Nigerian! African art,
company of one another so much that when one is being performed the
others are significantly present and well articulated too. This is why is a fusion of music, dance, drama and other related
Omojola(1994: 147) posits that arts. Indeed these elements are so interwoven in the
traditional performing arts that the absence of one
Music in traditional Nigerian societies is generally renders the whole performance incomplete and, in most
conceived as part of a multi-media, total theatre cases, unacceptable to the people. (Akinsipe
.~
experience within which different aspects of the 2008: 76)
performing arts such as Poetry, Dance, Drama, often
combine for effective communication: It can therefore be concluded from all the above that a typical
Nigerian traditional performance is made up of an active and perfect
Euba (1982: 225) expresses the same opinion on music fusion of the different art forms of music, dance, drama, etc, towards
thus; effective communication. Thus the independent nature of each of the
arts of the theatre in the performances of the Western world is not the
One of the important characteristics of traditional
same in the traditional Nigerian/African performances.
music is its integration with other arts (to a degree
The Nigerian university system, however, taking after the
which often approaches the concept of total art) and the
British educational system inherited this autonomous nature of
realization of the resultant multi-art complex within the
Western performance as music and drama departments exist separately
framework of social events.
in the system and where dance is done in any, it comes as an
appendage. Most attempts to maintain the traditional African holistic
This is to say that there is a strong unbroken cord between music, dance
performance nature by the modem and academic theatre practitioners
and drama in the Nigerian traditional societies, such that even when one
have not been successful as they usually lack the meaningful balance
is created separately and independently, it is no longer recognizable as
attained in the traditional performances. In the first instance, the
such in performance practice. Dance scholars like (Enekwe, and
performing arts are studied under the umbrella of theatre or dramatic
Akinsipe,) affirm the same:
arts in a situation where dance and music are mainly used as supportive
arts to drama. Where it is a Department of Musk, dance and drama
The Nigerian dance is characterized by a formalized
become appendages.
rapport between musicians and dancers. There is active
Most playwrights from the universities only write straight
interaction between them. The music does not merely
plays which give little or no room for music and dance or give
accompany the dancer. Both encounter each other,
insignificant roles to them. After a study of a modem playwright's
sometimes, in a dialectical sense (Enekwe 1991:26-27).
work in the year 2000, Akinsipe concludes that;
224
223
Exploring The Mirror Motif In An Appraisal Of Choreographic Education In Nigeria like Ifure UFFORD-AZORBO, Ph.D
225 226
Fusing Music, Dance and Drama into Performance: The 'Zulu Sofola Experiment.
Felix A. AKINSIPE, Ph. D.
227
Felix A. AKINSIPE, Ph. D. Fusing Music, Dance and Drama into Performance: The 'Zulu Sofola Experiment.