DIPO AND KLAMA ARE NOT THE SAME
This
year, I drew closer to the Kloyosipklemi festival of the chiefs and people of
Yilo Krobo. I made sure I was in town around that period and participated in some
of the activities including the pilgrimage to the ancestral home, the Krobo
Mountain. I was also at the grand durbar on the invitation of Nene Amoatey
Akpatsu Azza VI, Divisional Chief of Nyewer.
Folks, I was awed by a lot of things especially at the durbar, the most enchanting was the klama performance. I was busy savouring the moment; the nice tune; the rich, poetic and historical lyrics and feeding my eyes with the dazzling beauty of the nubile ‘girls’ performing the klama dance when snippets of a conversation between some lads seated next to me hit my eardrum.
My attention shifted to them momentarily. It was obvious from the line of argument that one of them didn’t know the difference between dipo and klama. To one of the guys, once he saw the ladies dressed as they did (in beads, cloths, headgear and dangling loin cloths), and dancing, they were performing dipo.
Nothing
was more surprising than the confidence with which the dude was advertising his
ignorance about the subject matter. I wasn’t invited to join the conversation
so I turned my attention back to the refreshing sight the event was offering me
and I made sure I had a single-minded focus on the dancers from that point.
One
of the dancers noticed I was keenly interested in what they were doing so she
flashed a cheerful grin in my direction and I also winked in acknowledgement.
You see your life, you want me to tell you more about that, right? It’s pure
‘toli’, so let’s get back to the essence of this post, the difference between
dipo and klama.
Dipo
is a whole rite involving different rituals while klama is simply a cultural or
folk dance. Let me offer a more detailed explanation.
Fact
is, dipo has come to be associated more with my people, Krobos, than any of the
other Dangme tribes. The whole rite has however been greatly impacted by
Christianity, formal education, modernity and other socio-economic factors to
the extent that the fear and reverence it evoked in the past have waned
considerably.
Now,
views over its relevance and justifications for its continuous performance are
quite mixed. I must say that throughout its changing phases, dipo has aroused
debates and generated diverse opinions and controversies which have led to
various forms of (usually) skewed analysis and interpretations by different
schools of thought. To cut it short, dipo is a whole rite involving a set of
rituals.
KLAMA:
Klama, on the other hand, is an indigenous dance of Krobo origin, performed
mainly at festive occasions - such as during the performance of dipo rites,
marriage ceremonies - and rarely at somber events such as funerals of
traditional priests, and chiefs.
The
klama rhythm or sound is composed of beats from a set of drums, gong and a
casaba of gourd or beaded gourd, known locally as fau.
The
dance move is characterized by a slow graceful, rhythmic body movement and the
shuffling of feet. Typically, the left arm is raised horizontally a little
above the waist level, and the wrist is wriggled mildly in tune with the beat
while the right arm, which points to the ground swings gently in conformity.
Simply
put, klama is a cultural/folk dance and not a ritual or rite.
Click
this link for a typical klama rendition: https://youtu.be/j4ZzuCIx7AM. I
remember recording and uploading this video about five years ago during an
event at the Roman Catholic Parish, Agormanya.
So
nobody will begrudge you if you say klama and dipo move hand in hand, but note
that they are NOT the same.
My 2
by 4 explanation. You can add on for purposes of education, folks.
NB: First published Saturday 19th December, 2020
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