The Dance of the Five
Kola knew the Agwom Kuwop would be expecting us to be at the town square but as usual, he had found a way to get the rest of the gang to see reason in his wanting to climb the “100 Steps to Afizere Settlement,” on the day of the Afizere people’s festival. The 100 Steps are a series of stairs carved into the stones and rocks all the way to the top of the hill that served as the ancestral home of the Afizere people when they first migrated to the area now known as Jos. His “reason” for having the team risk being chided by the paramount ruler of the Afizere people was, “The weather is just right.” To any other person, this was confusing to say the least, but as a shortlisted candidate for the Pulitzer of photography, the International Photographer Awards and an award winning photographer in multiple competitions and countries, Kola was not adjudged with the normal rules, at least not in this team. As the official photographer in our tour of Nigerian tribes, he knew the right conditions to take pictures that told the stories and kept the cash flow moving.
After the arduous climb up with twists and turns and more breaks than we expected, we got to the summit and I knew Kola was right. The view was breathtaking, from the top of the hill, the entire stretch of the city of Jos could be seen, from the Terminus market to the National Museum. The scene reminded one of something nostalgic, felt on the tongue but escaping pronunciation. Standing on top of the plateau, I thought of the kingmaking traditional rites and how it just made sense that they were done up here. With the view of the entire kingdom. By the time I had come out of my awe inspired reverie, our short photo session was over so we quickly slithered down the stairs as carefully as we could, into the van and to the main event of the day.
The Master of Ceremony stood at the center of the worn football field that doubled as the town square. It’s sandy turf was common to pitches like this instead of the green and clean carpet seen on TV. From his perch on top of a small platform, he could see and call out the different villages and districts coming together to celebrate the new year with a local dance or musical rendition. Every year in January, the 5 districts --Fobur, Forsum, Maigemu, Federe and Shere (with Shere having another set of popular hills), come out to celebrate Igoon Izere, the new year festival with drink, food and dance.
As we settled into our seats and set up our equipment, the MC was already calling out the first band of men from Forsum, who were playing the apa, a type of high sounding flute. The men were bare chested and wore skirts made from palm fronds with anklets made from similar materials. Following the male dancers were Maigemu women dancing the signature female dance of the Afizere people, the amata dance. The women were dressed in white tops and colourful wrappers holding a horsetail whisk in one hand and swinging from side to side as they move their bodies to the music of the flutes. The flurry of activity didn't stop there, in fact it had just begun. Next the MC announced the Federe district women who are all middle aged but would be hard to identify as such from the rhythm of their steps and the flurry of the white horsetail whisk they also carry. Dressed in all white, their steps are cheerful and light, the ochre colour of the dust playing wistfully about their feet. Kola, i’m sure, was beside himself with fun. he flitted from camera to camera trying to capture all the beauty and culture that he could in one day.
Mesmerized by the dancers, I almost missed out on the delicacies in front of me, but a whiff of gwote caught my attention. A little girl of about ten stood in front of us, balancing a tray of gwote, lua lade and muos sua. The meals were made from different ingredients from acha rice to garden egg. We helped ourselves to healthy servings of the meal and used the signature burukutu, the locally made alcoholic beverage made from sorghum and millet, to chase down the huge meat chunks of the muos sua.
On the field, asharawa dancers from Fobur and Shere district made their entrance wearing red shorts and white tops. They are the most energetic of all the groups that have come out, the thump of their feet match as the dance across the field while playing the fast paced apa, the song builds to a crescendo and comes to a sudden stop as they exit the line of sight from the canopies spread across the field.
For a few seconds all is quiet until the music of the agba is heard, the agba is the royal dance, the music only heard when the Agwom Kuwop takes the stage. As expected, the dance of the king is majestic with slow, even movements, as he gently sways from left to right, the crowd, his citizens go wild with joy, it is clear that they love him. As he reaches the end of the field, he makes one final 360’ turn, waves his whisk and disappears beyond the line of sight.
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The dance of the five: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ku8erDKLck