Mohammed S. Shehu
13 September 2008
The National Troupe of Nigeria and National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) recently gave good account of themselves in far away Brazil with a rare display of the best of the Nigerian arts as part of the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Cultural House.
Considered to be one of the best cultural outings in any part of the world, the National Troupe of Nigeria, led by Arnold Udoka, Nigeria's foremost Choreographer, thrilled Brazilians with a colourful cultural performance as part of the commissioning ceremony of the Nigeria Cultural House in Salvador, Bahia State of Brazil.
The event, which took place on Friday, August 29 in Pelourinho, port city of Salvador provided the troupe the opportunity to showcase Nigeria at its best.
Even the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, could not hide his excitement after being thrilled to a scintillating dance drama staged by the 19-man team of the troupe.
Before the grand finale, the troupe had on Thursday, August 28, performed along with the Bahia cultural troupe. The event, which took place at the mini-theatre Pelourinho, brought together the splendour of the two cultures.
According to Prince Kayode, the joint performance was simply "electric, magnetic and unbelievable."
He said the performance showed that Africans Diaspora, despite the agony of slavery, had not forgotten their roots.
"The synergy shows that the two countries have the same body language, the same people, but the only difference is geography. All we need to do is to re-incarnate the same soul that binds us together and it shows we can work together to develop our tourism industry," he said.
Also speaking on the outing, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Senator Yisa Braimoh, called on the two countries to consider collaboration to perform at the forth coming Abuja Carnival billed for November this year.
"We need the group to present the Brazilian experience along with our own origin of the Abuja Carnival," he suggested.
On the grand finale, the troupe came up with another vibrant dance drama titled Iba. Created by Ahmed Yerima, the Director General of the National Theatre/National Troupe, Iba, is a story that tells the world about Nigeria's deep-rooted cultural respect for traditional institutions; respect for hierarchy; and respect for constituted authority. In "Iba", the world must come to know that Nigeria is not only rich in sports and natural resources, but is also rich in cultures and traditions that pre-date other civilizations and colonization; cultural and traditional practices that have not been eroded by the avalanche of modern religious practices and systems of governance.
"Iba" brings to the front burner, Nigeria's unity in diversity as various components of the dance are drawn from a few of the diverse ethnic groups that make up the sovereignty. These constitute a legacy to our founding fathers and bulwark for unity.
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