Benjamin Sam is a structural engineer who gets busy with his regular
job, building houses for clients every weekday. Three times a week,
however, he wears a different hat in the evenings; he goes dancing.

He is not the only one. There are 19 others like him — workers and students — who spend their evenings dancing in an amateur dance company — one of many dotted all over Accra.

Going by the name of Tete Adahyemma Dance Theatre, they meet to sing, drum and dance to first, satisfy their creative urge, and if someone finds them interesting enough, engage them to perform at various social events such as baby christening, weddings, funerals and festivals. The very good groups are occasionally invited to perform at big functions.

“We dance just for the love of it,” Ben told Showbiz. “If some profit comes out of our dancing through performance engagements, fine. At least that is how we began and that is how we have been able to sustain our group for the past 11 years.”

Tete Adehyemma which literally translates as “past descendants of royals” emerged in 1996 out of the Community Youth Centre set up by the National Commission on Culture in 1990 to shelter the Ghanaian cultural heritage via traditional drumming and dancing.

It was to pilot a programme which will build the skills and capabilities as well as cater for the socio-cultural needs of the people of Kawukudi at Maamobi a suburb of Accra.

Ben told Showbiz that, it was not easy at all when the group began. “We have had our fair share of hard times in terms of lack of funds, costumes, accessories and promoters. We had to borrow costumes from the centre anytime we had to perform. We sometimes had to borrow from our mothers’ wardrobe, jewellery and accessories for performance”.

In order to get costumes, drums and other stage properties to performance venues, the items had to be distributed among members of the group to cut down on transportation fares.

As if that was not enough, he said “ we became laughing stock in the community for taking up traditional dancing and drumming. People tried to discourage us, but because of our determination and enthusiasm, we were able to with stand them”.

Other founding members of the group are Emmanuel Hoenyefia, Zenabu Hillia Seidu, Daniel Hoenyefia and Frank Sam.

Ben told Showbiz that, the group initially associated with recognised dance groups to get them signed up for programmes where they could perform. They also attended auditions to prove themselves worthy of performing at certain programmes.

Today, the group is well known and performs at big events such as Ghana Music Awards, Miss Ghana and 24th Night with Kojo Antwi.
One event which served as a stepping stone and shot the group to fame was when they performed in Efo Kojo Mawugbe’s The Independence Story in 1997 at the Efua Sutherland’s Children’s Park.

The group now provides both traditional and contemporary dance pieces, help in the construction of quality traditional drums and instruments, and also costumes.

They also choreograph dance pieces for advertising of brands, create humorous dramas for schools, clubs and children.

The group has among its performance repertoire traditional dances which include Nagla, Otofo, Kete, Asafo, Gome and Atsiagbekor. They also do dance dramas which bear titles like By The Road, Wrath of The God, Mmere, Damirifa among others. Tete Adehyemma performs 50 programmes on the average within a year.

Showbiz got to know from Ben that, the biggest challenge of the group has to do with the aspirations of the members. Most of them look up to their colleagues who are making it in the community while they slug in the business of traditional drumming and dancing.

He as a leader has to try hard to convince them not to leave the group and give them an assurance that, they will also make it one day when they have the chance to perform on a big stage.

The junior group members are motivated when the senior members whom they look up to get the chance to travel abroad.

According to Ben Sam, these amateur cultural groups can only come out of their shells and flourish when the Ministry of Chieftancy and Culture recognise their worth as custodians of the nation’s dance and drum heritage and culture.

Story by Gloria Dzifa kpodo