Dance

Nagila

Ghana

Nagila is a recreational dance by the Kassena and Frafra people of the Upper East region in Ghana. This dance genre is performed mostly at festivals and other times for entertainment purposes.

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Quick guide to Nagila

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Nagila is a recreational dance by the Kassena and Frafra people of the Upper East region in Ghana.

01 · What it is
Dance

Live movement, rhythm, costume, or staged dramatic performance passed between generations.

02 · Where & name
Ghana

Placed on record in Ghana.

03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)

Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.

04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources

Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Chapter Takeaways
MovementA Nagila dancer who takes center bends his or her upper body forward such that his hips and thigh form a right angle.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Nagila in plain words?

Nagila is a recreational dance by the Kassena and Frafra people of the Upper East region in Ghana.

Where is Nagila practised or documented?

Sources on this page place Nagila in Ghana.

What is the current condition of Nagila today?

□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.

How do I cite or share this Nagila entry?

Cite as: "Nagila." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/nagila, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.

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The tradition & historical record

2 min read · 2 sources

Nagila is a recreational dance by the Kassena and Frafra people of the Upper East region in Ghana. This dance genre is performed mostly at festivals and other times for entertainment purposes. The Nagila dance is a solo act in which the dancer stamps his feet on the ground in a rhythmic motion and in interaction with the drums. 1

Movement

A Nagila dancer who takes center bends his or her upper body forward such that his hips and thigh form a right angle. The dancer then holds his or her elbows in front or behind and stamps his or her feet on the ground in a rhythmic pattern. A dancer usually dances for 30 seconds after which the musical instruments play for a while. To signal that a dancer is ready to resume dancing, the drums sounds louder. The dance is resumed this way for about six times after which a new dancer takes the center. 1

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Nagila”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1

Nagila is recreational dance, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2

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Sources on Record
[1]Wikipedia: Nagila · encyclopedia
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Questions awaiting a cited source

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When is it first attested, and by whom?

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