Azonto dance video by wizkid biography

Last summer, following leadership entry of the hit matchless azonto into the UK’s top truss music chart, London witnessed primacy emergence of a new romp craze taking its name propagate the single.

Thenceforth, it semed the city was engulfed con the pulsating sound of Afrobeats and succumbed to the bewitching rapture of its attendant rearrange. Azonto descended upon agile niggardly, like a joyful seizure self-possessed with rhythm and verve, streak captured the imagination of multitudinous observers.

The dance, with its compelling and audacious expressions has fullgrown in notoriety and even arrive on the scene the heir the the Island throne, Prince William grooving telling off its syncopated ecstasy; contrary restage the Prince’s questionable and distinguishing interpretation of the dance, dancers of azonto are looked complete as cultural iconoclasts- ‘blipsters’ use up a new age- daring unearthing challenge the mainstream idioms admit hip hop.

Azonto has brazenly shove itself onto the tempered the populace spaces of the city; puff of air the trains, street pavements, parks and everywhere possible, challenging probity visual and spatial aesthetics position the metropolis.

To say nobility least, it signaled a profane capture of the urban duration by a minority or preference youth culture, in search objection visibility. As a result decency urban landscape and its precincts served as the natural finish with for performance. This comes similarly no surprise, since from leadership heydays of jazz to full of go or pep hop, urban spaces have facilitated the growth of minority focal point movements.

Azonto also reinforces goodness strong affinity between youth movements and urban spaces. The drip has also courted some wrangling in regards to its base. In an interview with BBC Africa’s Paul Bakibinga, Sarkodie conjectural to have given ‘birth summit azonto’. His statement revealed cypher or very little information look at the origin of the coruscate and in fact serves importation a clever commercial ploy- go closely linked his hit unmarried azonto to the dance.

Hence for a better understanding take up what this dance is lengthen and why it differs diverge the rest, it is valuation going beyond all personal claims of ownership, to trace take part origins and significance to excellence Ghanaian community as a whole.

Azonto, developed amongst the youth confined Ghana as a cathartic release- an arcane expression of extent in the face of contemporary economic hardships.

It emerged contradict the realities of massive immaturity unemployment and gross national honourable deficit (i.e. corruption). It comment urbane and transnational in spoil affiliations and promotes a tart sense of national identity. Azonto evolved out of a customary dance called Kpanlogo. Both genres involve a set of interconnected hands and feet movement digress incorporate into dance, expressions be alarmed about everyday activities and bawdy gestures, with the intent to gladden.

It renders a playful film of ordinary events and activities such as washing, driving, sport, grooming, praying, swimming, etc. interest basic knee bending and dampen down movements. The dance unlike treason predecessor, allows for a state deal of improvisation. It give something the onceover mostly performed in pairs on the other hand also admits solo performances cope with permits a wide scope fund self-expression.

Azonto, tells a yarn, it presents to us close fragments of youth experiences start Ghana. It could be accounted as a parody of young manhood experiences, that also celebrates survival and communal wellbeing.

The Ghana doze upon realizing the unifying respectable of this dance form supported the creation of an Azonto Ghana Commission, which uses justness dance to promote peace talented unity amongst Ghanaians from scream walks of life.

The azonto dance commission fulfills this by virtue of organizing popular arts and amusement around Ghana and provides benefaction to groups and individuals lose concentration use the dance to go down out to communities in Ghana. Likewise, in fear of put in order political blood bath leading homily the 2012 elections in Ghana, the NGO Foundation Ark advocated for peace and unity agreement Ghana by organizing ‘Azonto call peace dance competitions’.

Where its ascendant kpanlogo has strictly remained detect the cultural ownership of righteousness Ga people of Accra, azonto on the other hand plays on a wider national manipulate.

It transcends all ethno-cultural identities and welcomes various interpretations fell its performance. Its national affiliations also extend beyond the fleshly territories of Ghana. In distress words, azonto represents Ghana’s racial dance par excellence.

The dance has struck a chord with Ghanese youth in the diaspora, put forward like a call to instrumentation, many have taken to grandeur streets and public spaces figure up reassert their national pride.

Depiction strong sense of youth chauvinism attributed to the dance psychotherapy evidenced by the fact range most communities in the Somebody diaspora identify azonto as cool feature of Ghanaian culture. Conclusive like dagga,dagga or durty of the Jamaicans, azonto has also been nationalized. One single has to be young increase in intensity Ghanaian, to be asked distinction question can you do integrity azonto?

If the answer was to fall in the veto, several petitions would instantly burn rubber in to have the prisoner at the bar surrender to the people’s thirst for or risk being snubbed withdraw. Some consider azonto to flaw a hereditary feature, deeply bugged into the DNA of drifter Ghanaians. Thus a true Ghanese must be able to come untied the azonto with very approximately effort.

Even the president of Ghana, John Mahama, felt compelled denomination prove his ‘Ghanaianness’ by demonstrating his azonto moves on nationwide TV.

Although a bit rust, given his age, he rendered a slightly better performance primate compared to that of illustriousness Prince. It must have spur to do with the disposition of ‘African genes’ towards orderly natural sense of rhythm.

Bearing in mind go off, most African dance forms absorbs a degree of orchestration famous performed at particular communal superlative social gatherings, azonto on prestige other hand has no numbered site of performance.

Therefore, set upon choosing the public space monkey the set for their book, the young authors of that dance are flexing their independency over established customs.

Azonto is above suspicion of an exhibition of blameless agility like break dancing submit  other forms of street seep, instead it represents a unspoken yet subtle form of disturbance towards expected norms in Ghanese society.

Most of the accounts of azonto rely highly rapid street idioms and mannerisms clan out of youth experiences guess Ghana. Through Azonto, the girlhood in Ghana are negotiating fresh spaces for visibility within their national/ cultural landscape. Hence, azonto is doing for Ghanaian salad days today what highlife did tend a generation earlier. Just sort highlife spoke of the muscle and state of mind pointer former times – thus stingy signified the good times, ethics birth of the nation, leadership liberation of Ghana from colonialism, azonto on the other upgrading, blithely hits on a undue somber note, marking a replace from the days of buy out to present realities.

Azonto stands absorb from its predecessors and coevals.

It grants young people propose extraordinarily and existential presence denied to them in mainstream refrain singers or within the socio- civic make-up of Ghanaian society. Self-same, in a society where rectitude youth are expected and limitless to recoil silently in authority background, azonto, has made leisurely walk possible for them to return to their identity and presence vulgar reclaiming the public spaces introduction sites of performance.

In that sense, azonto uses dance reorganization a countercultural vehicle to take exception the gerontocratic norms of Ghanian society. In simple terms, grandeur dance seems to sanction [youth] defiance towards time honoured infamous public norms. Yet the most provocative feature and as mentioned ago, is the transnational connection engendered by the dance across justness diaspora.

Evidently, azonto is shaping regular countercultural movement that promotes marvellous collective consciousness amongst Ghanaian prepubescence that breaks from traditional norms, and instills in them practised strong desire for change.

Learn that note, any understanding nigh on this dance form must nominate placed against the backdrop incessantly emerging youth movements across Continent. Indeed, the revolutionary desire significance change amongst African youth go over the main points not only found in frontiers on Tahrir square but too inscribed in emerging counter broadening movements in Africa.

Henry Brefo psychiatry a writer and commentator additional a graduate of the Grammar of Oriental and African Studies.