Musu: The Saga of the Slaves
20 Years Later
Twenty years ago, Ghanian and St. Lucian choreographers Nii Yartey and Monty Thompson first presented the piece Musu: The Saga of the Slaves, a two-hour running, ritual dance drama. Musu means ‘abomination’ in the Ga and Akan languages. A decade later, his son Nii Tete and original co-choreographer Thompson, recreated Musu in the show Forbidden—to kick off the evening events of Panafest 2017 held in Cape Coast, Ghana.
The show, Forbidden, begins with a drum piece and short documentary on the dungeons of Cape Coast castles and culminates in the emotional presentation of Musu. The drama retells the story of an enslaved people, their resistance, and the still prevalent modern hope for total freedom. With drums, dancing and singing, the actors take viewers through the ‘door of no return,' where every enslaved woman, man, and child took their last steps through before beginning the treacherous Middle Passage to the ‘New World’.
Musu is performed by the National Dance Company of Ghana (Ghana Dance Ensemble) of which Nii Tete, is the Artistic Director. The Ghanian dancers have just as much motivation and personal connection to the piece as Nii Tete does. The role of the King June, is played by Kofi Ahiavor who came out of years of retirement to perform his esteemed and beloved original role. In watching the show, the audience can feel the months of arduous physical and emotional work done to so beautifully exhibit a gruesome history that still has implications in the modern context of being Black and still not free.
