IDNO

P.73974.GIJ

Description

A masquerader performing in the Ekeleke masquerade dancing on stilts.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Southeast Nigeria

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Orsu

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1930 - 1939

Collection Name

Jones collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.73891.GIJ to P.74008.GIJ were kept in box 12, now numbered C339/.
P.73956.GIJ to P.73978.GIJ were found wrapped in paper, now numbered C339/3/.

Context: Jones writes about the different masquerades in the area. “Although the Owu/Okorosie/Okonko type of masquerade was the principal Western Isuama masquerade they also had another, said to have been introduced more recently from further west. This was called Ekeleke and the characters, who all wore white-faced female heads or in some cases heads and torsos, danced on stilts and would appear to have been the same as the Ekeleke masquerade of the Isoko Edo, the neighbouring Western Ibo and the Ohuhu masquerade of this name.” (Jones, 1988, pp. 55-56).

Context: Cole and Aniakor discuss the Ekeleke plays and write about a play observed in the 1980s which make interesting comparisons to Jones’s observations in the 1930s. “Ekeleke is a very pretty, finely choreographed group display and drama performed largely on stilts. Because these dancers wear long-necked carvings rising at least seventy-five centimeters high, the masquerade had an imposing and stately character. This effect is magnified when three (or more) elegantly dressed characters dance in unison - one of its most impressive features...Ekeleke is a brief dry season display that lacks the strong ritual underpinnings of Okoroshi. No overt components of social control are expressed: instead the emphasis is on lighthearted spectacle and well-rehearsed, finely tuned individual and group dancing. The Ekeleke recorded has a slight elaborated drama - good conquers evil to give the eight-day season focus and resolution, yet this remains secondary to virtuosic dancing on stilts, the raison d’etre of the event. “ They continue to discuss the play, “Ekeleke stilt dancers appear twice a day (morning and early evening) for three days of two successive four-day Igbo weeks. Each session follows a set dance sequence, though interruptions break the final two or three, as the drama progresses to resolution on the final afternoon. This charming and amusing “play’ vies with the dancing but never replaces it as the center of interest, especially when stilt dancers are highly skilled - which seems more the rule than the exception.”
(Cole and Aniakor, 1984, pp. 204-205).

Bibliographical Reference: Jones, G.I. 1988. Ibo Art. (Shire)
Cole, H. & C. Amnakor, 1984. Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos (Museum of Cultural History, University of California)

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 3/3/2008]