[vimeo 91978066 w=500 h=281]

In Spring 2014, Carnival Arts explored the folktales, music, dance, and visual art of the Ashanti people of Ghana. The Ashanti made up a significant portion of the people who were abducted in the black Atlantic slave trade, so there is a strong Ashanti presence in the cultures of the Americas. We were blessed to have two students from Ghana serve as cultural ambassadors, Samira Tijani and Akosua Domfeh, who is an Ashanti herself. Samira and Domfed taught us a few words in the Akan language, a few moves from the adowa dance, and a few lines from a beautiful song about a mother calling her children to a feast. We also tried our hand at tye-dye, made masks rerpresenting Anansi, the spider from Ashanti folklore, and produced a video presenting the folktale of Anansi and the Sky God.