Azonto is a
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and
music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...
from
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
.
Ghana News Agency cites their study which found out the dance is connected to the traditional
Ga dance
Kpanlogo, associated with the coastal towns in the country such as
Chorkor,
James Town,
Teshie,
Nungua
Nungua is a town in Krowor Municipal District in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana near the coast. Nungua is the eighteenth most populous settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 84,119 people.
Politic ...
and
Tema
Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most p ...
, in the
Greater Accra Region
The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of Ghanaian re ...
.
Several accounts say Azonto was formerly known as 'Apaa' in these communities. The Apaa dance, hence Azonto dance, involves a set of hand movements that either mimic everyday activities especially ones concerning people's livelihoods, or moves that are meant to amuse an audience.
For the basics of the dance, one foot is stiff and planted, while the other foot is on its ball to allow the dancer to pivot and twist. The dancer's shoulders are slouched, and their head is turned to one side with a "defiant and flirtatious" smirk on their face.
The hands of the dancer point downwards and move in flowing, circular motions around themselves and the space in front of them, changing in levels from the head to the waist.
It began with one- or two-step movements but has been advanced to more complex and almost acrobatic movements. Just like most
African dances, Azonto involves knee bending and hip movements. The dance has effectively evolved from a few basic moves to miming actions such as ironing of clothes, washing, driving, boxing, praying, swimming, and others.
History
Azonto is a communicative dance believed to originate from "Apaa" which literally means to work. Apaa was used to show the profession of an individual. The azonto dance has since grown further to relay coded messages. The dance later got into the minds of most Ghanaians. In 2013, most Ghanaian music videos were full of Azonto dance and later spread to most African countries and other parts of the world.
Popular music researcher Jesse Weaver Shipley claims that like
hiplife, the popularity of Azonto is a direct result of its interactions in
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
. Azonto
is identified with Ghanaian indigeneity by those abroad and with
cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizen ...
by those at home"
International popularity
Azonto can be traced as far back as one of
R2Bees
R2Bees is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife duo from Tema, comprising two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Mugeez, Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated for the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album, ''Site 15''.
Career
...
upcoming songs "Azonto" but was rejuvenated by
Guru
Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
's Lapaz Toyota and later the producer NshonnaMusick with the song "U Go Kill Me" which had
Sarkodie (rapper)
Michael Owusu Addo (born 10 July 1985), known professionally as Sarkodie (), is a Ghanaian rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur from Tema. He started rapping at a young age and has since become a household name in the Ghanaian and Global music i ...
and
EL (rapper) on it. It was later popularized on social media by the music videos that portrayed the dance form with fast-pace tempos, home-made dance instructional videos uploaded on YouTube with no commercial intent, and group choreographers done by mostly Ghanaians and other African nationals living in UK, Germany and U.S.
Amateur videos of Azonto dancing by young Ghanians posted on YouTube in 2011 were central to its spread in Ghana and overseas, especially one montage of Azonto dance competitions set to “U Go Kill Me" in Accra high schools and a video of a boy onstage at the Ghanaian National Theatre dancing Azonto.
[Best Azonto Dance Ever. Posted by Nana Rofa, September 9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h0VkkD3IFU, accessed January 7, 2013.] Within a few months, "both received several hundred thousand hits" and were shared widely on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and Facebook.
Other Ghanians shared homemade Azonto dancing videos and shared them to YouTube, prompting other users to comment on, praise, and critique their dancing. The success of "U Go Kill Me", increasing popularity of Azonto dancing, and the community created for Azonto dancing encouraged other artists to create their own music in the genre.
Tracks
See also
*
Alkayida
References
External links
{{African electronic dance music
African dances
Music of Ghana
African electronic dance music