Efeee Noko Cultural Troupe captivates Abidjan

Members of the Efeee Noko Cultural Troupe, led by multi-instrumentalist Richmond Otu Laryea, had a swell of a time when they recently descended on Grand-Bassam and Anani, both near Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, for two performances and a workshop.  

With a repertoire that embraces a wide variety of rhythms and dances from across Ghana, the Nungua in Accra-based group tapped into melodies and movements that made the Ivorian audiences applaud and dance to the delightful stuff from their neighbouring country. 

On October 26, 2024, at the La Grand Rive Hotel & Restaurant at Anani, Efeee Noko tastefully employed a thrilling combination of shakers, rattles, bamboo flutes and different traditional drums such as Fontomfrom, Gome, Osrama and Kpanlogo to send out relevant moods from Ghana. 

They all along roped in dance formats such as Adowa and Kete from the Ashanti and Eastern regions;  Borborbor and Agbadza from the Volta Region; Bamaya and Takai from the Northern Region and Bawa from the Upper West Region. 

“We have been around since 2018 and have gathered vital experience along the way. There’s so much from Ghana to show to others and we did just that at Anani. We were pleased with how we were received there,” the group’s leader said.

Hailing from the Greater Accra Region, Efeee Noko has a special disposition towards material from the Ga-Dangbe area. That was why they put on highly rhythmic items such as Kolomashi, Fume-Fume, Kple, Kpatsa and Kpanlogo for the gig on October 27 at the beachfront at the La Fourchette de Roze Hotel.

At the workshop in the conference room of the La Fourchette de Roze Hotel on the same day, the Efeee Noko members demonstrated that they were good teachers as well as performers. They explained the history behind some of the dances and also helped attendees to try their hands on various Ghanaian instruments such as the Wia and Atenteben flutes, the Dondo drum and the Asrato mini shakers.  

“We just wanted to prove that we are capable of passing on knowledge to those who want to learn about Ghanaian traditional music and dance. A good performer is not necessarily a good teacher. So we are always ready to perform and also transfer knowledge to organised groups and individual learners”, the group’s leader pointed out. 

Born to a drum maker, Richmond Otu Laryea grew up surrounded by different types of drums at home and started playing early in life. He was a member of the IndigenAfrika youth group formed by the National Theatre which toured the world in the mid-1990s with music played only on African instruments.

According to him, the group has trips to South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini lined up in the coming months and they hope to make further positive impact in that part of Africa as well.