Historicising Singing and Dancing Innateness among the Bekwarra, their Contemporary Drift, and the Erosion of Iwali Ebekwarra

Abstract

Generally, there are several factors responsible for peoples’ drift from their indigenous activities and practices. By historicising a people’s indigenous practices and systems, they are sustained across ages and their history enlivened. To that effect, this study aims at historicising the innateness of singing and dancing arts in Bekwarra people and their drift in contemporary times. Drawing from oral interview, meta-narratives, intuition, observation and a few written literatures, the study reveals that dance and singing are innate cultural and hereditary traits that manifest in every Bekwarra. Innateness was the base of the practice and system of the Iwali Ebekwarra, the defunct royal female institution of performance arts. Factors responsible for the drift from singing and dance alongside other Bekwarra indigenous arts include colonialism and globalisation influence, misconceptions, rural drift and failed traditional leadership, among others. These and the unchanging mystic practices and principles of Iwali Ebekwarra are responsible for the extinction of Iwali Ebekwarra. The study concludes that these factors have underplayed the innateness of singing and dancing cultural and hereditary traits in the contemporary Bekwarra child. It charges government, elites, corporate organisations and Bekwarra youths to rise to the challenges, revive, rebrand, formalise, promote and sustain the Iwali and the likes. The cultural lessons should be learnt by all and sundry.