EVENTS

EVENTS

Last night, I watched Odia Ofeimun's dance drama A Feast of Return performed at the Agip Hall of the MUSON CENTER, part of the programmes marking the Lagos black heritage festival.

The LBHF is a seven-day cultural manifestation which celebrates the creativity of Lagos within a carnivalesque of traditional and contemporary Dance, Music, Theatre and other artistic offerings.

The A Feast of Return is a collection of poems for Dance Drama and it was written by Odia Ofeimum 2010 Fonlon-Nichols Award winner. The dance drama is performed by matching poetry to pre-selected dances from Africa. The interpretation of the poems to dances was stellar. I could count more than ten different dances from Nigerian dances – the Efik, Benins, Ijaws, Yoruba hunter dance, Hausa – to dances from South Africa and around the continent.

I bought the book and I plan to read it aided with the dances my brain recorded in my head.

I saw Gabriel Okara at the event and the man at 89 is still looking good, standing like the Iroko tree without the aid of a walking stick. I am in awe of the man, He has been blessed by the gods.

I think writers get to live long. Look at the long list of Wole Soyinka, Chinue Achebe, Buchi Emecheta, Gabriel Okpara, The late Cyprain Ekwensi, J P Clark, etc still striding the writing plains. There must be something to it. If you can explain the phenomenon get back to me.

Today is a big day for connoisseur of poetry. The big guns with a handful of contemporary writers would be at the MOSUN CENTER for a Poetry Reading (Muson, Agip Hall, 3pm) with over 10 poets . The festival programme just notes it down as 'Readings and performances by Odia Ofeimum. The poets are Gabriel Okara, Wole Soyinka, JP Clark, Mabel Segun, Odia Ofeimun, Akeem Lasisi, Adebayo Faleti, Kofi Anyidoho, Funmi Aluko, Iquo Eke, Tolu Ogunlesi, Emman Shehu, Remi Raji, Tade Ipadeola, Maxim Uzoatu, Jumoke Verissimo, Lesego Rampolokeng.