Yeve is believed to be a “Stone or Thunder God” that falls from the sky during or after a rainstorm. This religious society is one of the most powerful and secretive among cults in the southeastern Ewe territories of West Africa. Among the Anlo-Ewe, it is also known as Xebieso, Hu or Tohono. Yeve has strong historical relations with the Yoruba Shango deity of Nigeria and Fon Xevieso of Benin. Yeve music and dance is distinct from other Ewe musical types because of its general structure. It is considered a suite of seven to nine dance forms or movements. Each movement is related to specific phases of worship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saJk5SmtRek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQCjReKNr3M

 

 

 

Gota originated from the Kabre tribe of Benin, and was introduced to the Southeastern Ewe in the early nineteenth century through trade. Originally performed in Benin for their war god, Gota is now performed as a recreational music and dance by the Southern Ewe people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jo2YnSDL_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NJw6Hnpfyo

 

 

Francis Akotuah performing Gahu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=xO4wuBFBChE&index=32&list=RDOAqmo9ovaSQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAobzTuWeS4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwe-uGaV9m0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5SbyBAPlPk

 

Babasiko is a recreational music and dance of the Southeastern Anlo Ewe of Ghana, performed mostly at social gatherings; festivals and funerals. Babasiko is flirtatious in character. Its characteristic form is the strutting and bobbing up and down and a display of theatrical elegance. The dancers portray courtship through movements of the arms, eyes and total facial expression. Proposals of intimacy can be seen accepted or rejected through bodily gestures.

Atsokla is one of the movements of Adzogbo music and dance ceremony. Adzogbo originated from Benin as a dzohu (spiritual/religious music and dance). It was then called adzohu, in that during any performance, the men participants/dancers (leshiwo) would display their dzoka (juju/charms) especially the so-called “love charms” to seduce women. When this music was brought to Togo and later Ghana in the late 19th century, its function changed. The southeastern Ewe of Ghana, Togo and Benin now perform it for entertainment during festivals and other social occasions. There are five stages of Adzogbo dance ceremony: Gbefadede (announcement), Adzokpadede (warm up), Tsifofodi (purification rites), atsokla/kadodo (dance for the women) and atsia (main theatrical display of drama, dance and virtuosity of dance skills by men). This presentation features only atsokla, a “show off” dance for women. Mirrors and other props are used to tease, show or bluff during the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTIK0qspmwY

Atsiagbekor is among the oldest traditional dances of the Ewe-speaking people of Southern Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Originally a war dance performed after battle when the warriors returned to the village, it is now performed on many social occasions.

One of the outstanding features of the dance is the interaction between the master drummer and the dancers: ‘every rhythmic theme played on the master drum has a corresponding sequence of dance movements which is timed to precisely match the drum rhythms” (Locke, 1978).

Atsiagbekor songs constitute an important heritage of Ewe oral tradition. Most of the songs contain historical references to their chiefs, war leaders, migration stories, themes relating to the invincibility of the Ewes against their enemies, themes of loyalty, bravery, and death etc. To watch an Atsiagbekor performance today in Ghana is to watch scenes, which may have their actual origins in battles that were fought as the Ewes trekked through hostile countries in search of peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_lLD7aKFls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMRQ8_P1u_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHDvwWBJ0NQ&index=3&list=PL60AC2A77353FB85F

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9P9oXZtfto