Accra, June 20, GNA -Ghanaian dancer and choreographer Van Calebs has opined that any Ghanaian music dance should be fused with Afrobeats, comparing it to how “Azonto” emerged.
The Afrobeats genre, a form of music that encapsulates African indigenous rhythms fused with foreign elements, has been accepted worldwide, dominating music chats around the world.
Van Calebs urged Ghanaian music talents to take advantage of the situation and create a Ghanaian dance that they can fuse with their vision of Afrobeat to help project it further.
“Homegrown contemporary dance, ‘Azonto’, drew a lot of attention from the international community to Ghana during its peak, and the same can be said about Afrobeats.
“Azonto took Ghana places, and we became a topic for a while. Even Grammy Award winner Wyclef Jean was featured on Fuse ODG’s Azonto song, which went very far. Gasmilla was also invited to the BBC and other platforms to perform Azonto.
“Even our neighbours Nigeria jumped on it, with Wizkid and American Singer Chris Brown acknowledging it, not forgetting ‘P-Square, who also borrowed our style,” he said.
Van Calebs, however, was disappointed about how the genre was not sustained and gradually faded out.
“Afrobeats is now everywhere, and even Ghanaian musicians are doing it. So, why don’t we also make it our own properly by adding some of our unique dances? “, he added.
Van Calebs further noted that Afrobeats relate very well to African dance rhythms, so bonding with indigenous Ghanaian rhythms wouldn’t be difficult.
“You can hear something similar to some of our own music in almost every Afrobeats’ song. The drum pattern, the timing, and so on.
“These make it even easier for us as Ghanaians to relate to and adapt to Afrobeats music. And that’s why it is a special kind of genre because it makes you dance even when you don’t understand the words,” he explained.
GNA