Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Volume/Issue:
Volume 60: Issue 1
Dance perspectives on drum language: A Yoruba example
Author:
Natasa Chanta-Martin Choreomundus Master Programme — International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage Kalama 10, 15343, Aghia Paraskevi, Athens, GreeceE-mail: natasa.chanta.martin@gmail.com

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Pages:
9–15
Online Publication Date:
Jun 2015
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2015
Article Category:
Journal Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/022.2015.60.1.2
Keywords:
Nigerian Yoruba dance; drum language; speech surrogates; talking drums
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Among the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria, dancers have the ability to relate not only to music and rhythm, but also to the Yoruba tonal language. This is due to the fact that instruments being played during a dance event, once they are manipulated by the drummer, can follow the Yoruba language’s tonality. Therefore, the so-called talking drums have the ability to articulate proverbs, poems, stories. The dancers’ representations or interpretations of what the drums are saying create different artistic and cognitive dimensions during the dancing. When does a dancer follow only the rhythms of the drums and when does he or she have meaning in his/her gestures? What happens when the meanings derive from proverbial language? And moreover, what happens with the newest Yoruba dance generation which is said to have neglected their indigenous language for English? Going beyond choreomusical relationships, improvising, mimicking, interpreting and verbalising the content of the tonal percussions are some dimensions of Yoruba dance, which derive from exploring the personal dance experiences of a community of thought in Yorubaland.

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Cover Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Print ISSN:
1216-9803
Online ISSN:
1588-2586

Senior Editors

Editor-in-Chief: Ágnes FÜLEMILE
Associate editors: Fruzsina CSEH;
Zsuzsanna CSELÉNYI
Review Editors: Csaba MÉSZÁROS; Katalin VARGHA

Editorial Board
  • Balázs BALOGH (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Elek BARTHA (University of Debrecen)
  • Balázs BORSOS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Miklós CSERI (Hungarian Open Air Museum, the Skanzen of Szentendre)
  • Lajos KEMECSI (Museum of Ethnography)
  • László KÓSA (Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • lldikó LANDGRAF (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Tamás MOHAY (Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • László MÓD (University of Szeged)
  • Attila PALÁDI-KOVÁCS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities and Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • Gábor VARGYAS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities and University of Pécs)
  • Vilmos VOIGT (Eötvös University, Budapest)
Advisory Board
  • Marta BOTÍKOVÁ (Bratislava, Slovakia)
  • Daniel DRASCEK (Regensburg, Germany)
  • Dagnoslaw DEMSKI (Warsaw, Poland)
  • Ingrid SLAVEC GRADIŠNIK (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
  • Dmitriy A. FUNK (Moscow, Russia)
  • Chris HANN (Halle, Germany)
  • Krista HARPER (Amherst, MA USA)
  • Anya PETERSON ROYCE (Bloomington, IN USA)
  • Ferenc POZSONY (Cluj, Romania)
  • Helena RUOTSALA (Turku, Finland)
  • Mary N. TAYLOR (New York, NY USA)
  • András ZEMPLÉNI (Paris, France)

Further credits

Translators: Elayne ANTALFFY; Zsuzsanna CSELÉNYI; Michael KANDÓ
Layout Editor: Judit MAHMOUDI-KOMOR
Cover Design: Dénes KASZTA

Manuscripts and editorial correspondence:

Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Institute of Ethnology
Research Centre for the Humanities
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
H-1453 Budapest, Pf. 33
E-mail: actaethnographicahungarica@gmail.com

Reviews:
Mészáros, Csaba or Vargha, Katalin review editors
Institute of Ethnology
Research Centre for the Humanities
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
H-1453 Budapest, Pf. 33
E-mail: meszaros.csaba@btk.mta.hu or vargha.katalin@btk.mta.hu

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2024  
Scopus  
CiteScore  
CiteScore rank  
SNIP  
Scimago  
SJR index 0.159
SJR Q rank Q2

2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.6
CiteScore rank Q2 (Music)
SNIP 0.369
Scimago  
SJR index 0.164
SJR Q rank Q2

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Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1950
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 2
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
Founder's
Address		 H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1216-9803 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2586 (Online)

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