THE EKPE MASQUERADE FESTIVAL

The Ekpe festival is said to originate from the Cross River area from the Qua or related peoples. Ekpe spread to what is now the Southwest province of Cameroon and other areas and spread west towards what is now Abia and parts of Imo and Ebonyi state, largely due to the old Aro Confederacy.

'Ekpe' means leopard and the many masquerades across the Bight of Biafra region, although differing in shapes and size, usually mimic the movements of the leopard. Ekpe is not confined to a religion or ethnic group. It was originally used as a way of enforcing laws. Ekpe is usually only used for festivals now although many people are still initiated into the society. Ekpe is strictly for men only and there are masquerades that women are barred from seeing, along with non Ekpe members. From parts of Imo State to the Southwest province of Cameroon, Ekpe is celebrated in different communities around December, the styles of music and masquerade varying.

The Ekpe Masquerade

This masquerade is a wonderful example of African art. It originates from the Efiks who are also known as the in Cross River State of Nigeria. This hand crafted representation of the Ekpe masquerade can only be found in the remote villages and are carefully handcrafted by the villagers using dyed raffia and wool to create a true representation of the masquerade. This particular masquerade is steeped with cultural wealth and probably goes back to the time of the founding fathers. The Ekpe Masquerade is used in ceremonies, songs, dances and is usually accompanied by cultural drama. This masquerades also comes out during chieftaincy coronations, seasonal celebrations and other important events. It is an important cultural event in the life of the Efiks and its roots are deep in traditional religion. The Ekpe Masquerade, the folklores (known as Ekong-Nkeh, Nke Ekong Abasi) and the Ikombi dance has won international recognition, they have become a form of entertainment in welcoming important dignitaries to the state and at events outside the state. It has become a trademark of the Efiks and is becoming more widely recognised

Ekpe Festival of the Ngwas

Among the Igbo of Nigeria, there is a wealth of cultural heritage manifested in ceremonies connected with marriages, births, farming and myriad of other social institutions. These cultural activities contain the germs of rich poetry and prose, excellent music and lively drama which have not been raised far above their traditional level.

The Ekpe festival, an action-packed festival with songs and dance, is one of such cultural events, and is very popular among the Ngwa of Igboland. It is also widely celebrated in neighbouring areas such as the old Umuahia and Owerri provinces. As a festival, Ekpe is celebrated yearly because it is an important cultural event in the life of the people being the culmination of their year rites. Its roots are deep in traditional religion and ritual.

It is only a tragic event such as the death of a village hero, or permission from the gods that can stop the staging of Ekpe. Ekpe festival takes place on Eke day. It is preceded by a free-for-all night of dancing and rehearsals for drummers, dancers, chorus leaders and their choric groups. On Eke day, many choric groups perform, ranging from groups of elderly men or women to children's groups.

But the most important of all these groups is the one comprising men drawn from different quarters of the village who accompany the masquerade dancer and chief actor. Before noon on Eke day, this group rouses the village and begins the series of a circular movement designed to take them to the village square and out of it. It is led by a choric leader who, in the Greek sense, is the epheboi. The epheboi sings in praise of the village ancestors, especially those of them who had been chief actors, soliciting their blessings for the current chief actor and the village. Other choric groups of young men, women and children perform in the village square. They tour the village with the main drummers and not with the chief actor.

This participation by these minor choric groups add up to the communal significance of Ekpe. The only staging device of Ekpe is the "Arena staging" in its most traditional form. There is no raised platform for the chief actor or the drummers. Everybody is on the same level, including the spectators who have to peep over a forest of heads to see what is going on in the innermost circle enclosing the chief actor and masquerade dancer. It is significant that the old village shrine forms a background for the stage, with the drummers backing it and the chief actor facing it. It reminds one of the traditional Attic theatre thousands of years ago.

The dance movements of Ekpe are the vehicles of plot advancement. The entry dance leads the chief actor to his ancestral shrine where he obtains blessings for a successful day's performance. The second dance movement is the climax of Ekpe. It marks the critical stage of the performance, and it is here that the chief actor's role as a communal representative becomes clear.

As the music changes from "aja" into a more vigorous type, a sharpened knife is handed over to him. The chief guide admonishes him that "the village looks on to you." When the actor takes the knife, he moves round and round the sacrificial goat tied to a peg on the sacrificial spot trying to make a decision. He re-enacts an ancient sacrifice by their forebears during which a human being is sacrificed to the gods. After the chief actor has taken so many tours round the goat, he appears to make up his mind.

He waits for the opportunity for the goat to stretch its neck, a propitious movement. All of a sudden, he takes a stance, bends and rises - the sacrifice is done. The head of the goat is thrown up to show the audience amid volleys of gunshots and wild ecstasy. The sacrifice has been successful and the village can expect increase in crops, livestock and children during the coming year. As in most traditional African ceremonies, the costumes used for Ekpe are very colourful indeed. The chief actor wears a white net-like mask covering from head to ankles.

He carries a wooden figure of Ngwu on his head. Ngwu is one of the deities of Alumerechi. He is the symbol of traditional strength and power. The Ufo-bearer carries a magical concoction believed to destroy the power of charms. His costume consists of tattered rags and he smears his body with charcoal. Some comic asides are provided by the bow-man who carries a bow and some arrows and frightens the audience as he pretends to shoot into it. He looks funny with his white and black face and charcoal-smeared body. The element of disguise is very strong in Ekpe. Young boys usually disguise themselves as young girls by wearing ladies' dresses.

The trick is so exquisitely done that a spectator cannot find out the truth. Young ladies simply cover their breasts with broad cloth exhibiting the intricate design of the tattoo on their skin. They wear large beads around their waits and their hair-do is strictly cultural. Within the Ekpe cycle, there are ceremonies, such as Ogbom dance, which are comparable to rural dionysia, or the Lesser Dionysia, or the Dionysia or the fields which were held in many country districts of Africa when the harvest had been completed in December each year, as a festival of dedication and thanksgiving to the fertility god for the first fruits of the year. Ogbom also resembles the Lenea festival of fifth-century Greece because the ceremony is a platform for competition in choric verse. These festivals do not have any tragic overtones.

It is the comic or the satirical that dominate. Ekpe itself is like the Greek city Dionysia during which visitors from all parts of the world visited Athens. Like the city Dionysia, Ekpe enjoys communal participation. Both occasions are dedicated to fertility gods. But whereas Ekpe appears an odd mixture of serious and comic elements, the city Dionysia is performed on one place, that of religious ritual dedication. In movement, Ekpe follows closely the three ritualistic movements of the Greek chorus. The entry movement of Ekpe could be regarded as the Greek prologues, the sacrificial movement, its stamina, and the exit movement, the Greek exodus, the three stages in the primary act of religious ritual. Ekpe as dance-drama stands in dire need of structural reconstruction to lift it above the level of traditional art.