Odia Ofeimun's A Feast of Return

Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN, a dance drama, was performed on the 30th of July 2010 at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Area 10, Garki Abuja.
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According to the organizers: "The dance drama deploys an array of Nigerian dances, and very accessible poetry, to project the themes of pre-colonial self-assertion, colonial disquiet, and Africa’s struggle for independence, unity and democracy. Taking off from the time of Chaka Zulu to the Round Table that ended the era of Apartheid, A FEAST OF RETURN offers the fit and proper opener for grand, educative entertainment as many African countries, including Nigeria, celebrate 50 years of independence, and as Nigeria commemorates 40 years of the end of the civil war.
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"The dance drama, which featured in the recent Lagos Black Heritage Festival, and has played to grand audiences at the National Theatre, and across several state capitals, is coming back to Abuja, to prove it conclusively that the Nigerian stage, properly empowered, is as vibrant and purposive as the admired ones from other lands. This can be stated with confidence because the text of this dance drama was originally commissioned and adapted, in the early nineties, for the London stage by ADZIDO, the Pan African Dance Ensemble, under the aegis of the Arts Council of Great Britain. Lack of sponsorship prevented its enactment in Nigeria until recent events.

"Basically, A FEAST OF RETURN, is the most engaging One Hour and ten minutes of entertainment in Nigeria at the present time. It is fresh, sophisticated, yet homely. It is performed by 30 people, including actors, dancers and two musical groups in session. Essentially, the performance is an optimistic quest for the positive development and enlargement of Nigeria’s theatre-going audience. It comes also as a reminder that cities and countries acquire greatness, not due to mere glass and concrete, but for being sites of great culture."

The following photos were taken by INSIDE TRACK MAGAZINE.

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One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria, on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh

One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria, on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh

One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria, on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh

One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria, on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh

One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria, on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh

One of the dance numbers in Odia Ofeimun's A FEAST OF RETURN
as perforned at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture,
Abuja, Nigeria on the 30th of July.
Photo by Araceli Aipoh