West African Culture & Drama “Anansi’s Rescue from the River” Created by Ashli Gore Sources cited - Permission is granted to edit and/or use for educational purposes only.

Location http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana

Climate & Geography Africa has vast climates Undergoing climate changes West Africa Part Rainforest, part Sahel Extremely wet and humid Mostly brown except during Rainy season High temperatures Mainly flat land http://bptravel.tripod.com/yafrica.htm http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/rainforest/rainforest_overview_lo.html

Storytelling Characteristics For entertainment and education Passes on cultural stories Emphasizes and supports the values of a people Says who you are and what is special about you Cultivates an attitude of thinking Expresses humanity Arts Toolkit - Drama

West African Storytelling Forms Oral tradition prevalent in African communities Storyteller invites the audience to gather around and hear the story Set beginning and ending Audience is stationary (stays) Informal gatherings of friends and family “Big ol’ lie” and tells to entertain People come and go

West African Storytelling “Trickster” tales One character outsmarts another Most Anansi the Spider tales are this type “Why” stories or Myths Set in nature Supernatural beings and heroes How something came to be “Why do mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears?” “The Buzzard and the Monkey”

African American Storytelling Forms Stylized verbal art Found on street corners Rap poems Contemporary slang

West African Storytelling Jali or Griots (Storyteller -Musicians) Still tell stories today because they are responsible for teaching the stories to their people and making sure that they understand them Tales about relationships within family, doing good without being told, getting along, responsibility “Life of service” – helping others Kwaku means Uncle (Village Elder) Name of male child born on Wednesday Important in Ashanti culture as the Uncle is responsible for nieces & nephews

Nana Yaa Asantewaa Louisville, KY native Graduated from University of Louisville Received many awards & achievements Traveled west African countries to study oral traditions & culture View performance via KET Arts Tookit for Drama – contact your Library Media Specialist Gloria Bivens http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/fw_louisvillelife.exe/db/ket/dmps/ Programs?do=topic&topicid=LOUL010045&id=LOUL

Mama Yaa’s Performance Carries cow tail switch (African tradition for storytellers) Headress and clothing Importance of singing, drumming, and dancing to communicate messages and retell stories Plays balaphone Ashanti people today are great artisans

Anansi the Spider Folktales Father was the sky god Ashanti, Nyames Most Anansi tales are trickster tales Our tale is a traditional West African Folktale/Myth Myths explain how something came to be Shows Anansi’s wisdom in “Anansi’s Rescue from the River”

Post Viewing Activities List and describe how these elements of drama were used in the performance Literary Technical Performance

Post Viewing Activities What purpose(s) of drama did this performance meet? Sharing the human experience Passing on tradition and culture Recreational Artistic expression

Post Viewing Activities List and describe how these elements of drama were used in the performance Literary Technical Performance

Prose vs. Drama Compare and contrast this performance, storyline and format to the book, “Anansi” by Gerald McDermott

More Info Explore Africa with Anansi Why Anansi has Eight Thin Legs http://www.pbs.org/wonders/Kids/kids.htm Why Anansi has Eight Thin Legs http://www.africa.mrdonn.org/anansi.html Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott (Caldecott Winner) http://www.geraldmcdermott.com/index.htm