Bizung School of Music and Dance
Tamale, GhanaOur second school on the continent of Africa was recently built in Tamale, Ghana, hometown of the Playing For Change Band's percussionist, Mohammed Alidu. Alidu is a descendant of a long line of talking drum chiefs known as the "Bizung" that have lived in the area for more than 1,000 years. In his family's honor, the school has aptly been named the Bizung School of Music and Dance.
The school offers music and dance classes that are rooted in the traditional style of Northern Ghana. The school provides the children of Tamale a safe environment to learn in, as well as the opportunity to share their cultural and musical traditions with other children around the world.
Construction of the Bizung School was completed in February of 2010, and after hiring teachers, planning curriculums, and enrolling 150 students, classes began on May 17, 2010. Courses are currently offered in drumming, dance, xylophone, gonje, and vocals. For many students of the Bizung School of Music and Dance, taking classes here is their first time attending a school of any kind, as there are currently no other tuition-free schools in the northern region of Ghana.
Photos of the Opening Day of the Bizung School
Photos of the first month of classes at the Bizung School
Photos from the Bizung School in September 2011
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Welcome to the Bizung School of Music and Dance!
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François Viguié spent a week with the students who are learning traditional Ghanian music and dance at the school.
OTHER WAYS TO GIVE
Djembe repair
Allows local craftsmen to replace the head of a djembe (hand drum)
Teacher salary
Provides one month’s teacher salary
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FEATURED STUDENT
Bakissu is 12 years old and classes first began at the Bizung School she has demonstrated a very special talent to her teachers and the other students. Bakissu is studying the Gonje (traditional violin), xylophone, percussion and is already a good singer. She is a real leader and she traveled with other students from the Bizung School to perform in two festivals outside of Tamale and represent
… moreNEWS
Feb 17, 2012
Gonje
by Sara-Maria SorentinoThe gonje (alternatively spelled gondze or goonje) is a mysterious instrument—strange and uncanny even to those among whom its playing is commonplace. The sounds, the technique, and the crafting of the gonje all make for an intensely singular aural experience. Decorated with scarves and a specially designed brass ball for ornamentation, it is nearly inexplicable for an outside observer to discern how a mass of string tied to a resonator can produce such a range of sounds. The gonje screeches and wails and hums better than the most accomplished avant-garde saxophonist. What is probably an ancestor of the lute, the fiddle and the violin, the single-stringed gonje is found in different variations across West Africa. Gonje musicians became members of the royal court of Dagbon (the ethno-linguistic territory for the Dagbamba people, in which Tamale is situated) in the 19th century during the rule of the Dagbamba paramount chief Naa Yakubu I, although the gonje, said to have come from a town called Yambi in what is now Burkina Faso, has been integral to Northern Ghana for many centuries.
LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY
Tamale is a city with more than 300, 000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Northern region of Ghana. The main languages spoken in the area are Dagbani and English, and most of the inhabitants are Muslims. The people of Tamale live by the sun. They wake at 5:30AM for morning prayers, and go to sleep shortly after sunset. The Bizung School of Music and Dance is located in an area of town called the Norrip Village. Every afternoon from Monday to Friday, dozens of kids attend classes at the school to study music and dance. Most of the students live in the area but some of them come from other parts of Tamale to attend classes traveling by bicycle, walking or carried by one of the teachers.
Traditional Music and Dance
The Bizung School of Music and Dance offers classes in traditional music, focusing on traditional instruments such as talking drum, djembé, palogo, gonge and xylophone. Classes are also given in dance, chant and keyboard. The kids also learn how...
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The Jera Dance
Jera is a potent dance. As with most dances in the North, the history of Jera is deep, obscure and mysterious. Most sources trace the origin to one particular hunter called Nanja who, while in the bush, came across an ill omen: group of dwarfs. ...
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The Adowa Dance
Surely one of the most stately, graceful, dances in West Africa, the Akan “Adowa” takes its name from the impressive animal, the antelope. With its silent, swift movements, the antelope is evocative of the ideal warrior, and that is how this...
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Abdul Rahman
Abdul leads the school and teaches percussion, dance & chant. He got into music at a young age & studied in Ghana & abroad, then began work as a music instructor & traveled the world to perform music & dance. He is a project manager at the Youth Home in Tamale & chairman of the Dance Association of the Northern Region of Ghana.
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