My Life as a Festival Singer in Africa

KUESIONOR was my professional singing and dancing title, as expressed in our own Kissi language. This title came to take preference over my real name, Teewa. I was the female lead singer and dancer among a group of seven male singers and dancers. Our group composed our own songs and music to accompany our dancing. We sang and danced to the accompaniment of music produced by the chekelan (cowrie seashells hung around a gourd) and various types of drums. The spirit of the music and dance and how we dressed were exciting as well as eye-catching.

We would collect up to $75 for a public performance—a large sum of money among our people, even more than some families’ income for two or three months. Our singing and dancing group was in great demand at festivals held throughout the towns and villages of our chiefdom, as well as in nearby countries in West Africa.

I was just newly married, my husband having paid a dowry or bride price to my father. This type of marriage is accepted in our country, even though it is not formally registered in the Native Court. My parents had informed my husband that I had been dedicated ceremonially to be a Kuesionor, and he was not too happy about it. He knew, apparently, about the busy schedule that I would have, and this was not conducive to a well-adjusted married life. Too, my husband had recently started to study the Bible, and upon learning something about certain Bible principles, he was having second thoughts about allowing me to pursue my professional career as a festival singer and dancer. But, as for me, my thoughts and interests were far removed from God.

In our local community, parental and other traditions are very strong. So my parents had their way in the matter. I was happy, captivated by the thought of being a Kuesionor. Actually, at the time of my marriage I was very young, for, you see, girls in our villages are often married by the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Entering and Pursuing the Profession

The ceremony marking my installation in the profession as a Kuesionor seemed grand! My parents gave the women elders of our village the prescribed quantity of rice, palm oil and kola nuts. They also paid a sum of money and gave six yards of white shirting for decking me out for the ceremony. Much merriment marked the ceremony; there were singing and dancing, with many of the villagers participating, others observing.

So by the time I was brought to my husband’s village to consummate our marriage, my active singing and dancing career was nearly ready to start. With the gaining of experience in my new career, I was to be away from my husband more and more on extended tours, sometimes as much as four months at a time. However, by now my husband had decided to take a second wife, so ours became a polygamous household.

How did my husband feel about my being away so much? Did he miss me? I was not too sure at the time, but I did know he was not happy about it, even though I would bring home large sums of money after each tour. Anyway, I thought, he has my “mate†(his secondary wife) to look after him.

Things happened to me on those festival tours, things that I am not now proud to relate. Drunkenness and adultery could be mentioned as the commonest of practices.

One season I arrived home from a tour too late to participate in clearing the ground on my husband’s farm for planting the rice, which is our staple food. This led to bitter quarreling and fighting. On another occasion he beat me and, for a short time, drove me away from the home.

About the Author

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