Community Relations Council
Equity Diversity Interdependence
Promoting a Peaceful and Fair
Society based on Reconciliation
and Mutual Trust.
Chinese New Year Celebrations in Carrickfergus and Belfast
27 January 2012
2 events, 1 big celebration!
Very first performance at the Chinese New Year event, Ulster Hall, 4th February 2012.
Akrowa(‘village’ in the Ga language), is a professional West African drum & percussion performance group representing a legacy of Ghana
Thomas Tettey Annang the leader of Akrowa NI is a professional drummer and dancer from Ghana.
He has been a member of the Akrowa Dance Ensemble in Accra for nine years performing for many occasions in a multitude of establishments including schools,
hotels, the National Theatre of Accra, the Canadian, Brazilian and Danish Embassies, the American Consulate and the UN, to name but a few.
Thomas has taught drumming and dancing in local schools and to professional musicians from all around the world. He moved to Northern Ireland in 2009
where he developed a drum workshop and tuition company ‘Releasing Rhythms’ with his wife and became a facilitator and performer for the peace-building
arts organisation, Beyond Skin, who use music as a methodology for assisting community relations and cultural education.
Throughout recent years Thomas had a vision of establishing an Akrowa Northern Ireland and in 2011 through the World Music N.I. initiative,
with support from Belfast Metropolitan College, an Akrowa training course began.
A rigorous training programme with participants from various cultures living in Northern Ireland has now produced a Akrowa performance band who will showcase
their first performance at the Chinese New Year event, Ulster Hall, 4th February 2012.
Akrowa in more than a drumming group, it is a very highly respected music heritage of Ghana & West Africa and the Northern Ireland group carry a big responsibility
to ensure the tradition is represented true to the Ghanaian culture.
http://www.releasingrhythms.co.uk www.worldmusicni.com
