Felix A. Akinsipe 
  PERFORMING ARTS CREATIVE 
	  WRITING SERIES-NO 3. 	. 
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Talking,Bodies . ii 
Published by: 
Department of the Performing Arts University of Ilorin, 
Kwara State, Nigeria. 
© Felix A. Akinsipe 2003 felisipe@yahoo.com 
First Published 2003. 
Reprinted 2013 By: FELICITYPRESS 
2, Yoruba Road, Behind Ecobank, /lorin, Kwara State. 0803 5706644 
ISBN: 978-36284-3-7 
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission of the copyright owner or the publisher. 
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Talking Bodies 	i 

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK ... 
Dance, as an art, has been a practice of the Nigerians for 	' 
ages. However, what is common to us is a large variety of ethnic dances that can he found allover the country. The emergence of choreographers m the pure artistic and professional sense dates back only to a few decades ago. 
One will recall the days of Demas Nwoko at the University 
of Ibadan and his experiments with the department's first student ever, late Kola Ogunmola, in the play Palmwine Drinkers. 
The issue of writing Dance Librettos for publishing therefore is a relatively new emergence on the Nigerian dance Art Scene. This is why the writer of this collection of Librettos, Felix A. Akinsipe, needs be congratulated for taking the bull by the horn. His experiment in these librettos is highly' commendable. The dances to be employed in most instances are truly Nigerian. When mere is need to employ a foreign dance, the librettist says so categorically. This will allow for a blend of dances from national to international. 
I hereby recommend the librettos in Talking Bodies to choreographers and students of dance in Nigeria and abroad. 
The Performjng Arts Creative Writing Series continues to be relevant as it now provides avenues to Playwrights, Music and Dance librettists to bring their works for' publication. If you are interested, please send your entry to the editor. Creative Writing Series, Department of the Performing Arts, Universityofllorin,llorin, Nigeria. 
Dr. Ayo Akinwale 
Editor & Ag. Head of Department. 
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Talking Bodies iv 
CONTENTS 
Page 
	Dedication 	v 
	Acknowledgements 	vi 
	Introduction 	vii 
	Foreword 	xi 
	United We Stand 	1 
	Peace or Pieces? 	18 
	Struggling to Die 	32 
	Loves and Hatred 	43 
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
roremost, I give all glory to the Supreme Artist from whom all inspiration, including mine, flows. Next, my wife, Mrs. Olayinka Akinsipe and my children; Oluwafemi, Iyanuoluwa, Oluwabusayo, Taiwo and Kehinde, for providing a conducive home. 
I cannot forget everyone that has contributed very strongly in making me an artist. Among many. I remember now and always Late Prof. (Mrs.) 'Zulu Sofola, Prof. Akanji Nasiru, Prof. Dapo Adelugba, Late Ms. Esi-kinni Olusanyin, Drs. Bode Omojola. Ayo Akinwale, Segun Oyewo, Mr. Chris Ugolo and Mrs. Bunmi Babarinde-Hall. 
Also all my friends (some are actually big brothers/sisters or senior colleagues and uncles) whose interaction and suggestions have no doubt, influenced these works; Dr. Femi Dumade, Dr. (Mrs) Tayo Oloruntoba-Oju, Dr. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, Messrs. Sam. Amusan, Taiye Adeola, Sunday Ododo, Rasidi Musa, 'Demola Jolayemi, Miss Ijeoma Akunna and Miss Irene Omorodion. I wish to appropriately recognise the support of my parents Mr. and Mrs. Akinsipe. I remember and appreciate also the contribution of my students, especially the dance specialists, over the years. We have surely gained many things from one another. 
Finally, I just have to remember all those who have contributed somehow to this work. To you all, I say; Thanks and Thanks again. 
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DEDICATED TO: 
My Mother, Mrs. Taiwo Akinsipe -For having always been good- 
My Father, Mr. F. B. Akinsipe -For eventually becoming good- 
and 
All those who possess The seventh sense -FORSIGHT! 
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Talking Bodies 	V 

possibilities. Different choreographers can pick it up 	 
and come out with different interpretations. Each 	j 
choreographer's work can then be notated as his own creative property, Thus, in some years to come, we can 
begin to have a performance of somebody's libretto as 
well as a revision or revival of another person's 	
choreography of it. 
The libretto is therefore distinct from the choreography 	   
although the librettist can also be a choreographer. So, 	 
we can have a work written and choreographed by the 	 
	same person. When the Opera started, librettists are 	 
commissioned to write the librettos while musicians 
set them to music. The musicians and the librettists are 
	not the same although we have librettists who are 	 
musicians as well. In the same way we have playwrights 
	who are not actors or directors. So, dance librettists 	 
should emerge In the Nigerian theatre, although they must try to, at least, do little study of the dance art to be 
able to put their ideas in the best dance possible ways. 
The librettos in this collection are all experiments in the Modern Dance/Modern Nigerian dance genre. The Modern Nigerian Dance should, like the Modern Dance 
all over the world, be based on expressive movements 
alone. Communication should be its utmost aim. It is 
an avenue where a choreographer can display his 
creativity. 
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INTRODUCTION 
The idea of publishing a collection of librettos arose out of the need to take a further bold step towards the proper evolvement and development of the dance art and the dance theatre in Nigeria. 
One of the reasons why the dance art has lagged behind in the Nigerian theatre is the lack of written and published dance librettos. Most Nigerian choreographers have created works from their. unwritten ideas or at most from mere sketches on paper, which are usually dumped, once these ideas are fully passed to the dancers. Such works are therefore not documented. and made available for other choreographers to use. It is the belief of this writer that this attitude should stop forthwith, 
We should begin to write librettos of our dances and publish them to make these works available to choreographers allover the world. Many plays have : been written for drama and compositions for music which other dramatists and musicians can pick and also produce having obeyed the copyright laws. Therefore, like play writing in drama which any director can pick and improve upon, the librettos in this collection are also series of skeletons to which the choreographer must give flesh, water and blood. 
They are more like the experience in the Operas where the libretto, containing the stones/lyrics and the scores, containing the musical notations are 
. written and sometimes published separately. The dance libretto also contains the stories written to suggest their choreographic forms or dance 
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For example, in a situation where there are only two major ethnic groups in a country, a choreographer for United we Stand only has to limit the number of Suitors to two with the Foreigner as the Third Suitor. In this case, there will be no need for the Fourth Suitor. But vvhy they have more than three major ethnic groups, the choreographer will only have to increase the number of Suitors before the appearance of the Foreign Suitor. He will then have to add these new Suitors to the other sequences where all the Suitors need to re-appear. Meanwhile, a choreographer in any part of the world can produce them, as they are if he wants to present the situation in Nigeria. Struggling to Die and, Love and Hatred are also not rigid. The themes they explore are universal. They can be produced as they are in any part of the world. The concepts of greed and love can be applicable to any society. The scenography, theatre accessories and movement styles can then (apart from being the choreographer's choice) also reflect the cultural background of such a society. For example, in the first performance of Struggling to Die, the choreographer, Kenechukwu Igweonu, adapted it to urban setting with actions happening in places like the bustops, overhead bridges, tarred roads, etc., he also mixed a lot of popular dances with creative/modern dances. Yet he was able to maintain the idea in the libretto. 
Felix A. Akinsipe Jelisipe@yahoo.com University of Ilorin April 2003. 
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	Talking Bodies 	X 
Therefore, all the suggested dance forms in these scripts are not mandatory. Once the choreographer gets the intention ofthe librettist, he is free to realise them in any movement he feels most comfortable and convenient with. They can also be creative or stylised forms of the rich and abundant traditional forms in Nigeria and anywhere in the world as long as they best express and convey the message intended. 
We should not forget that Modern dance is basically a choreographer's expression of himself - his feeling in movements and in his own ways, It is a rebellion against rules and rigidity. It is therefore, freedom of speech' in movements. Therefore, all the librettos in this collection have been written in a way that they do not and must not depend on music and mime to communicate. The choreographer must strife to realise them all in expressive dance movements alone. 
About the setting of these dances, this also is very flexible. United we Stand and Peace or Pieces? are set in Nigeria. They reflect the Nigerian situation under the colonial/military and political administrators country. This can be handled by any choreographer from any part of the country. However, for a choreographer in another country to which these problems are not applicable in totality as they are in the scripts, he is free to delete whichever is not available and add the one that is peculiarto his situation. 
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Notably, universities of Ilorin, Benin and Ibadan, it is yet to acquire the status that it deserves. For example, it is not as yet one of the examinable subjects at the ordinary level examinations for secondary school pupils. 
It is difficult to understand why dance has taken such a rather slow start given its important and epicentral position in traditional African performing arts. One problem that has however militated against the teaching of dance in our institutions is the paucity of written texts in the area. Unlike African dramatic and musical forms both of which can boast of sizeable published literature (including play-texts, musical compositions as well as books and journals), the dance form lacks the appropriate written sources necessary for its development and sustenance, as a buoyant academic and professional enterprise. It is against this background that the publication of this collection is both timely and auspicious as part of the efforts to consolidate the teaching of the theory and practice of dance in Nigerian institutions. 
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FOREWORD 
Of the three main areas of the performing arts, dance remains the least developed as an academic subject in Nigerian institutions of learning. Drama, which was in the 1960s taught only as part of English Language (at the University of Ibadan), is now a full academic department in a good number of Nigerian universities. Music has for long been a recognised academic department in the Western world (the United Kingdom, for instance). 
This legacy was transferred to Nigeria as far back as 1960 when a department of music was established at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Since then the profile of music as an academic discipline has continued to rise, and it is not surprising that at least ten Nigerian universities now teach music at the first degree level, with at least five offering post graduate, including doctorate : programmes in music. 
Dance on the other hand' has yet to become properly integrated into the Nigerian university curricular, existing, in most cases, as an appendage of music or drama programmes. 
Although dance has, in recent times, begun to receive attention in some institutions, 
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, 

 	_ 
UNITED WE STAND 
Written in Sympathy with the HORSE 
who possesses great strength But a faulty small brain. 
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~ 
-- 
The four dances in the collection reflect diverse themes. In United We Standard Peace or Pieces the author explores themes relating to nation building at a time when the Nigerian state continues to struggle for survival due partly to the problem of ethnic and religious conflicts. In Struggling to Die, a well-knit fairy tale, the moral theme of greed is explored in a most comical manner. Love and Hatred is a dance adaptation of Zulu Sofola's well known Wedlock of the Gods. 
Akinsipe's collection provides additional contribution to the rather scanty literature in the area of dance. Choreographers, dancers as well as teachers and scholars will find the collection a valuable item in their bid to give the teaching and performance of dance a pride of place in Nigerian schools, colleges and tertiary institutions. 
Bode Omojola, Ph.D. 
Former Head of Department, 
Department of Performing Arts, 
University of llorin, Nigeria; 
Currently, Visiting Research Fellow in Musicology, University of Cologne, Germany. 
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Premier Production. 
United We Stand was first produced by my Group II (dance specialists) students of the Department of the Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, as their final year Major Project at the Africa Hall on the 15th and 16th of December, 1999. It was choreographed by Chidi Chukwudum, with the following cast: 
Lily 	- Chinyere jimofor/Caroline Duru 
Attendants 	- Juliet Onyejiaka, Omoniyi 
Bakare, Titi Ainah, Kenechukwu Igweonu, Michael Araoyinbo, 
John Fakutiju 
First suitor 	- Gbenga Onifade/Adesuluka 
Adediran 
Retinue 	- Nike Garuba, Kike YU5uf, Doyin 
Ewulo, Iyabo Makanjuola, Emmanuel Longe, Owoyomi Folarin 
Second Suitor - Omosa Kayode 

FOR ACCESS TO THE LIBRETTOS CONTACT THE LIBRETTIST AT: felisipe@yahoo.com 
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DANCERS 
	Lily 	-A wealthy beautiful lady 
	Attendants 	-Lily's dancers/advisers 
	First suitor 	-A handsome bachelor (Hausa) 
	Retinue 	-His group of dancers. 
	Second Suitor 	-A rich bachelor (Yoruba) 
	Servants 	-His group of dancers 
	Third Suitor 	-A powerful bachelor 
	Orderlies 	-His group of dancers. 
	Foreigner 	-A sparkling bachelor 
	Assistants 	-His group of dancers 
	Guards 	-The defenders 
	Imam 	- ) 
	Herbalist 	- ) Spiritual healers 
	Pastor 	- ) 
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