'Kusum Gboo' Loses Leader

Shock, sorrow and disbelief gripped the Arts community in Ghana last Tuesday when news from the Norwegian capital, Oslo indicated that the artistic director of the award winning, Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble, Richard Danquah had passed away.

The thirty-six year dynamic dancer, drummer, composer and choreographer was reported to have kicked the bucket after several weeks of illness in Accra and Oslo.

Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble, which he led for over 15 years, is noted for its highly expressive and vigorous dance pieces that reflect Ghanaian and African culture. They have performed to enthusiastic audiences in The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Sweden during large scale multi-cultural festivals. Indeed, Hon. Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, once described the group as cultural ambassadors of Ghana.

With three albums to its credit, the group was in 2004, honoured by the Ghana Music Awards as the Best Traditional Music and Dance Group for its contributions to the promotion of Ghanaian indigenous music and dance during a colourful ceremony at the Novotel in Accra.

A true loss for the Arts fraternity of Ghana, Danquah dedicated his last years to ensuring that Norway established a cultural relationship with Ghana - a move he believed would help in the quest to develop and promote the cultural and traditions of Ghana, while fostering other bilateral relations with Norway.

His concern were surely not limited to the promotion and development of the arts but also the need for a critical discourse in arts and cultural reporting - consequently he was in the process of arranging short courses for Ghanaian arts and culture reporters in Europe when he suddenly take ill.

A shrewd composer with dozens of compositions to his credit, he will surely be remembered for his credit, he will surely be remembered for his virtuosity particularly his ability to mix wildly effervescent dance-cocktails that sparkle with messages relating to Africa tradition and culture.

Undeniably, the hidden richness of his work was recently made manifest at a Dance Academy in the Swedish capital Stockholm, when over fifty dance majors, who participated in a four-day workshop, expressed the desire to visit Ghana for further research and collaborations. With over twenty choreographed dance pieces to his credit, Danquah until his untimely death was an instructor in African Music and Dance at the University of Oslo and the Nordic Black Theatre School - all in Norway.

The president of MUSIGA Alhaji Sidiku Buari, who was shocked at the news, described Danquah as one of the finest musicians in Ghana. "We have lost a great musician and truly hope our young musicians will learn from his rich experience - especially his approach to the appropriation of Ghanaian indigenous musical resources", he added.

Source: John Owoo, The Mirror