Advantages

Socially: the program provides very entertaining and enriching alternatives to street gangs, drugs and prostitution. Read more


Economically: the program saves the city council huge amounts of money in terms of policing, drug, alcohol and other social rehabilitation programs and prison upkeep. Read more


Culturally: it enriches the city or country. Africa still remains a mystery to most people. Its culture is little known. Read more


Tourism: many cities and countries derive a huge chunk of their revenues from tourism. Read more


Health: the explosion of child obesity and other numerous health concerns tied to inactivity in North America provides a good reason for the introduction of these dances. Read more


Project-Music >>

Music 
The music is quite original as well as the musical instruments. These instruments include the xylophone (njang), drum (nchum), metal gong (ngem) trumpet (kenfven) etc. The principal instrument here is the xylophone. The xylophone is made out of wood. A complete Oku set is made up of thirteen (13) different musical notes. Generally, all the classical musical parts are represented i.e. first (lead), second (background) third (solo) and the fourth parts (bass). The combination of all these parts with the drum and the trumpet produce powerful music that is good for the ear to listen to and to the feet/body to dance. This music or songs recount stories, histories of all their past glories, sufferings, achievements and aspiration vis-à-vis other communities.
The rattles 
The rattles in the Oku juju dance are seeds of tropical creeping plant. They are used to announce movement on the stage. They are also used by the dancers as part of music. The sound which they produce with their feet culminates with that produced by the musicians and a thrilling melody is produced. This melody is quickly interpreted by the dancers and their musicians in such a manner that if a mistake is made at any point, dancers and musicians feel it at once. Therefore dancers communicate with musicians using the rattles. Without the rattles, musicians can hardly understand what is going on among the dancers. The simple logic is that an Oku man may read and interpret a dance pattern by simply listening to the sound produced by dancers through rattles. 
Masks
Masks are sacred objects and should be seen by women unless they are worn and displayed on the stage. They are sacred and untouchable to uninitiated men only when they have been bestowed sacred powers through anointment. 
Masks in Oku represent human (male, female, and status), fauna, and spiritual realms. Masks of the fauna category are mostly buffalo, lion, elephant, dragon birds... Those of the spiritual realm are complex masks representing Dracula and dragon like figurines. Masks have little to do with the ancestral world. They are potent forces and are perceived as living objects. They can harm the uninitiated. The only link with the ancestral world is that some of them were conceived by them. When they are already worn by men, the initiated swear by their names.