The Origin of Owigiri Dance

 Source: The Dawn Journal Vol. 2, No. 1, January - June 2013

The owigiri dance originated in 1985 through a particular music composed by a foremost Izon musician in Bayelsa State, Nigeria called Professor I.K. Belemu. Although, I. K. Belemu did not invent the owigiri dance style, his song, which was responsible for the creation was more of a call to dance. 

The lyrics of Professor I. K. Belemu in the Izon dialect goas thus:

Lyric in Izon Language

Owigiri sei mo bo emi yo 

Owigiri sei mo bo emi yo

E ba tie ke tie ma?        

I. K. Ebi gban ogele dig ban ne sera

Binyen waibo fada ke ton

English Translation

Owigiri dance has come

Owigiri dance has come

Why are you still standing?

Watch closely the dance steps of I. K. B

Just shake your waist and you are done

Dancers, especially partygoers began to react to the music with individual dance expressions. At first, there was no significant attempt to achieve synchronism of movement or dance pattern until a man popularly called Afruruku who hails from Aleibiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State started to make significant inroads as a dancer. He began to dance to the melody in a particular captivating dance pattern which was repeated severally at different occasions, especially at parties. This dance style became so inspiring to other dancers that they started to adopt the same pattern. This is how the dance became popular among the Izon people.  

The dance was initially created from the penge dance movement; of course the penge dance is a traditional dance of the Izon people, but at this initial stage the owigiri was essentially done in the penge style. Later on, other Izon traditional dance styles such as agene, abo, owu, konkonba and osundu began to influence the dance as well, from the origin of the dance to the present, the dance has been subjected to series of refinements, one of such refinements is the addition of a new dance style called feletei to the owigiri dance genre, but despite the refinements the original content of the dance remains the same.

In penge dance the dancer thrust his or her buttocks out by bending forward. He or she then vibrates as well as rotates the waist region. A skilful dancer accomplishes these movements with so much ease as if the waist and buttocks are moving on their own accord without the dancer’s effort. While these movements are going on, other parts of the anatomy like the shoulders, hands, head, and face are seen executing other contrasting movements.

Owigiri dance is often used to communicate different ideas to the spectators. The supposed temperament of the dancer is often revealed in his or her dance expressions. The osundu dance step for instance communicates a state of sadness; this is equally clear in the movement which is slow or leisurely executed. The penge or agene dance step on the other hand is fast and energetic and convey a mood of bliss or happiness. According to a traditionalist in Izon Land, Emeka Odogu, the owigiri dance captures the lifestyle and mood of the Izon man in his daily activities. He states further that:  

The owigiri dance is a way the Izon man expresses his feelings at a particular time. The dance has a variety of dance steps that will suitany music, so the dancer can pick any dance step that can indicate his state of mind at any point in time. if he is happy there is the bright and energetic “agene”dance step to indicate this and if he is unhappy he can dance the slow and smooth “abalande” dance movement to match his mood…

The owigiri dance is also used to tell the marital status of a man or a woman, while executing the dance in a public gathering, women that are not yet married simply (if they so desire)raise both hands by pointing upwards their index fingers. This is a nonverbal communication where women openly declare their status of being single and in search of the opposite sex. The message is always clear to men; those who are willing to answer such open invitation approach the women and dance with them. This is usually a way of getting opposite sexes together to start a relationship or simply have fun while the dance last, since the communication is expected to be shared by unmarried men and women, it is presumed that those married would not be involved in this part of the dance which is by respecting the sanctity of their matrimony, however, this is not always the case as some married women, pretending to be unmarried also raise their hands to attract men in order to woo them.