Tiv dancers stole P London’s show –OU Mackson
P London invited cultural dancers from Benue State to perform at his meet and greet show. The dancers were all kitted in their full cultural costumes and local music instruments. The group had young teenagers and children who had mastered the moves, which made thair performance uniform and interesting. It was a mixture of fear and fun for P London’s audience who had never seen the Tivs perform in their full cultural costume.
Their dance was historical and entertaining at the same time.
Just when the scared audience thought the dance was over a young man jumped out from back stage looking more scarry then the entire group dancers. He had white dots of paint all over his body and his entire costume was made of animal skin. He wore a mask made of animal on skin.
His dance moves were topical of a hunter and worror at the same time. It was memorable for everyone who was present that night.
Tiv (or Tiiv) are a Tivoid ethnic group in Nigeria, they constitute approximately 2.4% of Nigeria’s total population.
The tivs are known for their unique swange and twist dance moves that no other tribe in Nigeria can. Swange is Tivs traditional dance, it is also danced by Igala and Idoma people. It is made by a loud sound, aided by a traditional horn (Al-Gaita), which blows in an unbroken succession while dancers twist their bodies from head to toe.
The Tiv are subsistence farmers whose main crops are yams, millet, and sorghum, all of which are eaten as porridge or are made more palatable by their combination in sauces and stews. Although goats and chickens are plentiful, few cattle are kept because of the tsetse fly.
Arguably the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria, Tiv, is an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa with a population of over seven to eight million.
It is claimed that the Tiv wandered through southern, south-central and west-central Africa before arriving at the savannah lands of West African Sudan via the River Congo and Cameroon Mountains and settled at Swemkaragbe the region adjoining Cameron and Nigeria in the beginning of 1500 CE.
One fascinating fact about Tiv culture is their language Nyanza; it is unique because it doesn’t have dialects despite its number of users. The setting of Tiv villages comprises village huts, farms, livestock and cattle. Most Tiv practice their traditional religion, a few Islam while others are Christians.
One thing that differentiates Tivs from every other tribe in Nigeria is thair culture, dance and rich heritage.
Have you seen the Tivs perform in costume before? What do you think about this performance? Please level a comment in the comment section and follow us on our social media handles @oumackson.
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