Ideas for an African-Style Opening Ceremony
- Play African music as your attendees file into the venue and take their seats. Turn the music either down or off – depending on the acoustics of the room – when your opening ceremony starts. A local college might have an African ensemble, especially if you live in the vicinity of historically African-American schools, such as Howard University in Washington, DC or Hampton University in Hampton Roads, Virginia. If live African music is not an option, play well-known African ensembles, such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo over the sound system.
- African drums are present at nearly every ritual across the continent. As an alternative to playing African music over a stereo system – or featuring a live group – invite a group of African drummers to open your opening ceremony. Ask the group’s leader to explain the significance of drums in African rituals and some of the parallels to your own ceremony.
- Open your opening ceremony with an African dance troupe. Turn the lights in the room down as the ceremony is about to begin and flood the spotlights on the stage as the dancers begin their routine. An invitation to a dance group from Africa would be very expensive, so make use of local resources. Universities, again, are a good source of dance ensembles from around the world. Dance institutions around the U.S. sometimes feature African dance troupes; the KanKouran West African dance company in Washington, DC, is an example of one such African dance group.
- Open your ceremony with a speaker from an African country, whether that speaker has traveled from Africa or who lives in the community. This will work best if your ceremony is some sort of life cycle event, such as a marriage or a graduation. Ask your speaker to open the ceremony by speaking briefly about similar rituals in his country or culture.
- In many African cultures, liquids, such as palm wine, are poured on the ground at the start of a ceremony as a sort of libation for the ancestors. This ritual could be worked into an opening ceremony by the opening speaker. Ask your opening speaker to pour a few drops of water on the ground and then explain the ritual to the crowd, relating it to the ceremony and the coming events.