Enjoy the Dance and Look for the Flag Meaning

The Frankaakitanyi’s Training in Contemporary Times

The asafo flag is a revered mobile shrine. Therefore, the user is trained in how to respond to the spirits when invoked to inhabit the flag when being used as a dance prop. Consequently, the frankaakitafo are perceived as having supernatural powers and are protected by asikanmafo. I was informed that a novice might begin his apprenticeship by spending some years understudying a priest or master dancer as a fee-paying trainee, with the cost borne by the sponsoring asafo. Broadly, the frankaakitanyi’s training involves imitation of dance moves of the trainer and receiving spiritual instruction. The training starts with listening to the different asafokyen (asafo drums) tunes and rhythms associated with the dance, and then perfecting the relationship and dance movements with the kyrema (drummer). The trainee practices acrobatic movements to make him agile enough to perform a range of body movements.

A significant aspect of the training is spiritual instruction. Forni and Ross (2017, 234) suggest that, although flag dancing is taught and learned through training at various places, most of the leading flag dancers see their role as a response to a divine calling. They point out that all leading flag dancers emphasize the supernatural and spiritual nature of their art. Hence, the dancers serve as a bridge between the spiritual messaging of the drums and the sacred materiality of the flag. The frankaakitanyi acts like a ritual specialist or a priest, expressing through movement and choreography the strength and power of the asafo company. This spiritual connection derives from their ancestors who used the flags in wars and may have died in battle as warriors, having had the assistance of abosom (supernatural entities). To properly honor the asafo ancestors and the abosom associated with such flags or replicas, they need to be propitiated. Each bosom that the trainee consults, according to Opoku (1978, 4, 9), derives its powers from Onyame. Training includes spiritual protection; for instance, the trainer may give the trainee asuman or ns b (man-made religious objects or talismans) as charms for his protection during his career as a frankaakitanyi. Thus, frankaakitafo adornment can enhance spiritual protection against abayimona, as they may wear these amulets or talismans in a headband or underneath their cotton or raffia skirt.

The Frankaakitanyi’s Dance Partnership

The frankaakitanyi usually performs with his flag in front of the posuban. As noted, with appropriate rituals, the flag is transformed into a sacred abode for the spirit beings. While dancing with the flag, the frankaakitanyi is transfigured and the performance becomes a spectacle similar to the Yoruba gelede performances that Margaret Drewal and Henry Drewal (1990, 2) describe as a fleeting transitory phenomenon. The spiritual aspects of the frankaakitanyi’s training and the abosom he consults become an important resource here, after having learned in training how to respond to the spirit beings during a dance. As Kobina Abakah, frankaakitanyi of Otuam Dentsefo, explained, “Frankaa asa no ɛyɛ akɔm,” (flag dancing is possession) and is therefore transitory in nature (Abakah 2014). The frankaakitanyi is temporarily transformed by the spirit that influences him, an encounter that determines aspects of the performance. For example, during a performance in 2014, I observed a complete behavior change in the frankaakitanyi Abakah who danced for Dago Dentsefo; he appeared stronger than normal and only responded to certain asafo leaders while they poured libation. At Apam, a few moments before the climax of Samuel Ofori’s dance in 2014, he assumed an aggressive appearance. While he crawled slowly on his belly, the drumming, chorus, and cheers from the crowd intensified. He wriggled, looked at an egg placed on the ground and, in a dramatic move, swallowed it. Thus, this enactment is related to the earlier reference to the frankaakitanyi’s relationship with the supernatural.

The frankaakitanyi performs in collaboration with akyremafo. The kyrema’s rhythms and drum texts guide the frankaakitanyi in dance. I questioned flag dancer Kwamina Santil, “Can you not simply display the flag without a kyrema or a dance?” He responded, “It’s not me oh! It’s the kyrema. He puts pressure on me to dance (Santil 2014).” The frankaakitanyi and kyrema interact with each other during a performance, a phenomenon that is similar to other performances in which the drummer (or drum ensemble) communicates with the dancer, especially in contexts involving spirit possession.

The asafo dance is gendered. Forni and Ross (2017, 250–267) devote an entire chapter in their book to the portrayal of women, commenting on the roles they play in war, in the community, religious rites, performance, and other contexts. Other gendered aspects of the asafo are seen during the performance of the frankaakitanyi involving the representation of both women and men. It begins with a “female dance” called ase (down) comprised of slow, graceful hand and foot movements associated with the graceful walking and movement of women; it relates to general female attributes, including calmness. Ase was originally performed after war when the asafo were returning home. Ase usually starts in a preparatory position with the flag folded around the flagpole in the frankaakitanyi’s hand. He begins with a slow warm-up dance movement, including short jumps and leaps, holding the folded flag down with both hands. He continues with gentle body movements from one place to the other, responding to the tempo of the music. In a slow, gentle manner, with his body bent down, he moves his arms and legs sideways, occasionally raises his torso, bends backwards, and turns his body around (Figure 1).

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Figure 1.

Nana Baah, Anomabo Kyirem No. 6 Asafo Company frankaakitanyi in an ase dance style. This is the beginning of the choreography with both hands holding the flag and knees bent in a second demi plié position. To the right is an asikanma protecting him. Anomabo. Photo by Selina Okle, 2014.

The dance tempo quickens and the frankaakitanyi, using his limbs and body, dances with more energy, sometimes appearing aggressive—making movements associated with men. This second style is called sour (up), previously a war dance referencing battle scenes and now commemorating the deeds and militancy of particular asafo ancestors. It is a “male dance” that complements ase. Sour dance styles involve forward and backward movements, hops and stomping of feet, quick footwork, and jumping. There may be several quick clockwise and anti-clockwise turns while twirling the flag or swinging it around the head, pivoting on one or both legs, lying down, squatting, or kneeling (Figure 2). Sometimes, the frankaakitanyi makes spectacular leaps and twirls the flag above his head with his torso facing up. Sour dance moves depict the strength that was required from the asafo during war and other activities.

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Figure 2.

Nana Baah, Anomabo Kyirem No. 6 Asafo Company frankaakitanyi in a sour dance style twirling his flag in front of the elders. To the left is an asikanma shouting “oni oooo wonhwe” (Here it is, look!). Anomabo. Photo by Selina Okle, 2014.

These dance performances may include choreography and flag content sometimes perceived as offensive by rivals, hence the title of Doran Ross’s 1979 publication Fighting with Art: Appliqued Flags of the Fante Asafo. Although the frankaakitanyi in some segments of the dance is in a trance, dancing with the flag communicates the company’s presence and history and entertains the assembled crowd. When asked if a frankaakitanyi’s dance could be used to communicate, the frankaakitanyi of Anomabo Kyirem No. 6 asafo, Nana Baah, said, “Yes, I can dance to provoke a rival or to establish a cordial relationship with another frankaakitanyi (Baah 2014).” Baah further noted that some dances can also be insulting and bring about a fight. In these dances, the frankaakitafo can use their legs, hands, and head to communicate or sometimes insult a rival (Tenkorang 2014). Nana Tenkorang further stated that the frankaakitanyi may challenge rivals who are attending the performance to do the same.

Revealing the Meaning of Flag Imagery

The frankaakitafo performances are not choreographed to explain the flag’s content; instead, the asafo elders (including the supi [head of an asafo company], safohinfo [leaders of smaller units within the asafo], and the frankaakitafo) select a flag(s) from their collection to use for an occasion. The event informs the choice of flag, as well as what they wish to communicate to their rivals or the townsfolk, which could be peaceful or provocative. For example, the reason for the flag selection made by Anomabo Kyirem for a 2014 performance was to communicate their strength to rivals in the town. Because of the provocative and religious content of some flags, the asikanma always surround the frankaakitanyi to protect the flag from capture by a rival. The outdooring of a new asafohin often involves the commissioning of a flag with a theme of his choice to commemorate the occasion. Other reasons for the selection of specific flags are to spite a rival, such as the one used by Cape Coast Bentsir during the 2014 Afahye festival. While the symbols may be concealed when a flag is wrapped around the pole to which it is attached, or twirled quickly during parts of the sour segment, there is always a moment at which it is stretched out and its content revealed.

Cole and Ross (1977, 9) were the first to note “the verbal-visual nexus” in Akan art, of which the Fante are a part. This dynamic mode of communication puts oral texts encapsulated in proverbs in dialogue with visual imagery. The symbols in asafo flags are often associated with a wise saying, proverb, historical account, something detestable to a rival, unauthorized use of a rival’s symbol, or a reference to a captured item. For example, the symbol in one of the Dago Dentsefo flags used in 2014 is an oware game board, with a single person at one end of the flag. This was explained to me to be associated with the proverb “Baakofo ntow oware” (one person does not play a game of oware). In the context of this flag, the proverb may be interpreted as an invitation to play a game, compete, or fight.

In some aspects of the sour dance, the flag is wrapped around the flagpole, with the content hidden from public view. The frankaakitanyi may pause periodically to unfurl the flag and spread it out briefly so that the asikanma might explain its meaning. Whenever the flag is spread out, the asikanma shout out to the public to draw their attention to the content saying, “Oni oooo, wonhwe!” (Here it is, look!) This was the dance strategy at the performance of Nana Baah in 2014, where he periodically opened the Kyirem asafo flag to the assembled leaders. (Figure 3). This specific flag depicts the Ghana national flag, three women marching while carrying guns, and a man behind them with his hands on his mouth. The asikanma cite a proverb, “Se hen mbaa mpo na woko ko yi aa, nna yen mbarima” (If our women can go to war and fight, then what will our men do). The imagery insinuates that if Kyirem women can bear arms then the Kyirem men, by comparison, are very strong and able to undertake risky war maneuvers, handle weapons with greater firepower, and perform far more dangerous tasks than their rivals.

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Figure 3.

Nana Baah, Anomabo Kyirem No. 6 Asafo Company frankaakitanyi and his asikanma explaining the content of the stretched flag to the asafo elders. Photo by Selina Okle, 2014.

Some flag designs follow an old colonial period tradition of including a written statement. One way of categorizing asafo flags is by grouping them by period—based on the inclusion, in the upper corner, of the national flag of the European nation with whom they were aligned or with whom they traded, or which was then the ruling colonial government. Thus, asafo flags typically have in a corner either the Danish flag, symbolizing their relationship with the Danes, or the British Union Jack, marking the colonial period, while post-independence examples use the Ghana national flag.

Some contemporary flags deviate from this practice with no national flag insert. An example is a flag belonging to Dago Dentsefo with the inscription Kyed Nyame (Except God), meaning no other asafo can defeat Kyirem. This was used by one of the frankaakitafo during the 2014 Akwambo festival. In another contemporary example, a flag belonging to Cape Coast Bentsir asafo depicts a padlock with two keys on its side with the inscription “oman saafii” (state keys). A man stands on the left holding a whip and pointing to the keys. This means Bentsir asafo has in its possession the keys of the state and thus can lock, unlock, stop, or permit any activity. One of the flags belonging to Cape Coast Akrampa shows a goat and a lion facing each other with a sword between them. This is an image of confrontation, a strong asafo company challenging a weaker one; the sword is a symbol of aggression that here serves as an invitation to a fight.