Traditional dance and music groups in Ghana preserve some of the traditions and are also entertaining. They appear on several events to volunteer their great entertaining shows with music and dance.
Drums resound and a fast rhythm begins, traditional African ropes rustle and whirl through the air. The feet, hands and the whole body are moving in fluent movements and the rhythm of instrument and the body of the dancer merge. Some of the drummers and the dancers seem to be sucked into the world of rhythm and movements. Then suddenly everything is over, the drums fall silent, the dancer returns to his seat, the audience claps, everybody of the African dance and music group seems to be exhausted and satisfied and now they smile happily at the audience. Everybody seems to appreciate the great show they could witness a few moments before. Those and other performances are likely to be seen at a social happening.
Cultural dance and music groups in Ghana are very popular when it comes to social or prestige events. Nearly at every bigger event, like the opening of a new building or the meeting of a group of important people, there will also appear an African dance group to perform one of their dances. These groups are nowadays mostly organised by cultural centres all over the country. The music instruments are made out of wood and are still traditional without the adding of any technology. Among the popular instruments for a traditional performance are the Atsimevu (the lead drum with a narrow shape about four feet tall), Sogo (a very large drum) and the Kidi (a drum about two feet tall). There are also others used for their performance. In most cases the dancers are two, a women and a man, they are dancing separately to the rhythm of the music. They will dance and interact with each other and the audience, constantly accompanied by the drummers. The dancing will involve the whole body: the feet, the arms, hips, everything will be part of the dance. Some people of the audience will get up and throw some banknotes to the dancers to express their appreciation for the great show.
Some of these are now under government payment but a lot of them are looking for sponsors, because the funding by the government is not enough, it has to be shared by all groups under one organisation. These groups are surviving by being booked for parties, events and other occasion where you need a good show for entertainment. They offer a wide variety of shows from singing highlife songs over drum music to a music and dance show. To form and establish a performance group is not easy. A lot of these groups relay on the help from outside to perform. Most of the groups perform all over Ghana to be able to get more appointments. Nevertheless these shows also preserve an interesting and important part of culture in the African country of festival and dance Ghana. 
Even though this kind of dance and music still remains prestigious among the people of Ghana it does not celebrate a great success in music awards and other musical events. The youth seems also not to be too interested in that kind of music. They prefer to listen to hip life and foreign music. As proof the foreign artist Lady Gaga and her new song ”Born this Way” placed high in the official Ghanaian Charts even reaching number 1. Lady Gaga as a person and her kind of music are far away from resembling any traditional Ghanaian music. But it is really hard to fight against this foreign and artificial music with drums and tradition. Hopefully there will be soon a musical cultural revival in Ghana to let the drums resound again.
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