Okeme
A Lango folk dance and thumb-piano tradition, performed at weddings, introduction ceremonies and graduations.
Okeme is a Lango folk dance, usually performed at weddings, cultural introduction ceremonies and graduation ceremonies. Dancers leap and stamp while singing to the crowd, and guests are invited to join in. The music is built around the okeme, a thumb piano.
Accounts of Lango music also describe okeme competitions between villages, held at certain seasons of the year. Okeme is one of the best-known Lango dances.
Elders and performers: help us document the songs, instruments and costume of Okeme by contributing recordings and photographs.
Related heritage
Myel me bilo
A flute-accompanied dance recorded by the early ethnographer Driberg in 1923.
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Myel me bul (the drum dance)
The commonest Lango dance of the early twentieth century: leaping in time to the drums.
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