Mami Wata, Africa’s answer to the
mermaids and sirens sprinkled throughout folklore the world over, rises
from the waters and sways to the beat of hand drums. “Dey use dem bad
medicine to scare, to bring you down,” she sings, her voice punctuated
by stringed instruments, an electric guitar and a steel pan that gives
the sound a haunting edge.
This is opera, but not as you know it: it is the world’s first opera in pidgin, the language spoken by about 50-million people in West Africa’s most populous nation of Nigeria, alongside variants in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and it debuted in London last week.
Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera came about after Nigerian-born Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor, also known by her artistic name, the Venus Bushfires, watched a recital of Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal. That began a four-year labour of love aimed at convincing audiences that an art form most closely associated with classical Romance languages could blend with a vernacular often seen as lacking prestige.
In an interview with Mail & Guardian, “I went to the opera wearing my ankara,” Isibor said, indicating her jewel-bright Nigerian clothes, which caused a stir among the black-tie wearing opera regulars. “And I thought, actually, I’m going to pidgin this entire situation up.”
Scoring pidgin’s clipped, concise tone was “difficult”, she said, but the final result is a West African-flavoured twist centred on the water spirits that lure men or sailors to their deaths in countless mythologies.
“My grandmother knew so many Mami Wata stories because her mother had told her these stories too,” Isibor said, her hair spun in the signature elaborate up-dos she sports on stage. “It’s everywhere from Greek mythology to mermaids, so it’s something that translates well across the board.”
Helen Parker-Jayne Isisbor in traditional flowing agbada robes.
“A lot of people [in Nigeria] said, why do you want to sing in pidgin? And I thought, well, why not? It’s the language the average Nigerian understands,” said Isibor. Her collective of international musicians can’t always perfect the accent, so they simply sing it in their own accents – fitting for a language that draws from so many indigenous languages that various ethnic groups claim it as their own in Nigeria.
“You’re the Pavarotti of Nigerian opera!” exclaimed one happy viewer post-show last week, rushing over to shake hands with Baba Epega, a classically trained musician who had appeared on stage dressed in traditional flowing agbada robes.
Mail & Guradian also stated that Lawyer Roger Makanjuola, speaking above the crowd of British and Nigerian accents, said the wave of Nigerian pop artists breaking through internationally had helped his British-born children identify with the country. “I think Nigerian music is ripe for the international stage. In a way it’s a shame because a lot of the young big-timers are moving away from the more traditional music, but you can’t blame them for also trying to make their roots more modern,” he said.
Others are fighting against the tide of sugary dancehall music. Isibor is among them: “I don’t have the kind of face most people link to opera. I hope that people look at me and even if they don’t go into opera music specifically, they can think: you don’t have to shake your bum-bum, take your clothes off, it doesn’t have to be auto-tune .”
This is opera, but not as you know it: it is the world’s first opera in pidgin, the language spoken by about 50-million people in West Africa’s most populous nation of Nigeria, alongside variants in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and it debuted in London last week.
Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera came about after Nigerian-born Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor, also known by her artistic name, the Venus Bushfires, watched a recital of Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal. That began a four-year labour of love aimed at convincing audiences that an art form most closely associated with classical Romance languages could blend with a vernacular often seen as lacking prestige.
In an interview with Mail & Guardian, “I went to the opera wearing my ankara,” Isibor said, indicating her jewel-bright Nigerian clothes, which caused a stir among the black-tie wearing opera regulars. “And I thought, actually, I’m going to pidgin this entire situation up.”
Scoring pidgin’s clipped, concise tone was “difficult”, she said, but the final result is a West African-flavoured twist centred on the water spirits that lure men or sailors to their deaths in countless mythologies.
“My grandmother knew so many Mami Wata stories because her mother had told her these stories too,” Isibor said, her hair spun in the signature elaborate up-dos she sports on stage. “It’s everywhere from Greek mythology to mermaids, so it’s something that translates well across the board.”
Helen Parker-Jayne Isisbor in traditional flowing agbada robes.“A lot of people [in Nigeria] said, why do you want to sing in pidgin? And I thought, well, why not? It’s the language the average Nigerian understands,” said Isibor. Her collective of international musicians can’t always perfect the accent, so they simply sing it in their own accents – fitting for a language that draws from so many indigenous languages that various ethnic groups claim it as their own in Nigeria.
“You’re the Pavarotti of Nigerian opera!” exclaimed one happy viewer post-show last week, rushing over to shake hands with Baba Epega, a classically trained musician who had appeared on stage dressed in traditional flowing agbada robes.
Mail & Guradian also stated that Lawyer Roger Makanjuola, speaking above the crowd of British and Nigerian accents, said the wave of Nigerian pop artists breaking through internationally had helped his British-born children identify with the country. “I think Nigerian music is ripe for the international stage. In a way it’s a shame because a lot of the young big-timers are moving away from the more traditional music, but you can’t blame them for also trying to make their roots more modern,” he said.
Others are fighting against the tide of sugary dancehall music. Isibor is among them: “I don’t have the kind of face most people link to opera. I hope that people look at me and even if they don’t go into opera music specifically, they can think: you don’t have to shake your bum-bum, take your clothes off, it doesn’t have to be auto-tune .”
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