AZONTO 2011into 2012

Azonto is an original Ghanaian expressive dance and music form. Azonto Dance form incorporates complex co-ordinated body movement and non-verbal communication in a rhythmic fashion in very few one-two timed steps. Just like most African dances, knee bending and hip movements are rudiments to dancing it. The dance has effectively evolved from a few rudimentary moves to embrace depictions of washing, driving, boxing, grooming, praying, swimming, and others. Generally, the dance reflects the creativity and rich sense of humour of the Ghanaian people. The dance, which is usually performed with an accompanying smile, evolved from the combination of several local dance moves that originated from the southern-most part of Ghana during the early 2000s. The dance has evolved with the fast pace dance culture of modern West Africa. It is also true that before the dance became famous, youth in senior high schools of Ghana had a similar but different way of doing the dance. A modification of that is what we see today. It involved a similar movement of the feet, hands, and hips and, at the end of every move, a gun shot was mimicked with the hand and, if possible, the mouth. Azonto, when taught effectively can be learned within five minutes, according to experienced Azonto teachers.

The dance was made very popular by Ghanaian football star Asamoah Gyan in his goal celebrations for his club and during matches of the Ghana Black Stars. Azonto has been further commercialized with its inclusion in music lyrics and music video clips. Examples of such songs include African Girls by Castro, Shashewowo by Stay Jay, U Go Kill Me by Sarkodie, Wadi Mi Sika by Vibe Squad, Yenko Nkoaa by Eduwoji, Keche's Sorkode, Azonto by Fuse ODG which features Tiffany, and more recently Obuu Mo by EL, which specifically mentions the Azonto style of dance and features people dancing Azonto in the video clip. In December, 2011, the Azonto fever in Ghana was heightened when an ace Ghanaian disk jokey, DJ Black of Joy FM, released his Azonto Mix. This was a selection of popular hiplife tracks that make use of the Azonto dance rhythm. In the US, this dance is taking over the dance scene especially in colleges. Ghanaian students in Grinnell college [led by His Blackness, DJ Kojo] have been known to organize Azonto parties during the semester.