Kenya's Kagan Kochia Traditional Dancers (2011 Luo dance video, information, and comments)

The Singing Wells project, Sep 8, 2014

Recorded and filmed on the 30th November 2011 at the Homa Bay hotel in Homa Bay, Nyanza, Kenya, as part of a field trip to record the music of the Luo.

You can read the field report from our visit here: http://www.singingwells.org/stories/day-12-homa-bay-and-the-kochia-dancers/ *

For more information, please go to: www.singingwells.org
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*This page includes brief  text accompanied by all of The Singing Wells project videos of Kochia traditional dances as well as group and individual photographs of those dancers.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a  2011 YouTube video of the Kochia Traditional Dancers 

This post presents information about the Luo ethnic group as well as information about the Kochia Traditional dancers.

Selected comments from the discussion threads for various YouTube videos of Kochia Traditional Dancers are also included in this post.

This content is presented for cultural, inspirational, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owner.

Thanks to all past and present members of Kenya's Kochia Traditional Dancers. Thanks to members of The Singing Wells project and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE LUO (African ethnic group)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luo_people
"The Luo of Kenya and Tanzania are a Nilotic ethnic group native to western Kenya and the Mara Region of northern Tanzania in East Africa. The Luo are the fourth largest ethnic group (10.65%) in Kenya, after the Kikuyu (17.13%), the Luhya (14.35%) and the Kalenjin (13.37%).[1] The Tanzanian Luo population was estimated at 1.1 million in 2001 and 1.9 million in 2010.[2] They are part of a larger group of related Luo peoples who inhabit an area ranging from South Sudan, South-Western Ethiopia, Northern and Eastern Uganda, Northeastern DRC, South-Western Kenya and Northern Tanzania.[3]

They speak the Luo language, also known as Dholuo, which belongs to the Western Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family. Dholuo shares considerable lexical similarity with languages spoken by other Luo peoples.[4]

The Luo descend from migrants who moved into western Kenya from Uganda between the 15th and 20th centuries in four waves. These migrants were closely related to Luo peoples found in Uganda, especially the Acholi and Padhola people. As they moved into Kenya and Tanzania, they underwent significant genetic and cultural admixture as they encountered other communities that were long established in the region.[5][6]

Traditionally, Luo people practised a mixed economy of cattle pastoralism, seed farming and fishing supplemented by hunting.[7] Today, the Luo comprise a significant fraction of East Africa's intellectual and skilled labour force in various professions. They also engage in various trades such as tenant fishing, small-scale farming, and urban work.[8]"...
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Here's information about the "Nilotic" referent:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilotic_peoples
"The Nilotic peoples are peoples indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania.[1] Among these are the Burun speaking peoples, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko and the Maa-speaking peoples.

The Nilotes constitute the majority of the population in South Sudan, an area that is believed to be their original point of dispersal. After the Bantu peoples, they constitute the second-most numerous group of peoples inhabiting the African Great Lakes region around the Eastern Great Rift.[2] They make up a notable part of the population of southwestern Ethiopia as well.

The Nilotic peoples primarily adhere to Christianity and traditional faiths, including the Dinka religion."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE KOCHIA TRADITIONAL DANCERS
From https://www.singingwells.org/groups/kochia-traditional-dancers/ 
"Music of the Luo

The Kagan Kochia dancers are a group of traditional dancers from the Rangwe Sub-County in Homa Bay, Kenya. The group has a strong history, being found in 1965, and since then its members have dedicated themselves to entertaining guests at countless national celebrations and holidays, private events, as well as internationally as part of the Folklife Festival in the UK and in the USA at the Smithsonian Folk Festival.

As well as this they are determined with their performance to preserve the incredible Ramogi dancing, a mainstay of traditional Luo culture. Ramogi was the patriarch of the Luo people, and this centuries-old dance is performed by mature men to beseech his spirit to possess them. Some moves of the dance represent the movements of birds, reflecting the ostrich feathers that the dancers wear.

Lead by Alfred Migure, they have built a reputation for themselves as one of the most exciting groups to perform traditional Luo music, with their vibrant regalia and dance moves to match. Their brightly coloured outfits (replacing the more traditional clay colours that dancers would adorn themselves with) are augmented by attention-grabbing ostrich feather headdresses (the ostrich, a symbol of beauty and courage, represents the courage they will need to entertain) and monkey fur. They are accompanied by drumming, and the Tung’, the Luo horn."

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SEVERAL YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREADS FOR VIDEOS OF THE KAGAN KOCHIA TRADITIONAL DANCERS

The discussion threads for these comments are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Discussion thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iGUcQRLRp4&ab_channel=TheSingingWellsproject
Kochia Dancers - Philip Okundi - The Singing Wells Project

The Singing Wells project, Mar 27, 2012
1. mazomo, 2013
"We need more of this cultural dance, I remember kisumu show back in the seventies when they walked on stilts and had upto 50 performers doing those acrobatic moves, hitting the deck and leaning back shaking those shoulder feathers. Can we have more."

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2. Reply
celoh, 2019
"This new phone generation they don't have time ..just enjoy while you can"

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3. Hezron Owaka, 2013
"Ramogi .... Jowi! Jowi! Jowi!"

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4. Beegee Obi, 2013
"Ayayaya Ramogi kendeeee!!!!!"

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5. river nile bank nya om, 2018
"Beegee Obi 🤣🤣🤣 ramogi mapek!!

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6. Mwangi Gitau, 2013
"let go back to our roots. I'm going to reintroduce tero buro in my village!"

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Reply
7. river nile bank nya om, 2018
"Mwangi Gitau 🤣🤣🤣you not easy bro"

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8. Musée Rusé, 2019
"Which country is this dance from?"

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Reply
9. otieno oduor, 2020
"Kenya"

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Discussion thread #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwVlHnpw8Io&ab_channel=TheSingingWellsproject [embedded video]

1. Collins Orondo, 2018
"superb traditional attire,rich culture,nice song,love it."

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2.  Malitt Ishmael, 2020
"True Luo culture.  Kudos"

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Discussion thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAxAthJoofw&t=377s&ab_channel=KikwetuCulturalAdventures
Kagan Traditional Dancers - Performing Ramogi Dance during Kikwetu Cultural Adventures Festivals

Kikwetu Cultural Adventures, Feb. 27, 2020

1. Augustine Mboi,  2020
"i remember my childhood with this....i used to watch them at homabay stadium during every holiday...so cool guys"

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2. hotep 79, 2020
"This brought me to tears,I was taught that this is demonic, but now I'm woke and now know that this is who I am,these guys are from my hometown. I'll very soon make my way to Ramogi hill to confess my sins and reconnect to my ancestors, DOWN with these foreign religions!!!"

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