Dzodze: Dancing with Dashi

The first time I met Dashi, I had been talking with Johnson Kemeh in the front room of his Dzodze house. Not only did I take drumming lessons from Johnson at the University of Ghana in Accra, but he also became my primary Ghanaian research colleague. Dashi, Johnson’s sister and a priestess, walked in and our eyes immediately met. Instantly I knew that I would return many times. From 1991 to 1992, I interacted with Dashi during my first research project exploring a generalized understanding of West African dance structures. Little did I know then that years later my research