Sustaining Gantei: Cultural Performance and Heritage Continuity Among the Mada People of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Indigenous performance traditions constitute important repositories of embodied knowledge, cultural memory, and communal identity, yet many are increasingly challenged by socio-cultural transformation. This study examined Mada Gantei performance in selected communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, focusing on its structural composition, cultural significance, and factors contributing to its decline. The study adopted a qualitative, practice-informed ethnographic approach, drawing on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions involving 29 participants comprising performers, elders, and young people across four selected Mada communities: Gwanje, Ningo, Kegbe, and Njigban. Findings indicate that Gantei is not merely an instrumental or musical form but a multilayered cultural performance involving music, movement, symbolism, ritual elements, and communal participation. The findings further show that the performance has historically facilitated cultural transmission, moral instruction, collective participation, and the expression of communal identity and memory. Its continuity, however, is challenged by religious transformation, urbanisation, declining youth participation and intergenerational transmission, as well as limited institutional support. The study argues that these challenges represent broader disruptions in the transmission of indigenous cultural knowledge. Drawing on Practice-as-Research and an applied theatre orientation, the study demonstrates the potential of participatory performance processes to support cultural reflection, intergenerational engagement, and the reconstruction and transmission of endangered performance knowledge. It therefore proposes community-centred performance reconstruction as one possible strategy for strengthening the continuity of Gantei. The study contributes to African performance and cultural studies by providing an empirically grounded account of Gantei as a living cultural practice and by demonstrating how practice-based theatrical approaches can contribute to community-led cultural safeguarding.