Ayanfe, a Yoruba Opera

Ayanfe, written by April Atinuke Koyejo, is an opera loosely based on Yoruba fairytales and legends. Stories often told to her as a child by her mother, April sought to continue the oral tradition by rewriting the stories for the operatic stage.

The music, composed by Pierre Audiger, takes inspiration from the folklore, with an honest yet exciting rendition of Yoruba folk music reimagined in a western classical style.

Background The opera infuses the Yoruba idea of “Folk Opera”, a format that emerged in Nigeria in the 1940’s, with western classical music, to tell the story of Ayanfe, the Huntress who recaptures the Oòrùn Il, The Sun in Ground. The Yoruba storytelling technique is infused with classical music to create a piece of exciting operatic theatre.

The work is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative, interactive performance with a magnetic cast, combining Brazilian, Cuban and Nigerian, Yoruba elements of dance, narration and talking drums supported by an ensemble of western classical and Ballet Dancers, Singers and Ensemble.

The aesthetics of the piece are highly important as they are in the Yoruba storytelling technique. The use of masquerades, accessories and costumes inspired and reimagined for the show, refreshes the western classical opera style thus creating an atmosphere which allows the audience to truly experience the Yoruba storytelling.