Aláàrìnjó is a traditional dance-theatre troupe among the Yoruba

Yoruba people

The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...

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According to music historian Roger Blench, Aláàrìnjó dates back to the sixteenth century and probably developed from the Egúngún

Egungun

Egungun is a part of the Yoruba pantheon of divinities. In the indeginous religious system of the West African tribe of that name, the spirit is of central importance...

 masquerade. However, it soon became professional and split into competing groups. Improved roads allowed groups to travel further and outdo other groups with special effects. The heart of these groups are traditional drums, but in modern performances these are being displaced by heavily amplified European instruments, recorded sound tracks and even short film extracts.

The Aláàrìnjó groups were also the inspiration for the ‘African Music Research Party’ founded by Chief Hubert Ogunde

Hubert Ogunde

Oloye Hubert Adedeji Ogunde was a Nigerian actor, playwright, theatre manager, and musician who founded the Ogunde Concert Party in , the first professional theatrical company in Nigeria.Ogunde starred in Mister Johnson, the 1990 motion picture which also featured Pierce Brosnan...

in 1946, the ancestor of modern professional theatre troupes.