THE ROLE OF MUSIC AND BODY ADORNMENT IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN PERFORMANCE: A FOCUS ON EGWU-OTA OF ASABA, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.

This study investigates the cultural significance of music and body adornment in traditional African performance, with a specific focus on the Egwu Ota festival of the Asaba people in Delta State, Nigeria. The theoretical framework is grounded in interdisciplinary theories such as functionalism, symbolic interactionism, African aesthetic theory, and performance theory, the research examines how these artistic elements function beyond aesthetics to convey identity, spirituality, social hierarchy, and historical continuity. The methodology is structured in sociological approach, interviews with cultural custodians, documented materials and previous scholarly works. The study reveals that music in Egwu Ota serves ritual, communicative, and entertainment functions, while body adornment including facial markings, beads, chalk, and costume functions as a symbolic language representing age, lineage, spiritual preparedness, and communal values. Findings reveal that Egwu Ota is not merely a performance but a living repository of Asaba’s ancestral memory, cultural identity, and social organization. The study recommends increased documentation, intergenerational education, and the preservation of indigenous aesthetics through community led cultural programmes.