Simon Gikandi
James Ogude
Ndirangu Wachanga
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ
Mumbi wa Ngũgĩ
Ndũcũ wa Ngũgĩ
Nyambura Sallinen
Wangũi wa Goro
Karen Lawrence
Colette LaBouff
Angela Davis
Adriana Johnson
Mukul Kumar
Carla Wilson
Paa Kwesi-Heto
Akosua Adomako Ampofo
Chimee Adịọha
Baba Badji
Jaye Austin Williams
Cilas Kemedjio
Anindo Marshall
Kwame Rĩgĩĩ
Nii Armah Sowah
Sela Adjei
Victor Nani Agbeli
Mumbi Ngũgĩ
Fred Moten
Jimmy Centeno
Idza Luhumyo
Bwesigye Bwa-Mwesigire
Rah Hite
Tyrus Miller
Jane O. Newman
Jerry Lee
Ketu Katrak
Gabriele Schwab
David Theo Goldberg
Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan
Cecelia Lynch
S. Ama Wray
Munyao Kilolo
Glaydah Namukasa
Joel Veenstra










Victor Nani Agbeli





Professor Victor Nani Agbeli is the director of West African music, dance, and song (Ghana) at the music department at Pomona College. Agbeli came to Pomona after teaching at CalArts and directing Kiniwe, the African drum and dance ensemble of Tufts University’s music department, as well as programs at Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Agbeli offers training in dance, drumming, language, song, production, direction, choreography, and Anlo-Ewe drum languages.

He is regarded as one of the top traditional Ghanaian dancers and drummers of his generation, known for his athleticism, precision, creativity, and energy. He grew up in a family of professional dancers and drummers in the capital city of Accra and in Ghana’s Volta Region. His father, Godwin Kwasi Agbeli, founded the Dagbe Center in the village of Kopeyia, Ghana, a family-run school for traditional music, dance, and textile arts where his older brothers teach and perform. For many years, Nani Agbeli was the head teacher for the study tour groups that would come to study.

Agbeli moved to the United States in 2006 and quickly established himself as a charismatic performer, an inspiring instructor, and a demanding ensemble director. He has performed and run seminars at many institutions in North America and the Caribbean including the New England Conservatory of Music, Berklee College of Music, Mount Holyoke College, Lawrence University, the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Richmond, Boston University, Carleton University, the University of Virginia, Fairleigh Dickinson University, the Queen Elizabeth School in Ottawa, Canada, and the Edna Manley College of Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica.

One of Agbeli’s goals in his field of work is the unification of West African music and dance with creative multi-arts initiatives in percussion, dance, music, and choreography. He has strong interdisciplinary interests, drawing from his additional background in traditional textile arts, graphic design, and new media.

Take a look at some of Agbeli's work.





The Celebration of the Life and Work of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is made possible through the support of the:

UCI Office of the Chancellor
Dean of the School of the Arts
Dean of the School of Humanities
Dean of the School of Social Sciences
Humanities Center
International Center for Writing and Translation
UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality
Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies
Office of Inclusive Excellence
UCI Illuminations: The Chancellor's Arts & Culture Initiative
Alex Glasser The Center for the Power of Music and Social Change
Department of Anthropology
Department of Comparative Literature
Department of Drama
Department of English
Department of Dance

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Organized by:

Adriana Johnson
Jane O. Newman
Gabriele Schwab
Ketu Katrak
Jerry Lee
Cecelia Lynch
S. Ama Wray