A Theoretical Framework for Understanding the Creative Process in Indigenous Nigerian Performance Traditions

The creative process in indigenous Nigerian performance traditions, encompassing the initial spiritual inspiration, compositional development, rehearsal dynamics, and live performance improvisation that together constitute how masquerade, drum music, storytelling, and ritual performance are created, remains significantly under-theorised relative to Western creative process scholarship. This study developed an original theoretical framework for understanding the creative process in indigenous Nigerian performance traditions. A multi-site ethnographic methodology with theoretical analysis integration was employed across 20 months of fieldwork with four performance tradition communities: Yoruba Bata drum composition (Oyo State), Igbo Ofufe sacred flute performance (Enugu State), Hausa Maguzawa ritual song (Katsina State), and Ijo ijele epic oral performance (Bayelsa State). Ethnographic methods included extended participant observation, structured interviews with 40 master performers, in-depth creative process documentation through video analysis of performance creation events, and retrospective creative process interviews. Grounded theory analysis across the four traditions generated a comparative theoretical picture of indigenous performance creative process. The original Indigenous Nigerian Performance Creative Process Framework proposes that creation in these traditions proceeds through five stages fundamentally different from Western creative process models: ancestral consultation (seeking spiritual permission and inspiration from ancestral forces), communal creative licensing (receiving community authorisation for innovation through elder validation), embodied preparation (extended physical and spiritual preparation enabling receptivity), live generative performance (simultaneous creation and performance in a state of heightened receptivity), and community aesthetic completion (the performance reaching completion through audience active participation). Expert review confirmed significant theoretical originality.

Keywords: creative process, indigenous performance, Nigerian performing arts, performance theory, original framework