ABSTRACT
The task to round up this compilation of performance-related concepts in Yorùbá is carried out by an expression that at first sight might arouse some wonder as to its pertinence: ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ (lit. “half words”). How do half words relate to performance? The question is legitimate. The more so because the phrase ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ does not only mean half words; it is in itself half words, and as such, it needs to be completed, to be made “whole.” When uttered, the phrase ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ does in fact immediately call to mind a longer adage, which goes ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ l’a nso fún ọmọlúwàbí, in translation “we just say half words to ọmọlúwàbí—the person born with ìwà, a good, ideal person” (Euba 1986, 10). Remarkably, Yorùbá oral performing arts seem to privilege the ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ modality—that is, they tell half words. Thus, approaching the ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ of the performing arts means to engage with a net of concepts that inform their aesthetics. →Ọmọlúwàbí, →ìwà (being/character)—and consequently →ẹwà (beauty) too—are only three of the terms that belong to the wide net of performance-related concepts that ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ consent to highlight in their dynamic interaction. And it is precisely this net of performance-related concepts—evinced by pointing out the ààbọ̀ ọ̀rọ̀ in the performances—that represents the focus of this chapter.
