Elegba Folklore Society

Elegba Fokllore Society, Inc. is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization that offers a variety of services in cultural arts programming and communications. Providing educational opportunities through the arts, its purposes are to bring to communities a deeper understanding of the rich diversity of its own cultural traditions and to encourage participation in those traditions.

In seeking to promote more interactive cultural communities in the cities we touch, the Elegba Fokllore Society gives particular attention to the various strands of African American culture.

Among the means by which the society pursues this focus are:

Planning and managing special events and programs,
Designing promotional campaigns and communication strategies,
Organizing exhibitions of art and artifacts,
Presenting performance and teaching programs in dance theatre and music, and
Guiding cultural history tours.

Esu Elegbara (eh•shew eh•lehg•bah•rah) is the name given to an Orisa (O•REE•shah) in the Yoruba (YOUR•roo•bah) tradition of Nigeria and Benin, West Africa, An Orisa is a diety, a saint or an aspect of nature. Esu is the gatekeeper. He is the one who opens the roads. Sometimes he is known as a trickster for he is the guardian of the crossroads and represents the choices and decisions we must take in life. Elegba, with one face in the spirit world and the other in the earthly world, keeps us connected. He is the divine messenger of destiny.

Elegba Fokllore Society hopes its programs and services are road-opening experiences for its audiences.