Theresa Onuorah is the most respected, highlife Igbo musician and the Egedege Dance and Music genre queen from Onubi, Nigeria. She enjoys many titles due to being the custodian of Egedege music, such as Queen of Egededge Music, Queen of Unubi, Onu Eijri Mara Mba, The Queen of Culture, The Queen of the Coast, and Egededge Dance goddess of Unubi. Her Egededge dance and Ogene music were very popular during the 80s and 90s in the East. She is known for her highlife music, unique melodious voice, and savvy Egededge dance embellished with highlife beats. Egedege dance differs a lot from other Ogene dance genres like Makosa or Atulogwo; it is more oriented towards traditional Ogene dance steps. She belongs to Nnewi South Local Government Area, Anambra State, Nigeria.
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Theresa Onuorah Biography
Theresa Chizeberum Onuorah was born on January 9, 1942. As of now, she is eighty years old. To celebrate her 80th Birthday, she arranged a big party at Hollywood Event Centre, Awka. She belongs to the Igbo tribe of Unubi Town. Her father was a ”egwu ekpili” musician. Theresa Onuorah was passionate about singing and dancing from a very young age. She used to perform publicly in ceremonies and made them colorful. She once talked about her passion for music, saying that it obstructed her education. As his father was a traditionalist, he achieved some fame in the village, and Theresa got an opportunity to perform on various occasions.
She started singing in her childhood, often joining her father in his group act. In her 30s, Theresa formed her own Egedege Dance Group and toured different areas of Eastern Nigeria. She performed locally with her troop at festivals, weddings, and other festivals. In 1976, she released her first official album at the age of 34. Her tribespeople began calling her the Queen of the Coast because the sea goddess couldn’t bestow an ordinary being with such a golden voice.
Theresa Onuorah Marriage and Children
While it is known with certainty that Theresa Onuorah has been married for nearly thirty years, there is no detailed information about her family life in the media. However, some reports suggest that the Queen of Egedege is married to a local man named Godwin Igboebisi, and they have raised multiple children.
Details of her children, like their number, etc., remain sketchy until now, except they all are grown-ups.
Theresa Onuorah’s collaboration with Larry Gaaga, Phyno, and Flavour
In October 2021, the Queen of Unubi made her way to mainstream headlines following her musical collaboration with other popular singers like Flavour N’abania, Larry Gaaga, and Phyno for her song titled ‘Egedege.’ The song won huge positive acclaim and reviews from traditional Igbo music lovers. The group was highly praised for bringing out the real beauty of Egedege music to the folks.
Theresa Onuorah Contact details
Theresa Onuorah has only one verified social media account_ on her Instagram page. She has the username @officialqueentheresaonuorah. She has also shared her management’s phone number over there, which reads as 08125215562; The number may be used for booking and inquiries purposes.
What exactly is Egedege Music?
Egedege is a category of Igbo highlife music. Its name stems from the local slang word, which means bravery and affluence. It explains why Egedege dancers are invited to high-profile events. The Egedege sound is characterized by its use of drums, flute (Oja), udu, and ekwe to create the music that even makes a layman kick his feet! It intertwines mesmerizing, mellifluous tones with elaborate dance steps_ a characteristic hardly found in any other traditional music genre. Egedege music is most commonly used to pay homage to one’s ancestors. Talking about Egedege’s peak era, Egedege music held sway from the 70s to the 90s. Egedege can’t be defined as a music genre only; it also encompasses a highly structured dance category. The most notable feature of the Egedege dance is its high leg intensity. Moreover, unlike other dance types, Egedege dancers are mostly males who wear loud, elaborate costumes. They have colorful, patterned face paintings, mostly with an intentional feminine touch. Egedege dancers are invited to big social occasions like weddings and funerals of wealthy people. They are nomads like street performers and wander from one place to other to spot the nearby occasions. So, if anyone wants to be an Egedege dancer and his family is not supportive, he has to sneak out for days!
Theresa Onuorah Net Worth
As she has sold records that are pretty old, her exact net worth is difficult to estimate. However, some sources have suggested a range of $25,000 for the Egedege goddess.
Theresa Onuorah Dance Custom
Among her dance troop, the queen is differentiated with her special dancing costume. She wears finely made Egedede clothes, having extra shimmer and flamboyant colors. Her attires have tiny mirrors that are also present in her beautifully decorated hand fan or ‘akupe egwu.’ Her crown is adorned with many mirrors and multi-colored feathers. Her face beams with a beautiful smile whenever she performs. Interestingly, some people believed that her face is almost impossible to capture when she dances, because her large hand fan blocks it.
Theresa Onuorah has debunked the colonial myths
African tribes have suffered a lot of prejudice and cultural humiliation on the behalf of Western culture and society. Their religion and cultural values were tagged as ‘alien.’ Theresa Onuorah deserves a huge respect for strongly embracing her Igbo culture in the time of colonial religious teaching and confidently appearing in the front of Western audience with Larry Gaga.
That’s how Twitter community reacted to the Egedege Song
A twitter comment read as: ” How can i be playing one song for 2 days s. ” Therese Onuorah, and others did magic to this one.”
Another one said: ” Theresa is a legend…. but ndi anya ufu tagged her music as demonic and her popularity wanned.”
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Final Words
Theresa Onuorah deserves praise and envy for being a traditional, yet so ‘modernly’ successful. Her thumping performance in Egedege at the age of eighty tells us that she has got something extraordinary in her blood!
