Gonje player/dancer, Abubakari Salifu Meiregah will soon celebrate 30 years of contributions to the development of traditional Ghanaian music and dance.

Since he picked up this single-stringed instrument nearly 40 years ago, Meiregah has not relented in his bid to promote this Northern Ghanaian instrument.

"The playing of Gonje is a tradition that runs through my family - indeed, all male members of my family have been trained to play the Gonje", says Meiregah, who has a Diploma in Dance from the Jant Bi Contemporary Dance School in Toubab Diallo, Senegal.

After a stint with Amasachina and other groups in Bimbilla (Northern region) for a couple of years, Meiregah joined the Ghana Dance Ensemble, a group based at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon.

He subsequently moved to the National Dance Company following the opening of the National Theatre in 1994, where he worked under the renowned dance choreographer, F. Nii Yartey.

Meiregah has composed numerous refreshing rhythms that accompany both traditional and contemporary dance pieces. They seem "live" in perfec tharmony with the dances.

"Life as a traditional musician/dancer in Ghana has not been encouraging. We have been completely neglected.

Ghanaians need a lot of education in order for them to appreciate traditional artistes", reveals Meiregah, who in 1995 was adjudged Best Dancer by the Entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG).

"We are always sad whenever we return from performance trips to Europe and the United States - indeed, we are completely overwhelmed by the extreme appreciation of our work, which is largely absent in Ghana.?

Meiregah has performed and held workshops with the National Dance Company in Zimbabwe, La Cote d?Ivoire, Nigeria, Japan, Korea, Canada, Martinique, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

In 1999, he gave a blazing rendition of Northern Ghanaian Gonje rhythms during a visit to Ghana by the British Monarch, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip.

Meiregah has also participated in full length dance dramas -either with his Gonje or with a dance costume. These include Atauga, The Legend of Okoryoo, Solma, Musu - Saga of the Slaves and a host of others during performances in Ghana and overseas.

A winner of an excellence award for artistic performance in Canada, the Gonje man, is currently making preparations to record a number of his compositions.