Beyond Coordination: The Theatrical And Economic Gain Of Alága Iduro And Alága Ijoko In Contemporary Yoruba Wedding Engagements In Ile-Ife

The Yoruba traditional wedding engagement ceremony remains one of the key socio-cultural ceremonies in southwestern Nigeria, reflecting kinship, aesthetics, and performative expression. Central to this event are the Alága Iduro and Alága Ijoko, whose functions extend beyond coordination to embody theatrical, economic, and cultural significance. This study, conducted in Ile-Ife, a major Yoruba cultural centre and cradle of Yoruba civilisation, examines how Alága practitioners negotiate performance, culture, and economy in contemporary wedding engagements. While existing scholarship has explored Yoruba marriage rites, limited attention has been given to the Alága’s theatrical and entrepreneurial dimensions. Using a qualitative ethnographic approach, the study draws on observations from four engagement ceremonies in Ile-Ife and unstructured interviews with 28 participants, including eight Alága professionals, four couples, and twelve community members. Anchored in Performance Theory, Cultural Capital and Symbolic Power, and the Cultural Economy Framework, the research interrogates ceremonial performance, social prestige, and monetisation. Findings reveal that Alága practitioners function as custodians of culture and creative entrepreneurs integrating theatre, poetry, music, negotiations and marital ceremony rites. Their performative presence blends traditional aesthetics and contemporary entertainment, enabling these women to access new forms of economic capital. The Alága Iduro/Ijoko role has evolved into a micro-industry with tiered service structures, transforming artistry into a means of economic empowerment. The study concludes that in Ile-Ife, the Alága exemplifies the intersection of theatre and economy, where performance becomes a vehicle for women’s socio-economic advancement.