African Dance

I

Introduction

African Dance, indigenous dance forms practised by the peoples of the countries of the (sub-Saharan) African continent in social or religious contexts, for entertainment or as a choreographed art form.

II

Varieties of Dance within Africa

The varieties of dance styles and traditions throughout the sub-Saharan continent of Africa are as numerous as the social groups, both urban and rural, of African countries. However, some common aspects may be observed such as the important role of dance as a medium of social and spiritual expression or communication. In Africa the dancer is more than a performer—the dancer is also a teacher, a historian, a social commentator, a celebrant, a spiritual medium, a healer, and a story-teller.

Dances range from the very ancient forms which relate to, for example, fertility, hunting, rites of passage, and the growing and harvesting of crops, to more modern forms which have evolved in response to modern conditions such as the South African Gum Boot dance, devised by black mineworkers who, on being forbidden to play music under the apartheid system, used their gumboots as instruments while dancing simultaneously. Other modern styles have evolved in urban society alongside new African musical styles such as Hi-life and Jit.

As part of a spiritual ritual, dance may be a symbolic form of communication with natural powers, or a trance-inducing movement enabling the dancer to communicate directly with the spirits. In some masked dances, the dancer assumes the temporary identity of a god or a powerful ancestral spirit. In many traditional rural societies, group dances mark rites of passage such as coming of age in which young men or women compete against each other in dance as part of their initiation into adulthood.

African dance often has a strong narrative role, which may have evolved from the practice of hunters relating stories of the day's hunting to the rest of the community. Narrative dance may relate creation myths, tell morality tales, or simply entertain and amuse. However, dance is also practised as a purely aesthetic activity. Many African universities have performing arts departments which, as well as ensuring the maintenance of traditional forms, foster the development of choreographed dance forms which are staged and performed both within Africa and all over the world.

III

African Dance in the Diaspora

African dance spread to the Americas through the slave trade; there it was often influenced by the dances of Europeans and other migrants to the region. Such dances include quadrilles and cotillions, which were adapted from European ballroom dances. In the Caribbean and South America, dance and music (which are inseparable in this context) were a powerful means of maintaining cultural identity for the enslaved Africans. For this reason slave owners often attempted to suppress it, but this was impossible, since anything can be used as a percussive instrument—even without instruments, rhythm can be clapped or stamped with the hands and feet—and the sound of rhythm would lead irresistibly to dance.

Dancing took place to celebrate weddings, funerals, Christmas, and other holidays. Some dance styles were associated with spiritual practices rooted in African religions such as Shango worship, Obeah, and Voodoo. As in the original African dances, the dances had a trance-inducing function in such circumstances—worshippers would become possessed by the spirit of Shango or other gods or ancestors through the frenzy of the dance. Even in areas where these religions were suppressed and blacks were persuaded into the Protestant Church, the same ring dances inducing possession, but this time by the Christian Holy Spirit, persisted. These were known as Ring-Shout dances. The John Canoe was a processional dance performed at Christmas time with huge masks and sometimes on stilts which may have had its origins in the Jonkunnu dance.

IV

Influence on Modern Dance

In the United States, African dance evolved in urban regions into dances such as jazz dance, jive, the jitterbug, and the charleston, which are currently being revived in the United Kingdom by companies such as The Jiving Lindy Hoppers and Zoots and Spangles.