Page 25 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 10

CULTURE

African dance is entirely different relay messages of congratulations,
Shibero Akatsa is a certified from the Western style of dance. welcome, criticisms, to reflect
Clinical Psycotherapist, cultural en- Traditional African dance is a expressions of sorrow and sympa-
thusiast and creative artist. You can community activity, as opposed to a thy, in celebrations, and in marriage
find her work on www.shibero.com two ‘partner’ dance in male-female negotiations and celebrations, ritu-
pairs. Instead, most of the dances
als, births, deaths, rites of passage,
are group performances separated hunting, and even political activities.
by gender. The men dance for the
women and vice versa, with all ages African Dance
mingling or having their own dance. At the start of the slave trade, Afri-
This helps reinforce the tribal roles, cans were removed from the African
both in terms of the sexes and also continent and taken to Southern
in terms of a group identity. worlds. They took with them hun-
dreds of different African dance
One of the most striking parts of styles, from various ethnic groups,
traditional African dance is the and merged them together, along
nature of the movement. African with styles of Western style dancing.
dancers often are able to isolate Because of the importance of dance
particular parts of their body and in the daily life of Africans in their
move them to different parts of the homeland, many Africans that were
rhythm, with two or three different enslaved continued to use dance as a
beats going on simultaneously in the way to keep their cultural traditions
my everyday life. dancer’s body. This is accompanied and connect with their home coun-
by larger movements such as kicks, try. They also used dance and song
Music and dance have traditionally leaps, and wide and rapid swings of as a form of healing and drawing
played an important role in African the arms. There are many different strength for survival, still seen in
culture. It is essential in represent- reasons for the various dances, all other black oppressed groups, who
ing the strong African heritage reflecting a part of life. This can be continue to use song and dance to
and its importance can be seen in a simple work song to help make express pain, draw strength from
many aspects of the culture. Dance, everyday tasks, such as washing or and record their journey.
storytelling and religious practices tending fields, more enjoyable, but
are all grounded in the music of the the more complex dances are usually The importance and spirit of dance
African culture, drawing families, performed with some purpose in were not stopped by these restric-
villages and communities together mind. tions, however. African slaves found
in the way people interact, celebrate ways to adapt their dancing and
and relay historic events. Music, song, and dance are found continue their traditions in secret.
in all community activities, to Out of necessity this caused some
Traditional African Dance changes in the dances. For example,
Dance is an integral part of the Af- since slaves were prohibited from
rican culture and must be one of the lifting their feet, they created moves
oldest forms of choreography in the that included shuffling the feet and
world. The dances are still taught to moving the hips and body.
the children of the tribes from an Traditional African Instruments
early age. Dancers use symbolic ges- Traditional African music is creat-
tures, masks, costumes, body paint- ed by a wide range of indigenous
ing and props to communicate. The musical instruments, such as xylo-
dance movements can be simple or phones, flutes, horns, pipes are used
complex with intricate actions in- as instruments, however although
cluding fast rotation, ripples of the the musical styles and instruments
body and contraction and release. vary from region to region, there are
Dance is used to express emotion, some common forms of musical
whether joyful or sorrowful and it is expression, with the most significant
not limited to just the dancers. instrument being the African drum,

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