What Dance Means to a Child in Africa

In African ethnic cultures, dance and music are primarily meant to prepare an individual for life, not for a job or career. A mother produces three babies: the actual baby, music and dance. Before and after a child is born, music and dance act as an umbilical cord that links the child to the environment and people around him/her. Whereas dance practices have considerably changed in urban areas, majority of communities especially in sub-urban and rural areas have preserved and retained authentic aspects of dance practices. In this article, I explore how dance is an integral part of child growth and development, and the implications of this artistic, creative and performative experience to children and the wider community in sub-urban and rural areas.

To begin with, dance is part and partial of each and every stage of human growth and development. a person interacts with dance before they are born until after they pass on (fertility dances, birth dances, children dances, rites of passage dances, wedding dances, ritual dances, religious dances, funeral dances). Dance is the link that connects the emotional, spiritual, mental, social, political, physical, intellectual, affective and philosophical beings that reside in each person. But for dance to play this role in a person’s life, how s/he interfaces with, assimilates, and gets oriented into it plays a key role. For that matter, pre-birth and toddlerhood encounter with dance forms the foundation in which subsequent artistic experiences are anchored.

African mothers are not into the stroller culture.  A child picks the pulse, rhythm, and movement while at the back of the mother or any caretaker.

Before giving birth, expectant mothers are encouraged to participate in music and dance performances. By participating in  performances, an expectant mother invites the unborn child to be a passive participant in the performance. This child gets both music and physical mobility by extension. The baby virtually experiences every moment that its mother produces. This means that at the earliest stages of life, through a child development, a baby is apart of all dancing and drumming that its mother experiences (Nzewi, 1996). The pre-birth artistic encounter gives the baby a glimpse into the world that they later join. Most importantly, artistic and physical activities enable the unborn child to develop physical strength that they later use to participate in their birth. 

This interaction with music and movement continues after the child is born. There is hardly any birth in a typical African setting that is not accompanied by dance. Once a child arrives (is born), they are surrounded by an ocean of music, dance, and rhythm.  Any given day in a baby’s life is spent, for the most part, tied to its mother’s [or any person’s] back by a piece of cloth (Nzewi, 1996). Through lullabies and other songs, the child is encouraged "to learn standing, balancing, and walking" (Nzewi). Among the Baganda people of central Uganda, the song Ttengerere, sirikawo baby, …(name of the child) alitambula ddi, etc. are very common. In all the songs mentioned above, the caretaker sings and the child moves (translates music into movement). The same practice is common in other tribes.

In Africa, children will always create opportunities to play, socialize and develop their artistry.

What is important to note about this practice is that it teaches the child how to interact with the environment inside and around them, how to negotiate rhythm and space, how to interact with other human beings, and how to participate in not only consumption but also production of music and dance. It is at this stage that the child starts on their journey to explore the environment around them. Some songs and dances that children are exposed to relate to work, family history, ethics and morality, compassion, spirituality, endurance, among others.

From this point on, a child is challenged to explore more artistically, socially, physically, and culturally enriching experiences. Because typical African families are extended, the child ventures out through children games, songs and dance to interact with family relatives, and, later, community peers. This encounter demands creative input from a child. The simplicity of this experience depends on how, together, children negotiate their diverse artistic interests, competences, complexities, and orientations.  The creative processes are based on active participation that is required of every member. Creative performances punctuate the activities such as fetching water and firewood, tending to gardens, harvesting, etc., which children are expected to do. Children always enjoy the freedom to create together without interference from adults. The African understanding is that "Freedom is not about being isolated and alone. It is about knowing who you are and understanding the way that you fit in with those around you. It is about trusting those near to you to be a part of you" (Nzewi, 1996).

Children performing dance in South Africa. Patterns like this are common in sub-urban and rural areas in Africa

Through music and dance, a child discovers and forms his/her identity in relation to the communal identity of other people, for “identity is a "negotiated experience" in the sense that it is largely defined by the ways in which the self is experienced while participating in a community of practice and by the ways the self is presented in those communities (Wenger, 1998). Therefore, for an African child “identity is grounded in "community membership. It is relational, and children define themselves relative to others in the community of practice as well as relative to those who do not belong” (Danielewicz, 2001). Dance and music integrate the child into the family, community, clan and tribal culture and practices. It prepares the child for and facilitates their understanding of the earthly, divine and ancestral worlds and universes.

The potency of dance and music in nurturing an African child lies in its ability to invite, encourage, and allow a child to actively participate in production, appreciation, sharing and consumption of artistic experiences. A child’s body acts as a candle from which the flames of music and dance artistry immortally glow. In return, dance and music act as a pillar that prevents a child mind, soul and body from stumbling.

Alfdaniels Mabingo is a Fulbright Fellow at New York University

Does Indigenous Training of Ethnic Dances in African Cultures Follow any Inherent Pedagogy?

In February of this year, I was invited to present a paper entitled: “Different Paths, same Destination: Comparison between Indigenous Ugandan Communal-based Dance Pedagogy and Formal/Western Dance Education Pedagogy” during the Dance across the Board conference organized by Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. My presentation dwelled on convergences and divergences between indigenous dance pedagogy in Ugandan cultures and formal/western dance pedagogy. This article is an abridged version of my paper, with specific accent on the pedagogy underlying training of traditional dances in native cultures in Africa.

Dances in cultures in Africa have existed and survived even without archival documentation and Western formal education. Communities in Africa relied on oral tradition as a form of information dissemination and documentation. Suffice it to note that dance is yet to be fully incorporated in the education curriculum in most parts of Africa, and that formal education has not abundantly permeated the geographical fabric of the continent. As such, the thread that has supported the survival and existence of dances even after the advent of colonialism and Christianity in Africa is their strong embodiment of culture and attachment to people. How are communities able to pass on dance skills and knowledge in the absence formal/western education systems? Does absence of western/formal dance education systems in indigenous communities mean nonexistence of dance pedagogy?

Unquestionably, training of dances in cultures in Africa is based on an inherent and set pedagogy, albeit undocumented. Indigenous pedagogy is one of the components that serve and feed the knowledge and value systems that dances are preordained to sustain, enrich, support, and test. Indigenous pedagogy is in tandem with the procedures, ethics, standards, frameworks, policies, practices, values, and the overall philosophy of a people. To deconstruct the pedagogy underlying teaching of dances in African cultures, I will proceed to discuss the training systems, teachers and learners, learning environment and management of training, school and classroom, content delivered and  methods of delivery, teaching and learning aids, evaluation and provision of feedback.

Education/training system

Training of dances in cultures in Africa is based on a set system. The taxonomy of this system starts before a child is born and develops after their demise. Before a child is born, s/he is introduced to rhythm and movement through songs and dances that the mother is subjected to as part of indigenous antenatal care and treatment. The child is exposed to dance and music by extension. The same child is introduced to music as a toddler, child, adolescent, young adult, adult and ancestor (after his/her death). Dance facilitates progressive graduation of a human being at each stage of growth and development. At each stage of human growth there is a set of dances that a person is exposed to.  As such, we can conclude that the indigenous dance teaching and learning system covers pre-birth, post birth, toddlerhood, childhood, post-childhood/’adolescenthood’, adulthood and post-adulthood grades/stages of education. Indigenous dance training follows a clearly laid out chronological and ascending system.

The teacher and learner

The concepts of a teacher and leaner are communally shared and embraced. At any occasion of learning or performing dance, the participants double as teachers and learners. There is a tendency to learn from and teach one another. The communal identity and spirit that is inherent in dances from cultures in Africa is, to a very large extent, a byproduct of individual identities that congregate to form the collective. The shared responsibility of teaching and learning is meant to encourage collective ownership of the dances learned. It also persuades continual metamorphosis and purification of the dances by tapping into the diverse wealth of dance competencies, skills and knowledge that different people posses. Dance is a result of communal consensus between different individuals who contribute to its creation and teaching.

Learning environment and management of learning and teaching

The learning environment is porous and all inclusive, particularly for dances that are not gender, age, sub-lineage or clan specific. But even with dances that are specific to particular populations, there is litheness for entitled persons to play a part. The erudition atmosphere provides room for participants to project their individuality through improvisation, and to learn from one another. Commonly, communal performance, teaching and learning of dance happen simultaneously. The teaching and learning philosophy that is ardently followed is: “do as you learn, and learn as you do.” This philosophy is inspirational in style and transformational in objective. In some instances, the most experienced members of the community “provide leadership” in the teaching, learning and performance processes. I have put provide leadership in inverted commas because these master performers do not impose content on the participants. Rather, they provide support basing on what the learners already know and have. In this context, respect for one another and discipline are highly encouraged.

The school, classroom and studio

The theory of a school and classroom existed before the introduction of western education in Africa. The home and community acted as a school, with the fireplace acting as a classroom. This framework is still alive in communities that have not been fully permeated by western education influence. Open community spaces accommodate communal based performances, which double as teaching and learning avenues. Any available space, whether enclosed or open, is studio space. Participation in the performance, learning and teaching processes is open to all members of the community. In most communities, there is a communally set schedule/timetable for exploration of dance and music performances. Before graduation to a level of community performance, the home acts as a nursery or kindergarten that prepares the person for wider communal experiences - community performances. At this level, the fire place, which is common in extended families, act as the classroom. Therefore, an individual receives orientation into music and dance traditions before they venture out to interact with communities outside their home. Normally, the elders act as guides, mentors, academic advisors, counselors in the process of orienting the young ones into dance practices. Beyond movements, the elders take learners through theories, philosophies, dogmas, procedures, ethics, and ideologies that underpin these music and dance traditions.

Dance content and methods of content delivery

If dance is a microcosm of cultural experiences, where is its content derived? Is this content static (does not change)? Who determines the content to be accepted and ignored in the teaching and learning process? How is this content delivered? At an individual level, the communal process that culminates into dance involves getting compromised by and compromising with fellow participants. As I already mentioned, individuals import their individuality, competencies, creativity, artistic acumen into the learning and teaching experiences.

The performance, learning and teaching venues becomes a bee-hive of dance diversities and activities. This marks the beginning of communal negotiation where different individuals personify movements and techniques that they consider attractive from fellow participants, and ignore those that they deem repellent.  Individuals derive content from their day-to-day experiences that relate and conform to the practices of the community For example, hunters draw from their hunting experiences to inform hunting dances; warriors draw from war experiences to create, teach and learn war dances; agriculturalist borrow from their agricultural lifestyle and experiences to advance harvest dances, etc. The content is communally constituted and so are the methods of delivery. This reciprocal (give and take) approach is so anchored in the participants’ mindset that you cannot have any individual claiming choreography or invention of any indigenous dance techniques. The more a community engages in performance of the dance, the more individuals refine and get familiar with the dance in question.

Before individuals engage in any teaching and learning of dance, they engage in warm up. The way this warm up is applied is different from the ‘warm up’ as it is known in formal/western dance education. The indigenous warm up for dance participants in African cultures is not structured. Because people have to walk and run for long distances to participate in communal dance bonanzas, their bodies are warm by the time they reach the venue of the dance feat, and are ready to dance without any delay.

Teaching and learning aids

Learning and teaching dance is a reminder and reflection of the lived experiences that related to the cultural viewpoint o which the dance is based. In a purely typical indigenous setting, teaching and learning of dance stretches beyond going through movement routines. It is about engraining and cultivating experiences that relay the anthropological, cultural, social, theological, demographic, economic, political, and sociological foundation of the community. It logically follows that the experiences act as learning and teaching aid in this array. Unlike formal dance studios where the mirror is used as a teaching aid, in indigenous dance training the mirror does not exist but mirroring subsists. The learner depends on fellow learners/teachers and the existing performance, teaching and learning experience as the mirror. The experiences stimulate the psyche whereas emulation of other participants smoothes the progress of kinesthetic intelligence and precision. It is worth noting that inter and intra-personal mirroring augments communalism.

Music, whether vocal, instrumental or both is a teaching and learning aid in indigenous dance training in cultures in Africa. Beyond providing accompaniment, music provides the narrative and rhythmic composition that dances personifies. Dance is an extension of music; music facilitates teaching and learning of dance. To this end, competence in music comprehension and how this relates to a dance is fundamental in facilitating the learning and teaching of that given dance.

Evaluation and provision of feedback

Evaluation and provision of feedback in this teaching and learning process is continuous. Peer assessment and collective feedback is common. The performers, who double as teachers and learner encourage and assist each other. Grownups guide young-ones while young-ones help each other especially in children dances. Particularly noteworthy is that for initiation/rite of passage dances and royal dances, the dance masters in a given community monitor the performance of candidates to identify those who are ready for initiation rituals and to perform in the courts respectively. For courtship/moonlight dances, the participating candidates evaluate each other to identify a suitable partner.

Assessment and feedback is meant to invite an individual to a place where they can fittingly contribute to the framing of the group/communal identity. This is well exemplified by the ethnic philosophy of the Luba people of Congo that “I am because we are, and we are because I am.” Native African communities know that without individuals communities cannot stand and without a community an individual cannot survive. This same mentality is captured in the training and performance of indigenous dance.

To wrap up this missive, I assert that training of dances in indigenous communities in Africa is premised in a well articulated and set out pedagogy that covers the teaching and learning philosophy, the teacher and learner, the school, classroom and studio, dance content and methods of content delivery, among others.