The Ancient Dance of African Origin
At the turn of the century, most Western narratives about Central Africa included scenes of dance. These depictions of “indigenous dances” were not just exotic elements of literature; they also highlighted the “primitive” nature of Africans, emphasizing the exuberance and omnipresence of their festive practices, often portraying an “eternal African” where sexuality played a prominent role.
Inextricably linked to the processes of exoticization and eroticization of the African body and its practices, which accompanied the colonial movement of the 19th and 20th centuries, these representations provide insight into the pivotal role of sexuality in shaping racial categories and the civilizing mission.
These representations not only fed racial and cultural imaginaries but also fueled repressive policies. In the Congolese context, European authorities in the early 20th century orchestrated policies to criminalize so-called “obscene” dances, labeling them as genuine threats to the moral order of the young Belgian colony.
African dances were assigned to the domain of anthropology, which in the 19th century focused on the cultures encountered during European expansion. Anthropology theorized and identified their main characteristics, thereby attempting to legitimize these theories through the lens of science. These characteristics played a role in shaping the field of choreography.
Positioned at the bottom of the evolutionary scale, African dances, particularly those from Sub-Saharan Africa, were considered the most primitive, reflecting the societies that performed them, in accordance with early anthropological thought.
The first indications of dance execution date back to prehistory, during the Paleolithic era, where cave paintings testify to the existence of primitive dances. These dances were primarily ritualistic and ceremonial, intended to:
Ward off misfortune (rain dance)
Boost courage (war and hunting dances)
Please the gods (Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations)
While all dances can be performed as a spectacle, they can be characterized by their primary nature: performance, competition, or societal engagement.
In Africa, dance holds various roles: a symbolic history, a form of meditation, a performing art, an entertaining pastime, a game, a sport, a way of life, a means to express human-nature and human-society relationships, a universal language, a dialogue between civilizations, and a form of therapy.
Practiced in groups, dance facilitates human interactions, communication, fosters empathy, combats shyness, complexes, and inhibitions. It also offers a way to expend energy, forget worries, and be on equal footing with others during the dance.
African dances carry cultural riches, serving as a form of identity card for ethnic groups. Each country, people, and culture has one or more specific dances. Examples include the Senegalese sabar, Ivorian zaouli, Burkinabé liwaga, Beninese abgadja, Malian sounou, and Congolese zobi.
The term “African dance,” as such, cannot exist any more than “Western dance” could be characterized solely by classical dance. This realization challenges the concept of “African dance” and even “traditional African dance.”
Even so-called “traditional” dances are in constant motion and possess a considerable capacity for composition, contrary to the perception of repetition and fixity often portrayed.
This development prompts us to consider that the terms “African dance” and “traditional African dance” encompass a set of representations that lead us to categorize and characterize a type of dance. These categories correspond to social and cultural constructs resulting from a complex history.
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