Over time, new versions of those dances evolved, matching the soulful music of the 60s. Like first visits to barber shops and beauty salons, learning these dances is a rite of passage in the Black community. Nothing is written. The old teach the young. Social dance gatherings embody a culture of care. Seasoned dancers are expected to be gracious and patient. You dance to the comfort level of your partner.
My journey through childhood trauma kept me from Chicago Style Steppin until recently. But when I came home to it, it became an integral part of my healing. Some of my partners could be my grandparents, others could be my children.
Lessons come with the expectation that what we learn we will teach. The few dollars paid for admission go to fund the soul food buffet where people share stories and resources, dispense advice, and give support. I recognized that the elements of a good dance are the same as those of a healthy relationship—mutual caring and respect, trust, listening, being present, and a willingness to be vulnerable and open to possibility.
It is a conversation without words, and I find my voice through improvising moves in response to my partners. African American culture is a quilt made up of the practices and traditions developed in response to a tortuous beginning.
During the 18th century, those influences would have been colonial French, Dutch, British or Spanish. Tribal dances remained an important touchstone for the slaves, and hybrid dances, such as the Calenda, emerged. The Calenda featured two parallel lines -- one of women and one of men -- with an approach-and-away pattern that started without touching and then sped up as it added thigh-slapping, kissing, and other contact. Plantation owners found the frenzy of the dance alarming and in some places, banned it entirely fearing the heightened emotions would lead to an uprising.
But the Calenda went on to inspire the eventual Cakewalk originally a mockery of plantation owners and the Charleston in the 20th century. Another reaction to nervous slave owners, who feared the high-stepping energy of traditional dances, was a precautionary switch from stepping to shuffling. The high energy and rhythmic appeal of the Africa dances and the hybrid versions that emerged from them inevitably transformed American popular dance -- Vaudeville, Broadway, and recreational.
From Minstrel shows in the s that featured blackface and caricatures delivered by crowd favorites such as Al Jolson , to the Charleston, Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, and Twist, stretching across the 20th century, African dance changed the moves in America and developed into its own art form.
The twentieth century was a time of wild talent and innovation in the dance world, and the influence of African dance was paramount. Katherine Dunham , whose career spanned the 20th century, researched the anthropology of Caribbean dances and their African roots. She developed systems and movements under the umbrella of modern dance that continue to be used by dancers to train. Alvin Ailey , born in , was a force of nature, incorporating traditional African dance, ballet, jazz, modern, spirituals, and gospel music in evocative and thrilling choreography.
Ailey captured the story of the diaspora in singular performances such as his iconic Revelations. His company, now under the direction of choreographer Robert Battle, still relies on a powerful African influence for its most memorable performances.
Street dancing, breaking, hip-hop, and its many iterations tutting, locking, popping, krumping… is closer to its African roots than many of the African-inspired dances that came directly out of the slave experience. Hip-hop is a response to rap, which mimics the rhythmic spoken-word storytelling of the griots. The percussive movement features exaggerated isolations and a full-body response to the beat.
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Most importantly, how we can work together to nurture and sustain African dance in a social and education context. The process of exploring ideas, selecting and building movements to communicate to audiences requires skill. To observe, analyse, refine and stage dance works requires knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the dance forms one works with.
The process of dance making builds on quality and the final product on excellence. Most important in all that is the aspect of aesthetic understanding of the vocabulary being brought together. Choreographers Germaine Acogny of 'Jant Bi' dance company , Bawren Tavaziva, Tavaziva dance company and Bode Lawal, Sakoba dance company all clearly demonstrate quality and excellence in their work in their of combination African dance techniques with western contemporary vocabulary.
These choreographers are consistent in their ability to draw from a heritage of movement vocabulary from the African diaspora. They utilise, explore and creatively develop aesthetic qualities that are true to their culture, to African dance. They are creatively engaging in reflecting cultural richness in a collection of works through physical and emotional expressions, both visually and musically.
In their work they apply a wide range of skills and techniques that are effective for the architecture and presentation of choreographic works. They demonstrate their ability to construct works laced with history, social and political ideas that present their artistic and aesthetic intention.
Through their skills, their understanding of the cultural context they work in is revealed. The process of choreographing dances requires a qualitative process that is essential to the success of the works developed. Knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the music and the forms brought together are paramount to the former. It is evident when viewing the work of Acogny, Tavaziva, and Lawal that the above has indeed been achieved.
They demonstrate explosive dynamic characteristics that are expressive of African dance. They stage vibrant works that show elegance and grace at the same time as deep emotion. They give life to their movement vocabulary by marrying and embedding their dancers' skills and abilities in the right sections within their choreographies.
Thus, successfully engaging and challenging their dancers to show their intent. As a result they achieve quality and excellence through which artistic and choreographic intentions are competently displayed in a non-verbal but yet communicative way to their audiences.
Germaine Acogny, who developed the Acogny dance technique, which combines the traditional base of West African dances with the structural elements of classical ballet and western modern dance, communicates quality and excellence in her dance works. Fagaala, choreographed by Germaine Acogny and Japanese dancer and choreographer of contemporary dance Kota Yamasaki is one such example.
In this piece West African, traditional and contemporary African dance is amalgamated with theatrical Butoh, a contemporary Japanese dance idiom. Acogny and Yamasaki use seven strong male dancers to tell the story of the deep emotions stemming from the catastrophic genocide in Rwanda. The piece demonstrates strength and speed, raw and natural energy, quick, percussive, fierce movements integrated with slow, controlled movements that are Yamazaki's signature.
In all this it is seamless in its combination of the two forms. In Pachedu, choreography and music by Bawren Tavaziva, dancers show quality and excellence through their technical competence and stage presence. Aesthetically lyrical and powerful, they show their understanding of the choreographer's movement vocabulary through the articulation and total control of their bodies. Pachedu pays homage to Tavaziva's choreographic craftsmanship and his dancer's versatile ability to effortlessly combined balletic grace with that of the dramatic, energetic and elegant dynamics of African dance.
Some defining features of African dance African dance and music traditions are inseparable.
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