Rite of Passage
Most cultures have a coming of age tradition or ceremony. The Zulu kingdom in Southern Africa has a dance called, Ukusina, which is performed by a woman when she is at the age to get married.
The Zulu women are usually bare breasted with colorful beads hanging over their breast in a form of a neckless. Even their skirts, bracelets, and ankle bracelets are made from colorful beads.
They perform the Ukusina dance in front of their families, as they sing traditional songs while wearing beads attire that is unique to the woman wearing it.
Fertility and Ritual
In Western Africa, a dance is being performed that is known as Kakilambe. It is being performed by the Baga people of Guinea or in Mali.
It is a dance that appears once in every seven years in a tribe or a settlement. It is a symbol of the celebration of the growth of crops also in the birth of children and life as well. The dance will begin slowly as people ask the prophet questions about life, the health of the community, and if children were to be born. And as the answers are being given the dance becomes faster and more exciting.
The women wear ropes made from hay around their hips and the prophet wears a mask made from wood with hay rope as hair.
Celebration and Weddings
Who doesn’t like to dance at a wedding? We all love it and embrace the coupling of our loved ones and we rejoice in their happiness.
When the Xhosas in Southern Africa get married, the traditional healers or also known as Sangomas perform a dance routine for the newlyweds and their families that are known as Ukuxhentsa.
Ukuxhentsa is a dance of pride for their families with slow music and where the Sangomas wear their traditional outfits and stomp their bare feet to the beat of the drums. While wearing beautiful dresses plain in color but with some flare to it as it is decorated with stripes.
Modern Dancing with Afro Flavour
Today there are a lot of dance forms and styles that include afro dancing by incorporating some of the dance moves in their style.
A perfect example is a well-known dance move that is known as twerking. We all know what twerking is, but do you know where it came from? It originally comes from the Ivory Coast; the dance is known as Mapouka also known as the “dance from behind”.
Mapouka is a dance where women in the tribe face away from the crowd and bend over and shake their behind from side to side. There are a lot of afro dances that are incorporated into modern dance forms that you will barely even notice.
Explore the African dance culture, it will surely keep you captivated and might just take your breath away.
Afrikagora Magazine
