In my opinion, Africans have the most iconic style of dance in the world. According to Dance Facts, the art of dancing originally came from Egypt, an African nation. But, aside from the fact that dancing was born on the black continent, Africans have the best dance the world world has ever seen.
I know some of you may not agree, but I believe this article will convince you of the fact that Africans have the best dance in the world. There are several factors that exalts African dance above the others, but I will only talk about two among them – uniqueness and timing.
Uniqueness
African dance is unique and different from the rest of the world. The reason is that every African dance tells a story or points to a particular history.
For instance, during the apartheid in South Africa, black mine workers were not allowed to sing or dance while working. But despite all the restrictions imposed on them, they learned to stand side by side and dance using their gumboots and today isn’t that a wonderful and beautiful kind of dance?
We all enjoy it now, but a lot of people do not know that the dance came as a result of protests by people who wanted to dance while working, but were not allowed to do so.
African dance is also unique in terms of the art, the energy and the style. Above all, they are usually educational.
Related: 8 world class dancers who are Nigerians.
Did you know that African culture was often transmitted through dance and music? That was some way that the older generation could pass on to the next generation stories about events that occurred in the past.
Timing and situation
A typical African dance is for a specific point in time or for a specific situation. Africans have different dancing styles which mark various milestones in their cycle of life. There are dances for marriages, exhibitions and other events.
If you are a fan of African movies, you may likely have seen some movies where people get married and display beautiful styles in some traditional dresses.
Also when people die, there are dances for burial. Sometime last year, some Ghanaian undertakers went viral on social media after a video of them dancing during a funeral surfaced online. That was their cultural way of showing respect to the dead.
It may sound weird, but the thing is that most Africans usually believe in reincarnation. Hence they don’t usually consider people lifeless, instead they think the deceased either joined their ancestors or will be reborn.
There are several other reasons why African dance is the best in the world, but I will leave you to explore them so as to convince yourself.
