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African Dance and its transformation in the Americas
Dancing on Deck
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Sahara Africa and includes many cultural differences in music and movement style. A fundamental element of African aesthetics of expression was the dance. Music and mask-making were incorporated into the wide variety of religious dance form. Dance could also be recreational or secular in nature and in one form or another represented all of African life. These dances teach social patterns and values and help people work, mature, praise or criticize members of the community while celebrating festivals and funerals, competing, reciting history, proverbs and poetry; and to encounter gods. The most widely-used instrument in Africa is the human voice. The drum is the sign of life, Its rhythmic sound is the heartbeat of the community.
Traditional dances in Africa occur collectively, expressing the life of the community, more than individual or couples. Dances are often segregated by gender, reinforcing gender roles in children.
As early as 1518, Black slaves were being imported to the West Indies, particularly the Island of Hispaniola (Haiti). Then in the 16th century to the 19th century, (British involvement in the slave trade) enslaved Africans were brought to British colonies in the Caribbean and British North and Central Americas. So it went, and so they came, a gigantic flood of black bodies poured out of Africa to the Americas.
In captivity, the African was forced to dance in bondage and under the whip. He danced because the white ruler wanted his stock in good condition. He danced then not for love, nor joy, nor religious celebration, nor even to pass the time, he danced to answer to the whip. He danced for survival on the way to the Americas. Thus began the transformation of African dances
The Africans danced in a ring; they danced in their shackles, they jumped up and rattled their chains; they writhed and twisted their bodies in disgusting and indecent movements. This they did to the accompaniment of the beat of a drum; sometimes a broken crate or kettle and sometimes even a chamber relieve pot. The beat of the drum followed the captive and shackled Africans across the Atlantic to their new home in the New World.
In the New World, many of the older traditions, customs and dances of the Negro slave have been lost because of rapid acculturation, the influence of the church (particularly in the USA), and the failure to preserve and safeguard historical materials. Any history, of course, is bound to suffer in legacy, accuracy and completeness from such losses.
Traditional dances in Africa occur collectively, expressing the life of the community, more than individual or couples. Dances are often segregated by gender, reinforcing gender roles in children.
As early as 1518, Black slaves were being imported to the West Indies, particularly the Island of Hispaniola (Haiti). Then in the 16th century to the 19th century, (British involvement in the slave trade) enslaved Africans were brought to British colonies in the Caribbean and British North and Central Americas. So it went, and so they came, a gigantic flood of black bodies poured out of Africa to the Americas.
In captivity, the African was forced to dance in bondage and under the whip. He danced because the white ruler wanted his stock in good condition. He danced then not for love, nor joy, nor religious celebration, nor even to pass the time, he danced to answer to the whip. He danced for survival on the way to the Americas. Thus began the transformation of African dances
The Africans danced in a ring; they danced in their shackles, they jumped up and rattled their chains; they writhed and twisted their bodies in disgusting and indecent movements. This they did to the accompaniment of the beat of a drum; sometimes a broken crate or kettle and sometimes even a chamber relieve pot. The beat of the drum followed the captive and shackled Africans across the Atlantic to their new home in the New World.
In the New World, many of the older traditions, customs and dances of the Negro slave have been lost because of rapid acculturation, the influence of the church (particularly in the USA), and the failure to preserve and safeguard historical materials. Any history, of course, is bound to suffer in legacy, accuracy and completeness from such losses.
