African Dance

African dance is an expression! Did you know that African dance can legitimately be considered the oldest form of choreography in the world? Although westernization has slowly impacted the dancing traditions, most communities still practice different tribal dance styles. Dance has always been an integral part of daily life in Africa.  In the Americas, it helped enslaved Africans connect with their homeland keeping their cultural traditions alive. What are some of the types of African Dance?

Indlamu

Indlamu or the stamping dance, is most often associated with Zulu culture. It is performed with drums and full traditional attire and is derived from the war dances of the warriors. This dance is danced by men of any age wearing skins (amabeshu), headrings, ceremonial belts, ankle rattles, shields and weapons like knobkerries and spears.

Adumu

Known as the dance that initiates an adult boy into a warrior man, the Adumu is one of the traditions followed by the Maasai people of East Africa. This dance is primarily performed during Eonoto, the coming of age ceremony of warriors. During this dance, the boys jump as high as possible while the others clap and sing in the background.

Mohobelo

Usually done while dressed in full warrior regalia  (a blanket, shield, spear or knobkerrie), the Mohobelo (striding dance) of the Sotho features striding, leaping, and in some cases, sliding, and almost slithering along the ground. Considered to be territorial, because the dance movements of the north differ from those observed in the south, it is essentially a display of masculinity with an intrinsically competitive aspect to it.

We hope you enjoyed reading about just a few of the traditional African dances and hope that you take some time to look at a few videos of them being performed.