WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AFRICAN DANCE, AFRICAN AMERICAN DANCE and BLACK AMERICAN DANCE?

I have been asked this question a number of times at conferences, therefore, I decided to write what I have gleaned during the course of my research on the continent and my years of experience in these dance forms in the diaspora.

First let us recall the definition of African dance based on the Classification of African Music by Akin Euba. I state it this way because without African music, there is no African dance. Africans always dance to some form of musical accompaniment be it the voice, rattles or simple handclaps, to orchestras of multiple instruments. Based on the classification of music found on the continent of Africa, of which Akin Euba lists five types of music, there are essentially only two kinds of African music: Traditional and Neo-Traditional. All the other forms, in various degrees, express pigmentation from the western world. The music for African dance is largely percussive in nature. Throughout Africa dance is inseparable from its music. To the African, rhythm and movement are as intellectual as speech.

In Traditional African music there are certain lifetime events that already have music prescribed for these events. Some of these events are birth, death, war, puberty, outdooring ceremonies, and circumcision and initiation ceremonies.

Akin Euba and other prominent African musicians agree that Traditional music is the oldest form of music that is common to African people and their culture. This type of music has within its structure elements that can be articulated through motor response enabling the dancer to understand what the drummer is playing and dance accordingly.

G. Niangouran Bouah, in his book Introduction a la Drummologie, says that the drum expresses all aspects of man's culture, including his language, politics, and religion, as the original conveyors of indigenous traditional music that is generally created in small villages or hamlet. The dances are created from a happening (event) that the people choose to remember and affix it to the rhythm of their particular group. This traditional music/dance did not travel far from these villages and hamlets because of the language barriers. Because music is based on the spoken language of the people, it would not be understood by neighboring villagers because they do not speak the same language. According to world-renowned choreographer, Maurice Sonar Senghor, Africa's first theater director and the creator of the famous National Ballet of Senegal, before a dance can be created an event must take place that the people choose to remember. Without an event of causation, no dance can be choreographed. Keita Fodeba creator of the famous Guinea Ballet described African dance as a “spontaneous emanation of the people”. Professor Albert Mawere Opoku creator of the Ghana National Dance Ensemble said African dance was about the cultures of the people. Professor Opoku's greatest fear was that once these pieces of culture were performed outside their point of origin, people would try to imitate them, and these dances would become so clouded that the only thing recognizable would be the name of the dance, but not the movements.

As previously stated these cultural events must be portrayed as the Africans, the original conveyors of the culture, created them. After independence, of African nations a number of National Dance Companies were formed as ambassadors of the culture of an African country. These dances were adapted to the stage. Thus the original traditions were taken out of the context of social ceremony for which they were created reduced them to Neo-traditional dances.

Under the category Neo Traditional music the music is comprised of new musical forms that make use of elements of traditional music, but not in the same context it had under traditional music. In this category we find music performed in the theater, classroom auditorium and other forms of entertainment. The prominent aspect of both traditional and neo traditional music is that these forms of music are based on language and can communicate to the dancer what movements to execute and when to perform them.

African American Dance began to grow in prominence for me during the fifties and sixties. This form of dance used percussive instruments such as drums bells and rattles.

As a choreographer I used African instruments and followed the rhythmic cycle of the bell using the popular rhythm Kon-Ko-Lo. I created the dance steps from my play experiences. Even though I followed the cycle of the bell, I did not have the background of drum language that would permit me to instruct the dancer what steps to execute and when to make changes in the steps. Although the cycle of the bell defined the measures of the dance, without drum language or onomatopoeia, I had to rely on counts. Counting music and steps is NOT an African tradition. The difference between African dance and African American dance is African American dance musically follows the cycle of the bell, but lacks the ability to communicate to the dancer when and where to make changes in the step. As a student of choreography and using my own system of writing music for African instruments, my early choreography used “Cue Cards” on which I wrote out the Kon-Ko-Lo phrase for each measure so the dancers could relate the step to the beat of the cycle of the bell. The creation of the Cue Cards enabled me to know exactly where the steps occurred according to the rhythmic pattern. The cue cards ran along the border of the notated steps written in Labanotation.

Black American dance, in my opinion, is more westernized in format and structure. It is based on a certain style or technique such as Horton, or Graham. The music is largely melodic in nature, and sometimes dance is performed without any music. The choreography is not hinged to a happening and does not have a pre-established rhythm in its design. They do not follow a rhythmic cycle and the material is not based on a reality factor. The theme of the dance may be the Black experience and my personal favorite is Revelations by Alvin Ailey which is his signature piece based on the Black experience and the church. The music does not have the ability to communicate to the dancers, but based on the song or music, the dancers can familiarize themselves when the change occurs according to the melody of the selection. Revelations is the epitome of choreographic genius.

Be mindful that teaching African dance in a classroom setting essentially came into being in 1962 at the University of Ghana at Legon under the aegis of Professor Albert Mawere Opoku who also created the National Dance Ensemble of Ghana. Prior to that African dance was not taught in the classroom. Recherche, Pedagogie et Culture did a study of African music and dance in academic institutions throughout Africa. This study was done in the eighties, and it verified that African music was taught in only one institution in the French speaking countries of Africa. African dance was not taught in any of the schools in academia. Modern dance and ballet were taught in several academic institutions. Therefore, Ghana paved the way for African dance in a university setting. These courses first led to certificates and diplomas and later to degrees.
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In a traditional African music/dance class you will never hear the counts 1, 2, 3, 4 for music and 5, 6, 7, 8 for the dance. This is a western concept. In a traditional African setting you might hear a drummer say lets retake the dance from Kun, Ba, Din, Da. and the dancers will know what steps to perform. Essentially the basic difference between these forms of dance is the ability of the musicians to communicate to the dancers telling them what steps to execute and when to execute them. This ability exists only in Traditional and Neo-Traditional dance forms.

To recapitulate Traditional African dance is largely percussive in nature. The music is based on the language of the people and has the ability to communicate to the dancer what movements to execute. These dances originate in the bush and do not enter the boundaries of adjacent villages or bush, as they could not be understood in these areas.

Neo-Traditional dances are derived from Traditional dances, but are taken out of the context for which they were originally created. African-American dances, in general, use African instruments and follow an African rhythmic schema but do not have the ability to communicate to the dancer what steps to perform. Black-American dance is basically modern dance developed from a specific technique, such as Limon, Horton, or Graham. These dances are not based on specific lifetime activities. The music is primarily melodic and sometimes the dance is performed without music.

MALE DANCERS OF OMO AFRICA