Pathisa Nyathi Cultural Heritage
WE are at the stage where we can deal with the traditional dances that are associated with rain ceremonies such as those conducted at the Njelele and related rain shrines. We have in the past made reference to the gourd cup which symbolically fetches water from sites of supplication. We also made reference to the black cloth which, for a number of weeks, seized our minds as we sought to understand the links between cloth manufacturers and the consumers.
The one thing that we have observed with traditional dances is that they are cultural expressions which are true of other art forms. They cannot be separated from the cultures within which they operate.
Music and dance are two sides of the same coin. Dance is movement in response to music. The movements are not haphazard yet regular or rhythmic.
We have observed a close link between African culture and the cosmos. Movement as found in dances is similar to movement of the cosmos. Cosmic movement is what keeps the universe intact: it is regular, rhythmic and periodic and that makes it predictable. Cosmic movements and their rhythmic nature inspire and inform African traditional dances.
To sample an African dance is to sample beliefs, values, norms, worldview, philosophy and cultural practices of the African community to which the dance belongs. It was for this reason that we described African traditional dance as community in motion. It is a cosmic representation of the community. It is community symbolised and operationalised.
We do know too that dance and music are art forms. We already know that African art for its own sake was rare if it existed at all. Art comes riding on the back of functionality or utility.
A good example are the rain dances that are the subject of current articles.
Dances were designed to assist in rain making. This is not to say the dancers did not enjoy the act of dancing.
Those engaging in the dance enjoyed immensely, but sight should never be lost that the dance, in more ways than one, was essentially a rain dance. It fulfilled a need, a function or purpose.
As an art form it engaged the dancers in an intellectual way. The community knew the meanings of the movements which served as meta-language. Art communicates and does so effortlessly as it is aesthetically engaging.
The very fact of communicating lends functionality to the dance.
There is a message in what is being communicated. It is for this reason that music and dance have been used to communicate messages relating to HIV, for example.
Unlike the lecture method, song and dance passes on the message in an entertaining way. Theatre is used in a similar way, effortlessly conveying deeper messages.
You will observe that we have not made reference to the “audience.” It is simply because there were no audiences to entertain. All were participants in a dance that brought out the togetherness of the community – whether young or old. The social philosophy was ingrained within the dance.
However, because each community has had a unique history, culture and values, its dances are informed by the uniqueness inherent within it. In order therefore to fully appreciate the meaning and conveyed messages in a dance one has to do so from the perspective of that particular community.
An outsider has to get inside the collective mind of the community members.
When this happens the observer will cease to see wild and meaningless movements. They will not see sexually suggestive movements but will begin to see the one pursuit that seized the minds of the Africans of yesteryear-ensuring continuity, perpetuity and the “unendingness” of their communities.
It is not solely movement that carries the messages but also the associated attire. What is the colour of the costumes? How do those colours fit into the colour coding within the community? How do movements of various parts of the body relate one to the other?
The one unique character of African dances is their polycentrism. This quality emanates from the polyrhythmic nature of African traditional dances. Dances have many, (poly) rhythms that emanate from many sources such as singing, handclapping, rattles (both hand and leg) and drums.
African dancers are able to “disconnect”. Their chests for example, may be “disconnected” from their waists. The waists will execute some intricate and tantalizing movements in response to one of the many rhythms. The feet on the other hand may be responding to their own different rhythm.
The result is very complex and unique dances of the African dancer. The waist-wriggling movements which the early missionaries and their associates, the native commissioners, regarded as erotic, explicit and sexually suggestive were discouraged.
What is critical therefore as we seek to excavate the nuances in a dance is to understand its cultural context, the beliefs, philosophy and worldview of the community.
When that is done we shall appreciate the artistic qualities of a dance and go beyond that to seek the purpose of the dance through the messages it communicates through body movements.
Dance is language that communicates just like verbal language. The only difference is that it communicates through body movements. Like verbal language, it brings to the fore the community’s values, norms and social philosophy. In this regard it is a medium for socialisation.