By: Raili Dunn

African dancing originated in the tribes of Sub-Saharan Africa, probably somewhere between 2000 and 500 B.C. The countries that are now known as Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon were some of the most important cultural areas of Africa at that time. This is where African dancing likely originated several thousand years ago.

African dances served a number of important purposes. In the beginning they were probably mostly used during religious ceremonies.  The early Africans believed in more than one God and used their dances to communicate with and worship their Gods. They also believed in spirits and would use the dances to call spirits to help them or to make the Gods happy. Over time, more dances were developed for other purposes. For example, they performed dances of love at weddings and war dances to protect the warriors that were going off to fight. They also danced to welcome visitors to their villages. When young members of the tribe became adults they would have to dance in front of the entire tribe to show their maturity.

Many of the dances were complicated. Most villages and tribes had a dance master. The dance master would start teaching the people in the tribe the different dances beginning at a very young age – shortly after birth. Dancing was very important to the African people and because they did not have printed books or pictures, they had to learn and memorize the dances in order to be able to participate with the tribe in the important tribal ceremonies. Most of the dances were developed and perfected over time and they could not be changed. Dancers had to perform the dance moves exactly as they were taught.

Drums and gourds were an important part of the dances and helped to set the dance rhythm. Foot stomping added to the noise, rhythm, and energy of the dances. The dance rhythm was different for most of the dances. Dances were not usually done in small groups but more often than not involved the entire community. Even the spectators would have interactions with the dancers and become part of the dance during these ceremonies. Almost everyone participated. Dancing was a very important part of African life.

African dances were often very fast paced and required a lot of energy. The dances also had to be done very precisely. Memorizing precise dance moves allowed the tribe to pass down complex movements and dance routines over centuries of time. The dances used a lot of specific body movements with many different parts of the body. Dance routines would often include hip, shoulder, arm, leg, head and neck movements.  The African dancers had to be in very good condition to perform these dances properly.

African dancing was not only important to the African tribes but was important to the social development of early civilization in general. Many of the early African dances were brought to other countries and had an important influence on dancing in other parts of the world, including America.