What has dance done for me?

As I stated in my previous post, dance has always been a part of my life. My first incident with dance was as early as 3 year old, back in the early 1980s. My dad turned on James Brown’s hit “The payback” and started to dance across the floor. I mimicked all his movements and I’ve been dancing badly ever since (at least that's what my friends tell me).

I have noticed that when music starts, most babies will begin to bounce without prompting. I have noticed that some parents will start to bounce their babies when music starts, perhaps even without knowing, and then the baby will mimic that action thereafter.

I feel that my first post answered many of the aspects to be covered in this post but to summarize what I feel when African music is played:

"African dance has always been a spiritual experience for me. When the drummer starts, the rhythm starts at the tip of my toes and moves up to my legs, waist, arms, neck, and head. By the time the other drums have joined in, my entire body is not its own and is consumed by the rhythm and I could not stop dancing if I wanted to". -Me

When I think of the country of Africa, the first thing that comes to mind is slavery. I think its because of the history that directly impacted generations of my family and others in the United States. I know that in the early days, the African American Church was used as a place to come together to dance, sing and praise. My great-grandmother told me once that during her time (late 1890s), blacks were so discouraged that the church was the only place where they could openly vent frustrations but in order to keep from being beaten or killed, using song and dance to rely such messages, hid their true feelings.

I went to a show once in Durham, North Carolina where a group of African children were singing for a charity event. The children all look joyful, smiling, and were clapping their hands . However, a friend of mine translated all the songs sung that night into English and I saw that they were filled with despair and saddness. The children sung that night at the concert of how they were without food or that their parents died in war. was appalled and was reminded of what my great-grandmother told me.

I feel that there is a "making special" connection between African Americans and Africans. It could also be argued that any culture, social group, or race facing hardships, engage in the same use of art across the world. I think that it's beautiful that dance and song can be used as a release for pent up emotions and hurt and through this process, the recognition of the pliant of others is brought to the forefront and healing can began.

Below is a video of African Dance and Drumming in Denmark!