Dance and its many faces in the Nigerian worldview

Nigerian dance in performance is usually questioned on the issues of significance and connotation of the movements employed. Spectators, especially indigenous ones observe the dance mainly from a cultural insight, and all appurtenances accompanying the dance are appreciated as a whole, and even given interpretations. An example is masquerade dance. Obviously, the dance movement of a particular masquerade cannot be appreciated without the costume, props, chants, songs, instrumentation, ritualism and other components that accompany the masquerade dance. These are enjoyed by the audience not only for their aesthetic value but also for their functional purposes. This means that Nigerian dance is mainly utilitarian in nature. This paper is therefore a review of the components making up Nigerian dance. From evidence gathered, it is clear that Nigerian traditional dance goes beyond moving the body in space and time especially for aesthetic purpose, but inculcates different cultural syndromes which demonstrate the actual nature of Nigerian dance.

Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1986

The origins of Nigerian dance' are open to speculative reconstruction from contemporary traditional practice and from oral history (see Begho, 1977). It is first necessary to give a brief account of the central characteristics of Nigerian dance. Dance in Nigeria is synonymous with music and is even indistinguishable from play: one term covers all three activities. In Edo, for example, dance, music and play are iku, in Ibo egwu. Moreover many dramatic performances, both traditional and modern, rely heavily on dance for their impact and some would say do not constitute truly Nigerian drama without it (see Nzewi, 1981: 433-56 and Nwoko, 1981: 476). This interrelation of the performing arts conceptually and in execution does not necessarily entail a concomitant unity in terms of production. While there are performer-directors who are skilled musicians, actors, dancers and choreographers, as epitomised traditionally by the chief priest and currently by the actor-manager, there are also instances in which performance is the product of a clear division of labour. Ceremonial dances performed at the court of the Oba (king) of Benin are the product of a complex guild system which underpins all Edo courtly art and the geographical layout of much of Benin City. Performers, costume-makers and propertymakers each have their own domain; Ogbelaka and Eguadase, which are both guilds and quarters in Benin, are charged with the music for different occasions, the latter for Ekasa and the former for Igue and Ague for example; the Ikpema are drummers, the Owina ne Edo costume-makers. Although this form of artistic production and specialisation seems to be characteristic of economic and imperial expansion in Nigeria as elsewhere, other forms of Nigerian social organisation such as that of the Ibibio, have produced equally elaborate and specialised performances (see Ogunbiyi, 1981 a: 12-13). Religion, traditionally conceived as socially ubiquitous and all-pervasive, is said to have provided the initial impulse for

Lafia Journal of Theatre and Media Arts (LAJOTMA), 2023

Abstract Every human community has a reason for dancing. These reasons are usually not in isolation of the happenings around them. You can therefore find in a peoples‟ dance what led to their choice of movements and the way they execute them. These are usually a product of the worldview such community. This is why this paper looks at the worldviews - the factors responsible for the choices, packaging and appreciation - of dances in the Yoruba communities of South Western Nigeria. It employed analytical methods to deduct the reasons behind dancing and appreciation of dance in the communities. It was discovered their language (axioms), behaviour and beliefs that the perception of the Yoruba people, to a very large extent, dictate and control their dances. The paper concludes that custom and traditional beliefs of the Yoruba people dictate significantly the methods and practice of dance in their communities. Keywords: Dance, Worldview, Yoruba people, Yoruba dance

EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 2020

Many traditional dances have witnessed downturn in patronage to occasion academic debates geared towards reviving interest in indigenous performances and live theatres in Nigeria. It is within this context that this article closely look at content issues in Nigerian indigenous dance from a diachronic perspective and observed that the seeming dwindling patronage for certain Nigerian indigenous dances is as a result of the inability of indigenous dance creators and performers to package indigenous dance products to reflect popular tastes in contemporary times. Also, it is observed that content issues in art are indicators that human society is constantly in a state of flux and that as humanity responds to these changing realities; art must do the same to remain relevant to the society within a particular period. Drawing on this, the study concludes that Nigerian indigenous dance space could be enlivened when its contents are at par with dominant societal realities and respond to preva...

THESIS, 2016

What remains unchanged about dance in the world today is the fact that dance has come to stay with all its functions in society and that the society will continue to navigate the aesthetics, functional appeal and approach of the art of dance. Dance in pre-colonial Africa have a communal appeal that govern its composition, aesthetics and functional appreciation, which took a different shape in the colonial and modern period with its attendant philosophies and modernization mantra. The alien dance forms introduced since the colonial period have meddled with the business of indigenous dance culture and have impaired the pre-colonial indigenous aesthetic ideologies so much that some Africans in modernism term indigenous dancing as archaic and fetish. In the period of postmodernism however, the changed audience perception of indigenous dancing have posed great challenges to growth and sustenance of the indigenous dance forms where it becomes necessary to reposition indigenous dance art to appeal to postmodern audience. To do this, the researcher advocates among other strategies that the choreographers and performers of indigenous dances should boldly cut through the aesthetic and functional limitations of the indigenous dance forms, and become open to the aesthetic formations and choreographic standards of other forms while remaining functional in a postmodern world.

Notwithstanding Africa's palpable backwardness, paranoia and hesitation in its relations with developed nations in the context of global homogenization in diverse political, economic and cultural spheres, the world however inevitably continues to gravitate from a mono-centric world-system to a poly-centric world-space. In other words, we now speak of cultures rather than culture in the sense of a conglomerate. Given this context, one discernable feature of contemporary dances in Nigeria is that they are no longer constrained by ethnic and national boundaries, or that there is a proliferating dynamics of trans-boundary cultural and material formations. Therefore dances of disparate Nigerian cultures and even beyond have begun to come together across the diverse ethnic configurations. This paper explores cultural syncretization and hybridization in dances in Nigeria as a result of interactions and influences from within and without. The paper shares the view that the " local " is a space in motion and not a silent victim of the " global. " It submits that this development is a positive sign, which could transcend culture, in Africa's interaction on the global stage.

2022

Dance in Africa, specifically from Nigeria, has over the years made tremendous impact in such areas like propagation of culture, projection of unity in diversity and promotion of the idea of National identity. With the global rejuvenation and economic diversity, dance has provided an enabling environment and concrete platforms for its practitioners to explore the potentials embedded in the packaging and production of dance performances, thereby serving as a vital tool for economic stability. Despite its relegation to the background as a mere form of entertainment, African dance has provided immense benefits to practitioners. Through the adoption of Performance Aesthetics theory of Dance and Participant Observation method of research, this paper carries out a dialectical engagement of the roles of dance in general perspective, with a close reference to the Bata dance of the Yoruba, for the purpose of identifying the various dimensions by which the dance has helped in projecting both the Yoruba ethnic and the Nigerian National identities. Findings reveal that Bata Dance performance has grown beyond its Yoruba ethnic enclave to becoming a global brand that is studied by non-Africans and the Africans in Diaspora therefore creating a viable socioeconomic platform and global acceptance for the dance and its practitioners.

Anthropologist, 2006

Knowledge is often likened to weather conditions that pay no heed to national boundaries. This opinion has led many African scholars into using the same instruments to gauge issues in African and non-African studies expecting to get similar results. In this study, the researchers reveal that dance without music is unthinkable in Nigeria. Using specific examples and field observations, they reveal that such ideals are of non-African origin, which should not be encouraged to overlap in a culture with already defined musical functions, roles and characteristics.

International Journal of Research in Education Humanities and Commerce, 2021

The uniqueness of dance as an art form is that of all art forms, it is totally dependent on human body movement. The human body is the sole instrument or vehicle for expression in dance. One of the major problems of dance is its non-verbal channel of communication which sometimes seems codified and difficult to understand by merely watching or observing. Predominantly, our present society does not really have that critical mind to clearly understand what a dancer is trying to depict through dance. Most people always concentrate more on the dance movement and choreography. This research paper shall lend itself to the historical approach as a theoretical tool for evaluating Felix Akinsipe's "United We Stand" beyond the work itself to the broader historical and cultural event. This study surpasses an attempt to write about dance, it is to shed light on the importance of dance and how it can be used to educate and inform people in society. However, this study will also give room for intellectual discourse about dance, its socio-political relevance in society, and how Felix Akinsipe's "United We Stand" in Talking Bodies reflects the Nigerian situation under the colonial/military regime. In the course of the paper, a qualitative method of gathering data was adopted in processing the libretto and performance under review. This paper thereby concludes by illuminating the responsibility of theatre artists towards being the voice of the voiceless via their works and then recommends that choreographers must strive to commit their works in speaking for the voiceless against oppressive governance.