African Traditional Dances; Repertoire of African Migration Histories, Common Identities and Resistance Against Colonial Artificial Borders

Nyarko Danie Ofori. and Ayettey Benjamin Obido
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Nyarko Danie Ofori.: Institution of Affiliation Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana
Ayettey Benjamin Obido: Institution of Affiliation Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2024, vol. 8, issue 7, 1163-1173

Abstract: African traditional dances of sub-Sahara Africa present important and unadulterated historical information that connect the histories of migration of certain African ethnic groups. The historical materials and facts of African traditional dances present the migration histories of certain African ethnic groups and defies colonial separation through artificial borders. African traditional dances and the costumes used in such dances continually connect ethnic groups which are found in different African countries together as people of a common stock. The researchers used desk information on dances performed in western and southern African countries that transcends the borders of one country in this scholarly work. African traditional dances especially from West and Southern Africa such as Agahu or Gahu and Agbadza are performed by the Ewe Ethnic group or nation found in Benin, Ghana, Togo and certain parts of Nigeria, the Sunu dance is performed by the Wolof in Senegal, Guinea, Gambia including parts of Mali and Mauritania, the Lamban traditional dance of the Mandinka people is also performed in seven countries in West Africa including Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. West African traditional dances still have important impacts on the indigenous dances of African Americans found in the Americas through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The Ndlamu dance found in Southern Africa is performed by the Nguni people including; Ndebele (Xhosa) of Zimbabwe, Swazi of Eswatini as well as the Zulu in South Africa and other Nguni tribes in Mozambique and Malawi. The performance of the Ndlamu dances by these different ethnic groups in the mentioned southern African countries also attest to the fact that all these ethnic groups are Nguni ethnic kinsmen of a common race or stock but are found in different countries due to migration or through colonial artificial borders. The researchers recommended that traditional African dances must be encouraged and tapped into as it can help to build and promote peace amongst African countries as certain ethnic groups within sub regions such as West and Southern Africa originated from a common stock and have the same or similar cultures.

Date: 2024
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