Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Aesthetic, African Dance

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of African Religions and Philosophy

  • 41 Accesses

The Ghanian choreographer, Mawere Opoku, has said “To us life with its rhythms and cycles is dance and dance is life” (Opoku 1965). In a similar manner, Pearl Primus (1954) has equated the dances of Africa with the life-force and spirit of the cosmos. These statements may provide viable grids regarding the understanding of these artistic manifestations, since they alert us for the close relationships between these and given social and cultural orders.

In this sense, Davidson’s statement, according to which art for life’s sake, instead of art for art’s sake, is an important dictum of “traditional” African cultures (1969) and is quite pertinent. In several cultural inscriptions, dance is not self-referential, but exists and is recognized for its contribution to the good of the community. It is not merely an individual’s indulgence; rather, it is the evidence of collective values and mores.

A comprehensive approach to the distinct aesthetics involved in dance may include a consideration...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Barrett, L. 1974. Soul force. Garden City: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begho, F. 1985. Black dance continuum: Reflections on the heritage connection between African dance and Afro-American jazz dance. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berliner, P. 1974. The soul of mbira. Berkeley: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boas, F., ed. 1972. The function of dance in human society. New York: Dance Horizons. (Original work published 1944).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunham, K. 1983. Dances of Haiti. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabre, G. 1983. Drumbeats. Masks and metaphor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorer, G. 1935. Africa dances. London: Penguin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, J.L. 1966. What is African dance. Journal of the New African Literature and the Arts: 64–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1983. The performer-audience connection. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imperato, J.P. 1970. The dance of the Tyiwara. African Arts 4 (1): 8–13, 71–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1971. Contemporary adapted dance of the Dogon. African Arts 5 (1): 28–33, 68–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaemmer, J. 1975. The dynamics of a changing music system in rural Rhodesia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthew, J.C. 1946. Mohobelo. The Dancing Times, October, 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opoku, M. 1965. African dances. Legon: Legon University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1970. The dance in traditional African society. Research Reviews 7 (1): 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primus, P. 1961. African dance. Presence Africaine, Special Issue, 163–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranger, T.O. 1975. Dance and society in Eastern Africa 1890–1970. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, D. 1985. The implications of African-American spirituality. In African culture: Rhythms of unity, ed. K. Molefi and K. Welsh Asante, 207–232. Westport: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R.F. 1965. Dance sculpture of the Yoruba: Its critics and contexts. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Yale University, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1974. African art in motion: Icon and act. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracey, H. 1952. African dances of the Witwatersand and gold mines. Johannesburg: African Music Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, Lee. 1972. The dances of Africa. New York: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welsh Asante, K. 1985. The African aesthetic: Commonalities in African dance. In African culture: Rhythms of unity, ed. M. Asante and K. Welsh-Asante, 71–82. Westport: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. 1978. Deep structure of the dance. In Yearbook of symbolic anthropology, ed. E. Schwimmer. London: C. Hurst.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boyer School of Music and Danse, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

    Kariamu Welsh Asante

Authors
  1. Kariamu Welsh Asante
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kariamu Welsh Asante .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Program in Literature, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    V. Y. Mudimbe

  2. Department of French, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Kasereka Kavwahirehi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature B.V.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Asante, K.W. (2021). Aesthetic, African Dance. In: Mudimbe, V.Y., Kavwahirehi, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of African Religions and Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-2068-5_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation