Llast week I attended a conference by Ya Elima, dancer, therapist, author and initiator of the Longo dance, the African anchor dance. During the conference, the latter insisted at length on the depth and spiritual aspect of African dances. Due to colonization, many Africans have moved away from their cultures so that we have a superficial knowledge of them.
For example, we dance, move our pools, and yet we are no longer able, for the majority of us, to give the meaning of these movements.
To illustrate her speech, Ya Elima gave the example of Rumba, a dance whose essence, original and deep meaning, is unknown to many Kongolese. Indeed, if you do research on the origin of the Rumba, you will read that this dance is an invention of the ancient kongo slaves, that the term derives its origin from Kikongo Nkumba which means the "belly button", or that it is a sensual dance, "a folk dance, an evocation of carnal love."
Do you like the website ?
Access all our Premium content. More than 2000 articles and ebooks
To unlock them, Log in to the site