With Black History Month (BHM) rapidly approaching in October, we thought it would be useful to explain in more detail about various workshops that are used by many schools during this time of celebration.

Here at 2020 Effect we offer a variety African Arts Workshops aimed to help support Black History Month, today’s blog is going to focus on our very popular African Dance Workshops.

Africa is a vast continent, consisting of many countries and hugely diverse cultures. African dance mainly refers to the collective dance type of the Sub-Saharan Africa, which is the African tribal dance. There are many aspects that affect the African dance types.

African Dance helps explore social patterns, values, and community. They are used in celebration including festivals, funerals and recitals of history and poetry. Traditional dance in Africa occurs collectively, expressing the life of the community more than that of individuals or couples. Dances are often segregated by gender, reinforcing gender roles in children. Community structures such as kinship, age, and status are also often reinforced.

With a deep cultural link African Dance is not only a great way to learn more about the culture but it is also very engaging and fun to take part in.

Participants will learn how to respond to the African rhythms that accompany the dances by clapping and singing the rhythmic patterns. Songs will be taught that accompany certain dances. To broaden their awareness, children will learn about the musical instruments and important cultural aspects of the countries where the dances originated. Here are some basic moves that you can learn in an African Dance Workshop.

Stomping of the Feet

A basic step in African dances is the stomping of the feet. At a very young age, African children dance to the beat of the drum and other African instruments. Stomping of the feet can come in different forms. For aggressive types of dances, children lift the limbs high up to have a great impact on the ground when they land. The timing of the feet stomping to the beat of the drums is crucial, as some dances require the children to have props like bells, chimes and trinkets. Stomping of the feet goes together with hand and body movements.

Use of Hands

Hand movements are a big factor in African dances. Most of the movements done by hand are symbolic for the tribe. Elders teach the children the symbolism of these hand gestures while they are still very young to instil in them the tribe’s traditions. Some hand movements for lively dances consist of raising the arms shoulder-level or above the head while maintaining the beat of the drum. For slower dances, the hand movements are slower and more graceful.

Dance Postures

There are three main dance postures in African dances. The first one is the upright stance. This symbolizes strength and authority. It is common among war dances or dances involving elders of a tribe. For this stance, the important thing is to have a straight back. The second posture is to have the body facing forward leaning a bit towards the ground. For this posture, the arms gesture toward the ground. The third posture is having the torso of the body almost parallel to the floor. In this stance, the children’s body weight concentrates at the centre of the feet to maintain the stance. Dancers use these postures together with hand and feet movements.

African Dance Workshops are fun, lively and enjoyable they also serve to educate participants about the meanings of the dances in the African and Caribbean societies from which they originate. We only offer authentic African Dance Workshops, which simply means that our facilitators will either be from Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zimbabwe or South Africa – this way the participants can get a multicultural feel for the workshop.

It is important to celebrate Black History Month in schools and what better way than using and authentic Black History Month Workshop. Our series’ of Black History Month workshops are dedicated to providing a range of educational workshops which serve to highlight the African culture, black history and engage and educate. All our cultural workshops are authentic and cover the disciplines of dance, drama, music and visual arts. They are designed to educate, empower and enlighten and are an exciting addition to multicultural days, exhibitions, displays, presentations and tours.

Our Black History Month Workshops Include:

African Drumming Workshops
African Dance Workshops
African Storytelling Workshops
Afro Brazilian Dance Workshops
Caribbean Dance Workshops
Hip Hop Theatre Workshops
Contemporary Dance & Drama (Slavery)
Rap & Spoken Word Workshops
African Jewellery Making & Bead Making Workshops
African Mask Making Workshops
African Textiles & Print Making Workshops

June & July is proving to be extremely busy so secure your dates today! Also remember to book for October’s Black History Month 2011 in advance as we are already taking in bookings.

Call us on 0800 471 4983 for more information or email hello@2020effect.com

African Arts Workshops are available all year round to help make children aware of black history as too are other cultural workshops.