I attended a dance workshop with my program today where I learned some traditional Ghanaian dance moves. Before teaching us some traditional Ghanaian dances, the instructor gave us more background information on the power of dance for Ghanaians. He said, “We use a traditional dance to celebrate our ancestors and to allow them to live again. We also dance in circles often to represent the circle of life. We use this dance to transcend each generation. Our dances represent everything we value: our family, our ancestors, and our community. In Ghana, it is about the whole community, ‘My pain is your pain’". This was the best experience I had had yet. Looking at the similarities between traditional African dance and the afro dancing done at home, I noticed that as expected, many of the movements are similar, but don’t necessarily share the same sexual connotations that descendants of slaves have added on to it. Not only was I able to discover how dancing done in the Caribbean and by African-Americans came from this dancing, but I felt like I had entered another world. I felt like I joined a team. The movements we did were based on real life activities. We went fishing, hunting, and did the circle dances that allowed us to be physically and emotionally connected. We moved in a circle, repeating the chorus and doing different moves. "Se nwa de den de se nwa...Se nwa de den de se nwa". Unlike when I dance in the States, I didn’t worry about if anyone was judging me. I didn’t care if my hips were moving correctly or how I looked. Because I was able to remove the superficial aspect of dance, I was able to dance with more passion. I finally saw dance for what it is; a release.
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