Welcome back to this week’s blog post!! This week, I’ll be taking a deep dive into the significance of dance and its role in building community within the African American and Nigerian communities.
The Wobble, the Cha Cha slide, and the Cupid Shuffle. What do each of these have in common? They are all dances known and loved by the African American community. They are dances that have been passed down from generation to generation, with each putting their own unique spin on the dances while keeping the traditions the same. These dances connect generations, families, and entire communities, but how?
These dances are typically performed at Black cookouts. These are times that are sacred to the Black communities and spaces where they can be unapologetically black. Here, they are surrounded by family, love, communion, friendship, support, and good music.
When communities get together these dances are performed by everyone, regardless of where people originate from, everyone seems to know the same dances and can perform them seamlessly together. Even those who are unfamiliar with the dances can catch on rather quickly, making these spaces enjoyable for everyone.
In Nigerian culture, once again dance also plays a significant role in building community. At weddings, birthdays, and celebrations of all kinds, good music and a lot of dancing can always be accepted.
In Yoruba culture, a series of dances such as the Gese dance and the Bata dance are performed as part of religious and traditional practices. Similar significant dances can also be seen across different tribes throughout the country.
In this post about dance, I particularly wanted to focus on the dollar dance that is often seen at birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations. As discussed, dance in both Nigerian and African American culture, is used to represent culture, community, tradition, and much more. The money dance, dollar dance, or money spray are all the same thing and are another example to dance in Nigerian culture.
In Nigerian culture, this dance originated in the Yourba tribe and as described by the title, guests at a celebration, like a wedding, circle the celebrants and dance as they ‘spray’ the celebrants with money, as they place money on their foreheads and allow the money to rain down upon them. The action of spraying money and dancing happiness is used to symbolize happiness, good fortune, and affection between everyone involved.
Having gone to many Nigerian weddings and celebrations, this has to be one of my favorite aspects of Nigerian Yoruba culture. The energy and positive vibes that can be felt in these dance circles can not be put into words, but it is simply an amazing experience!
In both Nigerian and African American culture, I have a great appreciation for the dances that they have produced. When with African Americans, I love that everyone can connect over a series of dances and the energy of Nigerian dance circles is incredible.
Being able to experience these two cultures and environments is truly a blessing and has helped me and many others to establish community with many others.