Building Sense of Community through West African Dancing and Drumming

“For the Igede of Nigeria’s Benue State, music and dance contribute to the integration of society by expressing social organization, validating institutions, perpetuating values, and promoting group solidarity.” (Nicholls, 1998, p. 42)

There is a saying that raises the question, “why reinvent the wheel?” when one struggles or attempts to construct or do something that has already been successfully accomplished.  I wear many hats in the arts world ranging from programmer, to educator, to evaluator and no matter which position I found myself in, that question inevitably raised itself as I tried to justify undergoing a new initiative.  I would struggle to understand why we as arts administrators were developing dance and music programming aiming to instill confidence, create community, and foster a sense of pride among targeted black populations, and yet, weren’t using models that had those principles intrinsic to the nature of the art.  This is the idea that led me to conduct an ethnographic case study of the West African Dance and Drum community in Tallahassee, FL, which was the focus of my Mbongi presentation for the 2019 ABPsi Convention.  I aimed to address how the arts help create and sustain community development through African centered drum, and dance. The tasks was to focus on community building by using the intrinsic nature of diasporic art forms.

As a participant/observer within my research, I embarked to identify ways in which African dancing and drumming helped build a sense of community among its participants (Davis-Craig, A.L., 2009).  This study used survey document analysis, participant observation, interview, and focus group methodology to 1) provide an accurate historical account of the development, major milestones, and contributors to the Tallahassee African dance and drum scene, 2) determine what the participants meant by the term “community” and establish a definition of community based on their meaning utilizing the McMillan and Chavis (1986, 1996) model, and 3) identify what factors led to the creation and sustaining of this sense of community.

The community, at the time of the study, was organized around two main institutions--a not-for-profit community group known as The African Caribbean Dance Theatre and a private dance studio, Prophecy School of the Arts. Taking into consideration registered participants from  both organizations, the Tallahassee African Dancing and Drumming community (TADDC) consisted of approximately 70 unique members.  Through the research, I arrived at the following context specific definition using the four rules as outlined by McMillan and Chavis (1996).

The Tallahassee African Dance and Drum community is comprised of multi-generation members; relating and functioning like a family; providing support and energy for one another; while paying homage to the African cultural traditions; developing through an organic evolution and maintaining through a love for the art.  I approached the research echoing a position that African dancing and drumming teaches social patterns and values and helps people to work, grow, and to praise or criticize the behavior of community members (Malone, 1996).  I posited that the sense of community that the participants felt was due to the art forms power to take otherwise unrelated people and give them a commonality that allowed them to care for and about the other people associated with the art form simply by nature of their association.

In laying the foundation for the case study, I researched literature as it related to African dancing and drumming to identify the characteristics present in West African society and those characteristics that were maintained during the importation to the United States of America (Ajayi, 1998; Asante, 1990; Harper, 1978; Modica, 2004; Nicholls, 1998; Nketia, 1971).  I identified five characteristics that demark the African dance and drum aesthetic in its original context.  The first characteristic refers to the drum as a method of communication. Next is the role and relationship between the dancer and the drummer.  The wide age range of participants is another factor; the notion that the dance and drum are multi-generational activities. The concept of cyclical energy is another characteristic – drummer, dancer, and community member/observer. And, finally, the idea that the dance is not an isolated event, but rather is an integral part of life that extends far into many aspects of life.

As evidenced by the TADDC members definition of community, the same tenets, with the addition of some others, were present in Tallahassee, FL. Moving beyond the characteristics of the art form that were the nucleus of the community, were the individual elements that contributed to the sense of community.  The six key elements specific to the TADDC were: (a) appreciation of tradition (cultural and organizational); (b) concept of family (related and non-related persons within the community); (c) communication (non-verbal and verbal); (d) support (verbal acknowledgement, actions, and deeds); (e) energy (physical and synergistic energy); and (f) love of the art.

Since my initial formal study, I have continued to conduct similar research in informal and formal settings.  I have expanded the scope to include additional African Diasporic dance and musical forms and other cities in Florida, as well as cities in New York. I have found similar results to those found in Tallahassee, Florida.  The Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, and Afro-Hatian dance classes that I have studied and continue to participate in and study exhibit similar retentions and notions of sense of community.

As an arts administrator and educator, it is important to develop and support programs that contribute to an individual’s whole sense of self. Children in African societies are raised to understand the value of community and their role within the community.  I ask “why reinvent the wheel” when developing programming to target black populations for specific outcomes if those outcomes are not intrinsic to the art form.  I maintain, and research supports, that a by-product of studying African Diasporic dance and drum are increased sense of community, feelings of support, and pride in cultural identity.  The values taught through African dancing and drumming in traditional African society, were not lost during its importation throughout the African Diaspora.  The communal value was retained and should be considered as a modality to help heal, build, and sustain the black community.

References

Ajayi, O. (1998). Yoruba dance: The semiotics of movement and body attitude in a Nigerian culture. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.

Asante, K. W.  (1990). Philosophy and dance in Africa: The views of Cabral and Fanon.  Journal of Black Studies, 12, 224-232.

Davis-Craig, A.L. (2008). Building community: African dancing and drumming in the little

village of Tallahassee, Florida. (Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University, 2008).

Harper, P. (1978). Dance, The Living Culture of Nigeria.

Malone, J. (1996). Steppin’ on the blues: The visible rhythms of African American dance. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

McMillan, D.W. (1996). Sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 315-324.

McMillan, D.W., & Chavis, D.M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. American Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23.

Modica, S. Retrieved April 10, 2004 from http://qcpages.qc.edu/ENGLISH/Projects/ postcol/country/nigeria/musicil.html

Nicholls, R. (1998).  African dance: Transition and continuity.  In K. W. Asante (Ed.), African Dance: An artistic, historical, and philosophical inquiry (pp. 41-63). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.

Nketia, J.H. (1971).  History and the organization of music in West Africa.