Field Research in African Dance: Opportunities and Utilities

Abstract

In-depth analyses of the sociocultural contexts of dance are within the professional sphere of social and behavioral scientists, especially anthropologists and sociologists. Unfortunately, compared with such foci as music, dance has been woefully neglected by them. Since published articles on The Status of Dance Studies2 and the African Research Committee Conference on the Arts: Report of the Dance Group3 treat some of the reasons for this neglect, I will say no more about it now. Rather I will direct my attention to the utility of dance research, drawing for illustration upon my current area of specialization: Africa. Many kinds of contextual studies can and should be done, the selection depending upon the orientations and abilities of the investigators as well as on the previous theoretical and empirical research relevant to a people's dance. For example, dance can be viewed as a medium of education-a complete audiovisual tool involving the sight of moving performers in time and space, the sounds of physical movements, the smell of physical exertion, the touch of feet caressing or stamping the earth, and the feel of kinesthetic activity. Dance can be approached as a means of promoting social solidarity, as a form of prayer or act of communion, as a symbol of respect, as an expression of emotion, or as a safety valve for psychological catharsis. Dance can also be viewed as a microcosm or mirror of society, or as one of the means used to fulfill any of a multitude of society's needs. To illustrate research possibilities let me briefly describe some of the work which has been done in Africa. These descriptions should be viewed as representative of research potentialities in most cultures of the world. J. Clyde Mitchell's study of the kalela dance (1956), an organized weekly recreational feature of urban life performed by the Bisa people of Zambia, brilliantly illustrates how the elements of a dance provide insights into the society of which it is a part, and how knowledge of the larger society's dynamics helps understanding of the dance itself. Mitchell was initially struck by the fact that the kalela was a tribal dance in the sense that the performers were mainly Bisa tribesmen and the verbal accompaniment included praise of the Bisa and ribald taunts directed towards other groups. About themselves

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