Securing the Future of Indigenous Dance in Nigeria

Abstract

The views of aesthetics in the context of African Indigenous dances have been a dialectic one when taking into consideration the socio-political, religious, environmental and economic changes that have hit the nation from pre-colonial periods to contemporary times. Indeed, dance before now was considered aesthetic only when it has satisfied one communal function or the other for both the ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ audience due to the pre-colonial societal setup of Nigerian communities and their worldviews. Today, certain structures have been put in place that has questioned pre-colonial aesthetic values in dance wherein today’s dance performances must appeal first to the eyes before its functionalities. The change put indigenous dance art in a disadvantaged position as the contemporary audience views them as archaic and other dance forms have invaded its space leading to the apathy shown to the art in contemporary times. This research paper adopts the content analysis design of the qualitative research method and hinges on the theory of Postmodernism, investigates the factors that necessitated the change and evolve strategies towards reclaiming audience appeal of indigenous dance art in contemporary Nigeria.