The development of dance art within the nation’s pop culture: a study of selected trending dance moves in Nigeria

Abstract

The meaning and context of dance is relative, especially, to the culture that owns it. In Nigeria, dance is life; it captures the general world view of the people. Dance starts at birth and ends in death as every activity is marked by a particular form of dance or the other. Apart from the indigenous/traditional dances, other forms of dances have emerged and are trending in Nigeria today initiated by the pop musicians and propagated by the youths. This emerging dance trends have come to stay and have also contributed immensely to the development of dance in Nigeria. This paper will examine the growth and development of dance art within Nigeria’s Pop Culture using participant observation method and will also draw from extant literature such as books, journals, periodicals and internet sources to substantiate the discourse. The dearth of scholarly documentations, professional negligence and perception challenges on these forms of dance, have necessitated this study. Hence, there is need for proper archiving to avoid what have somewhat bedeviled our indigenous dances whose practice, sustainability, preservation and promotion have remained quiescent. Using diffussionism and hybridism as its theoretical frameworks, this study captures the antecedents of these dance forms and x-rays the paradigm shift in dance making in Nigeria. The paper recommends that efforts should be directed towards the study and documentation of such dances in other to relieve them of parochial orature. Furthermore, efforts should be made to appreciate their practice and practitioners.

Keywords: Traditional dance, diffussionism, hybridism, mass and pop culture