Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about and video examples of four popular contemporary African dances: Ndombolo, Coupé Décalé, Azonto, & Gwara Gwara.
Selected comments from three of these videos' discussion threads are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT AND EXAMPLES OF THESE DANCES
Pancocojams Editor's Note:
I believe that these dances are given in the order that they were popularized. Comments about and corrections of this chronology are welcome.
Numbers are assigned for referencing purposes only.
I. NDOMBOLO [Democratic Republic Of The Congo]
INFORMATION:
From https://www.africa.com/top-dance-styles-africa/ Top Dance Styles in Africa
By Lebo Matshego [retrieved October 2018]
"The Ndombolo Dance is a popular Central African dance that originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The movements of the dance are reliant on the waist and legs as one moves to the beat of the music.
The dance has been performed by notable artists such as Koffi Olomide and Awilo Longomba, and has come under criticism from authorities who attempted to ban public and media performances of the dance, calling it indecent because of its hip-swinging movements. An attempt to ban the dance from mainstream media in 2000 in Congo only made the dance more popular."
****
VIDEO: How to dance Ndombolo (Congolese Makolongulu Dance) *TUTORIAL* with Ceecee Coco and Aurelie
BM Official, Published on Dec 11, 2016
... Song: BM - Makolongulu
This is a series of tutorials on how to dance African dances. Episode 1 is 'How to dance Ndombolo'. Ndombolo is a Congolese dance style with many different dances. It mainly involves moving your waist and at the same time knowing how to move your legs. Ceecee and Aurelie teach the basics of Congolese Ndombolo to BM's song 'Makolongulu'.
-snip-
Here are some selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
a.t.h91, 2017
"I'm Black American with literally no idea where my ancestors are from in Africa but I see the heavy influences from Africa in our modern movements and music (maybe not ALL the music today because some of it is pure crap). They couldn't weed it out of us, lol. It's amazing when I think about it."
**
REPLY
2. sakurakou2009, 2017
"the apple don't fell far from the tree"
**
REPLY
3. Ms Hill, 2017
"Right i have observed that black peoples dances always originate in the hips and butt no matter where we are from."
**
REPLY
4. sakurakou2009,2017
"@Ms Hill Did you see ethopian shoulder dance ? or zulu people leg dance , africa have variety of different dances ."
**
REPLY
5. Ms Hill, 2017
"No I haven't seen those but to be clear, I am not saying there are not other types of dances but the hip/booty thing seems to be a common thread in black cultures. One of my favorite Youtubers went to Australia and he was showing how the local (blacks) dance and they too had a lot of hip/booty motions. It is just an observation and not meant to imply that there aren't other types of dances. To me this just shows that even though we live in different places geographically, the connection of African is still engrained very deep in our spirits. This is something unique to black culture and I do not see it as a vulgar thing."
**
6. Lauren Milligan, 2018
"This looks like Paris"
**
REPLY
7. J-Hope #ARMY#BLINCK, 2018
"Lauren Milligan it s Paris"
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/congolese-singer-dm-makolongulu-with.html for the pancocojams post "Democratic Republic Of The Congo (Kinshasa) Singer DM - "Makolongulu" (contemporary dance video with selected comments)"
**
8. Sofía Gutiérrez Del río, 2018
"Hello, i love this dance.
what king of dance is it?"
**
REPLY
9. susanv ntombela, 2018
"this is a mix of African dance style I saw South African one here it called Gwara Gwara"
**
10. Avihay L, 2018
"whats the name of the move in 3:22?"
**
REPLY
11. Darci for the win, 2018
"Gwara gwara"
**
12. meite broulaye, 2018
"La vie celle qui a coiffure rouge elle es ivoirienne ,elle danse grave bien ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Life the one who has red hairstyle she is Ivorian, she dances serious well ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"
REPLY
13. eff Foumey, 2018
"meite broulaye , normal .le couper décaler est une musique ivoirienne.ils ont grandi avec ce rythme là
-snip-
Google translate from French to English
meite broulaye, normal .the cut shift is an Ivorian music. they grew up with this rhythm there
-snip-
couper decaler a dance name. Google translate always mistranslates this dance name to "cut shift".
**
14. Sara Flower, 2018
"Lafrobeat the moove of love..cest le beat qui eradique le racisme. regardez comme c'est beau de voir tous les âges et races unis en ce moment. Champion à vous."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English: it's the beat that eradicates racism. look how beautiful it is to see all ages and races united right now. Champion to you.
****
II. COUPE-DECALE (Ivory Coast)
INFORMATION:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup%C3%A9-D%C3%A9cal%C3%A9
"Coupé-Décalé is a type of popular dance music originating from Côte d'Ivoire and the Ivorian diaspora in Paris, France. Drawing heavily from Zouglou and Zouk with African influences, Coupé-Décalé is a very percussive style featuring African samples, deep bass, and repetitive minimalist arrangements.
History
While Coupé-Décalé is known as Côte d'Ivoire's definitive pop music, it actually began in Paris, created by a group of Ivorian DJs at the Atlantis, an African nightclub in northeast Paris.[1][2] These Djs, known as the 'Jet Set', became popular for their flamboyant style, often showing up at the club with large amounts of cash which they would hand out to audiences on the dance floor. Their aesthetic defined the early sounds of Coupé Décalé, apparent in the genre's name. In Nouchi (Ivorian slang), Coupé means "to cheat" and Décalé means to "run away", so Coupé-Décalé basically means to cheat somebody and run away.[1] The 'somebody' cheated is generally interpreted to mean France or the West/Europe, finding parallels to the idea of "The Man" in American culture. Especially in the beginning, the songs often celebrated those who had used guile to 'make it' abroad. The word boucantier (English: "shoe-maker") was applied to performers with unusual style, as well as to their imitators.[3]
The genre's first hit, "Sagacité" was pioneered by the late Stephane Doukouré (a.k.a. "Douk-Saga"), a member of the 'Jet Set', during the post-2002 militaro-political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire. The hit became a success in African clubs in Paris and spread quickly among disc jockeys in Côte d'Ivoire."...
****
VIDEO: Couper décaler
BeN YmCnB, Published on Oct 21, 2014
****
III. AZONTO (Ghana)
INFORMATION: From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azonto
"Origin Ghana
Azonto is a dance and music genre from Ghana. The dance originated from a traditional dance called Kpanlogo, associated with the coastal towns in the country such as Chorkor, James Town, La, Teshie, Nungua and Tema, in the Greater Accra Region.[1]
Songs in the Afrobeat genre are usually the ones dedicated to the Azonto dance. Other music genres, however, can also be used.
The dance involves a set of hand movements that either mimic everyday activities or are meant to amuse an audience. It began with one- or two-step movements but has been advanced to more complex and almost acrobatic movements. Just like most African dances, Azonto involves knee bending and hip movements. The dance has effectively evolved from a few basic moves to miming actions such as ironing of clothes, washing, driving, boxing, praying, swimming, and others.[2]
History
The term "Azonto" was originally a rude reference to wayward girls, it stems from the word "Abontoa", which means an ugly girl, but it has since lost its sting. The dance "azonto" is a communicative dance believed to originate from "Apaa" which literally means to work. Apaa was used to show the profession of an individual. The azonto dance has since grown further to relay coded messages. The dance later got into the minds of most Ghanaians. In the same year (2013), most Ghanaian music videos were full of Azonto dance and later spread to most African countries and other parts of the world.[3]"...
****
VIDEO: AZONTO DANCE............FROM GHANA
pizzarobonner, Published on Oct 31, 2011
-snip-
Here's some comments from this video's discussion thread:
1. jaquline stevenson, 2013
"Song : Azonto - Fuse ODG"
**
2. pepsi taylor, 2013
"This is the dance that started Azonto craze!"
-snip-
My guess is that the commenter meant that this is the dance song that started the Azonto craze.
**
3. Philip Bellars, 2013
"Fuse is from London his parents are Ghanaian"
**
REPLY
4. Kobi Fabin, 2013
"I know....I'm talking about his heritage...like me, from London but of Ghanaian heritage and proud."
**
5. Regina Leistner, 2013
"I am from Germany but my heart beats for Ghana and i am in my heart a ghanian woman. God bless Ghana"
**
6. Amor Hicks, 2016
"This is the song I heard in my Trip to Ghana it is awesome."
**
REPLY
7. She's So Jerzee, 2016
"Me too I've been hooked every since loll."
****
IV. GWARA GWARA (South Africa)
INFORMATION: From https://www.africa.com/top-dance-styles-africa/ Top Dance Styles in Africa
By Lebo Matshego [retrieved October 2018]
"The Gwara Gwara Dance was made popular by South African dance music artist, DJ Bongz, with the introduction of his hit single “Ofana Nawe,” featuring Sobz.
The dance went viral after DJ Bongz posted tutorials of how to do the dance on his social media streams, and has been featured in the videos of some of the country’s biggest hits, including “Wololo” by Babes Wodumo and “Gobisiqolo” by Bhizer. Gwara Gwara dance has become one of the most popular dance styles in Africa.”...
-snip-
[sound file] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ja7oxvVuE
Sobz ft Dj Bongz - Ofana Nawe
shelton DjGoscote, Published on May 9, 2015
****
VIDEO: How To Gwara Gwara (Dance Tutorial) | Chop Daily
Chop Daily, Published on Feb 16, 2018
How To Gwara Gwara (Dance Tutorial) | Chop Daily
[...]
Intro & Outro Song: Eugy - Tick Tock
Track 1: DJ Maphorisa - Midnight Starring
Track 2: Patoranking - Available
-snip-
-snip-
Here are three comments from this video's discussion thread:
lungile buthelezi, July 2018
"Thank you guys soooo much for mentioning that it comes from South Africa. Some people and celebrities dnt gv credit to the countries for the dance moves"
1. Keelan Block, July 2018
"omg im from south africa and you guys killed it 🔥🔥🔥🔥"
**
2. XxPlayMakerxX131, July 2018
"this is the dance that is used in the childish gambino music video"
-snip-
That video is for the Childish Gambino song “This Is America”.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment