How Petit Afro's YouTube Dance Videos Express Being Afro-Dutch & Promote African Culture, Part I (Journal Quotes, Editorial Note & List, & Comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series that explores how Petit Afro's YouTube dance videos express being Afro-Dutch & promote African culture.

Part I includes quotes from the journal article that was featured in this pancocojams post: https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/10/excerpt-from-2014-journal-article.html "Excerpt From 2014 Journal Article "Styling Africanness in Amsterdam" By Marleen de Witte".

Part I also includes my editorial statement and a list of ways I believe Afro Petit's videos express being Afro-Dutch and promote African culture. Selected comments from five of Petit Afro's YouTube videos are also included in this post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-petit-afros-youtube-dance-videos_22.html for Part II of this series. Part II features five Petit Afro YouTube videos. Selected comments from these videos were featured in Part I of this series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-petit-afros-youtube-dance-videos_23.html for Part III of this series. Part III presents selected comments about Afro Petit's facial expressions dancers make as part of their dance performances.

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The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Petit Afro and Petit Afro's dancers for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/10/facial-expressions-other-aspects-of.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Facial Expressions & Other Aspects of "Attitude" In Some African American Contemporary Group Movement Arts".

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QUOTES ABOUT BEING AFRO-DUTCH AND AFRO-DUTCH CULTURE
From http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/18725465-00702002 "Styling Africanness in Amsterdam
image of African Diaspora" Author: Marleen de Witte
"This article focuses on the recent emergence of an “Afro-Dutch” category of self-identification among young people in Amsterdam. Dutch-born youth of different Afro-Caribbean and African backgrounds show a new sense of (and search for) a shared African heritage, and a growing desire for public exposure and recognition of this Africanness. Manifesting in, for example, media initiatives, performing arts, cultural festivals, and bodily fashions, this trend is characterized by an aesthetic emphasis on globalized African styles and by political struggles about the inclusion of African heritage in Dutch imaginations of nationhood. Approaching Africanness as a process of becoming and a practice of self-styling, this article explores the convergence between the renewed interest in African roots among Dutch-born Afro-Caribbeans and the ways in which Ghanaian youth engage with their African origins. It discerns three prominent, but contested tropes with regard to their framing and design of Africanness: “African heritage”, “blackness” and “Afro-cool”.

[,,,]

Being hotly debated as part of identity politics, Africanness is also, and increasingly so, mobilized in the arena of lifestyle and entertainment. A great variety of cultural entrepreneurs, from fashion designers, lifestyle magazines, and dance groups to bloggers, DJs, and other tastemakers, address a growing market for African styles. Inspired by globally circulating images and sounds of Africanness, and thriving on aesthetic appeal, design, and marketing, they vest “being African” with an aura of urban cool that attracts increasing numbers of young people and provide them with the materials – “all this Afro stuff” – with which to flesh out their – often newly found – identities.

[...]

Young people of different African and black backgrounds converge more easily in a current “aesthetics of Afro-cool”, inspired by contemporary urban African fashion and music. This trend was prominently present at the Kente festival and the African Homecoming festival alike, and popular among Untold’s members, even if it did not fit Untold’s project objectives. Afro-cool is about feeling the spirit of a vibrant continent and indulging in its creativity and “fresh aesthetics”. It may flirt with the ancient and the tribal, but always with a playful and cosmopolitan twist. It is about being part of the making of something new, of a new generation oriented towards the future – wearing “Africa is the Future” T-shirts. In that sense Afro-cool is less burdened with the different histories and genealogies that cling to the tropes of heritage and blackness. It is also about “rebranding Africa”, “refreshing the world’s view of Africa, correct misperceptions and shatter old stereotypes, by showing that what gives urban Africa its funk and vibe today is far removed from the tired and narrow clichés of safaris, traditional drums, corruption, poverty, war and disease”.

This new delight in the funk and vibe of Africa is clearly part of a broader, transnational revitalization of African culture as an Afropolitan style that connects young urban middle classes across Africa and the African diaspora and contests the marginalization of Africa in the world order. A vibrant African urban pop culture is going global and this makes being African cool and fashionable. In today’s global identity market, Africanness is becoming available as a lifestyle trend, targeted at those with a taste for African-inspired products and designed to make them feel on top of the world as Africans, proudly wearing “I am African” T-shirts. In the current neo-liberal era, “African culture” circulates easily through the circuits of the global market and at the same time is easily embodied through affective attachment (Comaroff and Comaroff 2009: 18, 28). Worn on the body and danced to the beats, Afro-Dutch comes to denote a fleeting and open, African-inspired community of style, aesthetic pleasure, and shared passion. But in its commercially driven celebration of style and aesthetics also lies the major challenge to the trend of Afro-cool: it risks being accused, and indeed gets accused, of superficiality, commerciality, and lack of political engagement and historical consciousness.23 As a Surinamese-Dutch man at a youth debate about “roots, slavery, and international solidarity” said, “now with Afrobeats, AfroDance, Azonto … everybody feels attracted to Africa. But only to the nice part, not to the painful part of the history.” Ironically, it is exactly this lack of historical weight that seems to make this trend most capable of providing a new, highly diverse generation of Afro-Dutch with a pivot around which to develop a shared African identity."....

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INFORMATION ABOUT PETIT AFRO
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This information has been gleaned from reading the YouTube discussion threads of multiple Petit Afro videos and sussing out other online information about Petit Afro. As of this date (October 22, 2018) there's no Wikipedia page about Petit Afro, and I haven't found any online biographical information about this choreographer.]

"Petit Afro", a Black male living in Amsterdam, Holland, is the choreographer of the group "AfroVibes" which won Holland's television series " "Everybody Dance Now in 2015.

Petit Afro's earliest YouTube videos are from 2012. In those videos Petit Afro is also addressed as and responds to the name "Petit Bagaza".

My guess is that the screen name "Petit Afro" was selected by or given to this choreographer because he is a Black man of relative short stature ["Petit" is French for "short"].

A number of people in his YouTube videos' comment threads ask Petit Afro if he is Congolese or which other African nation he is from (or, presumably, his parent/s are from). While he has responded that he's not Congolese, he doesn't provide any biographical information.]

Petit Afro's dance styles combine various popular contemporary dances as well as other dance moves from African American Hip Hop and elsewhere. (Notice the large wall signage in the 2018 video given as Example #7 below that reads "I Am Hip Hop).

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WAYS IN WHICH PETIT AFRO'S YOUTUBE VIDEOS EXPRESS BEING AFRO-DUTCH & PROMOTE AFRICAN CULTURE
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: I created this list from watching a number of Petit Afro videos and reading many of the English language comments and some comments in Dutch or French that I translated using Google Translate. A small portion of those comments are found below.

Additions and corrections to this list are welcome.]

1. The use of the stage name "Petit Afro"

2. The use of the group name "AfroVibes"

3. The use of contemporary music from various African nations [particularly Democratic Republic Of The Congo (Kinshasa), The Ivory Coast, Ghana, South Africa, Angola, Nigeria, and Uganda. [This list is given in no particular order.]

4. The use of contemporary dance styles from various African nations [The comments that I recall which mentioned dance styles cited Congolese - ndombolo, Ghanaian- azonto; Ivorian-coupe decale, and South African-gwara gwara.]

5. Many of the dancers' use of African clothing [re-styled "dashikis" and other clothing in "African print"] as "costumes"

6. The fact that Petit Afro and a number of the Black dancers wear their hair in Black "natural" hairstyles (including braided extensions which technically may not be considered "natural hairstyles"). Also note the "afro pick" [comb] that Afro Petit wears in his dyed blond hair (in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGPmZWtWwcs").

7. The comments from people in numerous African and African Diaspora nations congratulating and applauding Afro-Petit for sharing African dance and music from their nation and from other African nations with the world. These commenters indicated that by doing so Afro-petit was "making Africa proud".

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SELECTED DISCUSSION THREAD COMMENTS FROM PETIT AFRO'S YOUTUBE VIDEOS
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Discussion Thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moEeJ25zyeo
Adventure of AfroVibes // Winner Everybody Dance Now 2015, published by Petit Afro Official
Published on Feb 21, 2015
"Song: Coupe Decale
Artist: Minjin"

1. Lajin Entertainment, 2015
"Wow I am amazed at how you presnted Africa…. Way to go Petit!!!! I’m sure Africa is very proud of you and your young team. Very well done"

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2. ampah sandra, 2015
"I like everything about it esp the African clothes... u did a gr8 job and God Bless u for tht"

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3. Saron, 2016
"Thank you for showcasing Africa`s beautiful culture & for representing us in such a positive way. Congratulation on your win."

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4. RERE L Lomanya, 2017
"I'm african I'm so proud you make all african happy you wear clothes like us african people you guys are copy african"

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5. irene asowata, 2017
"wow...am glad you guys won .yeah
hurray for Africa"

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Discussion Thread #2:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyj9j3Cr8Vk, "AfroVibes & Friends 1 || Os Moikanos - Impro || Choreo By Petit Afro", published by Petit Afro Official on Jun 21, 2015

1. Nordin Parker, 2015
"Petit Bagaza official Hoe kan ik me inschrijven echt super groep zijn jullie"
-snip-
Google translate from Dutch to English
"Petit Bagaza official How can I register really super group are you"

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2. Quépassa Amigo, 2016
"Tout senjaille sur nos musique angolaise afrohouse tellement c darh #angolaenforce"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English
"Everything about our Angolan music afrohouse so much darh #angolaenforce"

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3. Bráulio Sabino Salongue Figueiredo, 2017
"I'm from Angola and I'm so happy people from other part of the world adhering and appreciating our culture"

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Discussion Thread #3:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGPmZWtWwcs
Petit Afro First Tutorial || Bibinho De Gaucho - I Love you" published by Petit Afro Official on Oct 9, 2016

2. PickBeat Singsong, 2016
"ndombolo :)"

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2. Nana Adoma, 2016
"youre super goooood. Are you from Ghana? oh and id like to see you or your students dance to SOLO by Article Wan. oh oh oh and its pretty cool that you reply your comments !!!"

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REPLY
3. Petit Afro Official, 2017
"hi etisei? haha am not from Ghana but i know alot from Ghana xd i will try to look for the song and litsen to it"

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REPLY
4. AD Jonathan, 2017
"Petit Afro Official why you never say where you are from?"

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5. D.i.n BEATS ღ, 2017
"Petit Bagaza you're a genius bro ! Dope moves for real how did you teach these girl to dance like this man ?? Amazing ! Keep up the great work and much support :D"

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6. Damy Barros, 2018
"ohh these girls good,and they are only good because they have a nice teacher..
I also dance Afro House.. but u could teach me one day"

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Discussion Thread #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2yRm5R6jBE "AFROVIBES & FRIENDS 3 || Petit Afro Choreo", published by Petit Afro Official on Jul 11, 2016
"let me introduce you to the new kids that I recently scouted and put them in this video together with my crew AFROVIBES.
Don't forget to watch AfroVibes & Friends 1 and 2"

[Pancocojams Editor's note: This video features young Black girls and young White girls wearing belly length African print “dashikis” tops with shorts.]

1. Classic Dama, 2016
"they are so amazing you are doing a great job. but WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TEACH US??? WE CANT COME TO YOUR LAND. TEACH US VIA YOUTUBE!"

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REPLY
2. Petit Afro Official, 2016
"hahahaha i'm working on it🙌🙌"

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3. Prinssece Roro, 2016
"+Petit Bagaza Official yo oza congolais ??"

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REPLY
3. It'sMadelyn K, 2016
"+Petit Bagaza Official R u from Congo"

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REPLY
4. Petit Afro Official, 2016
"haha guus am not from Congo but i grew up with Congolees music"

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REPLY
5. Classic Dama, 2016
"Só where are u from? @Petit Bagaza Official bcz u always say be from congo"
-snip-
There's no reply to this question as of the date of this post's publication.

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6. Laourah Youssouf, 2017
"trop cool les dance d'Afrique"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"too cool the dance of Africa"

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Discussion Thread #5:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gte2gmL_8og
Petit Afro Presents - AfroDance || One Man Workshop Part 1 || Eljakim Video, published by Petit Afro Official on Apr 1, 2018

[...]

"Song : DJ Eric Instrumental Coupe Decale"

1. TheOverComer, 2018
"Soooo proud to be an African ✊🏾 our way of dancing is one of a kind....great job everyone, this is absolutely amazing. Great example of unity and young people coming together to have fun. We are all one regardless of gender or race. ❤️"

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REPLY
2. Occhi Magazine, 2018
"It is! We love it! It's a true dance form that is deeply rooted in culture and tradition."

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REPLY
3. Madison Herndon
"TheOverComer I agree bc believe it or not there are white African people as well lol, but all jokes aside this is a good example of unity, the different ages, genders, and races represented is amazing!"

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REPLY
4. Username 4576, 2018
"There are no white or black races, only the human race."

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REPLY
5. AHS Society, 2018
"you should take that message to the racist who kill and exploit Africa. I do not know how any mature adult in a world so racialized can say there is no race. So all the struggle Africans go through in America and Europe is a figment of our imagination. Or is there now no African culture? only human culture?"

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6. K How, 2018
"This...this...this was EVERYTHING. I am gonna tell u that it bout a tear to my eye to see so many different colors dancing to these African beats. I really started crying..UNITY. UNITY of the HUMAN RACE thru music/dance so beautiful. #ALLYALLRINVITEDTOTHECOOKOUT 😅😊😘😘😘😘"

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REPLY
7. TheOverComer, 2018
"Yesssss it’s amazing! We need more of this here in some parts of the U. S....."

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REPLY
8. K How, 2018
"TheOverComer yes ma'am we do. I'm confident that we're gonna get there..somehow...someway. more of us love than hate and we just need to keep on loving😘😘"

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9. Becky Devoted2Christ, 2018
"They are adorable but I think some of the dislike may be because you could tell that they are still learning without the suave and African flare. I've danced since I could barely walk and taught dance lessons in Africa it is very common to see a little boy or girl that is four or five yrs old dancing with a little a lot of style and naturally get down without being taught so I'm thinking that's probably why they have the dislike because I was thinking the exact same thing but didn't press the dislike button since they are learning but good job still"

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10. Sara Israel, 2018
"no matter how well white ppl do the steps their soul can not connect to the music, you can see the effort they are doing to get the steps just right whereas the african people are so smooth and look so natural"

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REPLY
11. Jamie Venezia, 2018
"Sara Israel, I’ll be honest, I think this is kind of a racist comment for two reasons; Africa is a continent, not a race. How do you know which kids are African and which aren’t? Black does not mean one is African. And two, I do not know what dancing background you have, but I’m pretty sure you and I both would struggle learning these intricate dances. While the two girls in the first shot are my particular favorite, I believe they are all talented dancers who hear music in such different ways than you and I (This is with no knowledge of your skills). They are all truly gifted. I understand that to segregate was probably not your intent in this comment, but I respectfully ask that you not discount someone’s talent in anything solely based on their race. I don’t know if those kids check the comments, but I want them to find as many positive comments as possible. (Also, with your theory, black people would not be able to dance Latin American style, but then neither of us would be able to enjoy Alfonso Ribeiro’s dances!😂 I adore him!)"

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REPLY
12. AnnY Ann, 2018
"Jamie Venezia thank ya"

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REPLY
13. Thy law is the truth, 2018
"Jamie Venezia Correction: Black = Afrikan and no dance routine is going to make that not true. The whites danced amazingly well also. And no they can never connect to the heart of the music. I enjoyed every bit of this video. Amazing job. P.S Sara Israel did not make a racist comment, it was the truth."

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REPLY
14. Jamie Venezia, 2018
"Everything Narrated Actually, I have to disagree with you. I don’t know what your basis is for believing all black people are African, but black is a race and Africa is a place. I’m white but my heritage is Italian. My race isn’t Italian. Also, my great grand parents immigrated to America, so I’m third generation American. At what point am I simply an American with Italian roots? When do we stop counting back the generations because we all technically came from Africa? There are black French people and black Korean people, so not every black person is directly from Africa. Also, it is a racist statement to suggest that a certain race is inherently superior at one thing over another based on the color of their skin according to the definition of racism. I understand that was not the intent of Sara Israel’s comment (and I am someone who believe’s intent is very important. She wasn’t setting out to be racist and I know that, which is why I calmly stated my point of view.), but nevertheless, by the strict definition of racism, it is racist. Also, by that logic, I could say that a black person will never be as connected to the tarantella or the mambo as a white Italian person and that they can learn he steps but they will never be as good. That is an inherently racist comment based on the definition and simple logic because I think people should learn about different cultures and be immersed in them to become great global citizens, and also because there are black Italian people in the world with great nationalist pride who would be very offended by that remark that because of the color of their skin, they will never be as good as a white Italian. As I said, we don’t know how many of these children are and are not from Africa. It is very possible some of the white kids are African and some of the black kids are French or American. I also think it takes away the initiative to learn about different cultures and to respect them if “our hearts will never connect”. While I disagree wholly with your premise, I do say I have to respect how lovely and civil you have kept this debate and it makes me smile that your comment did say something positive about the video. My faith is restored in YouTube😂💝"

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REPLY
15. Thy law is the truth, 2018
"Jamie Venezia wonderful then. We agree to disagree. Nothing wrong with that. Awesome video. Now I want to learn some of these dances moves, hope you’ve been learning to :). Looks amazing.
(P.S Afrika isn’t simply what’s shown on the map today. It includes all of the so called Middle East and massive parts of Asia and India. But I’ll stop there.)"

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REPLY
14. Jamie Venezia, 2018
"Everything Narrated Agree to disagree then. 🙂Oooh! Me too! I wish I could dance like any of those kids. And thank you for the last tip about Africa. I like learning new things!"

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REPLY
15. Thy law is the truth, 2018
"Yeah they seem so natural dancing like that. Great instructor."

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REPLY
16. YML Gaming, 2018
"If you are basing "natural and smooth dancing" or "connecting to the music" on skin pigment alone you must be sadly mistaken. Not to mention the countless people of color with ZERO rhythm, I challenge you to find anyone in this video clip "connecting to the music" more than the "white" girl at 2:55 and 8:48 . Did you even watch the entire video? Flawed and misinformed statement to say the least. Excellent dancing from all of them, but she DANCED her ass off."

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17. tutu beast, 2018
"I love how music and dance unites people. You all are amazing."

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18. Baji Mohan, 2018
"wow wow wow., amazing., feeling africa"

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REPLY
19. Scoring57, 2018
"Baji Mohan

There's barely anything african about this. "Afro" yet there's barely any black people"

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REPLY
20. Baji Mohan, 2018
"@Scoring57 even 1 percent influence is positive ., Afro beat , wearing cupulana by girls , afro dance only African can perfect it .,"

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REPLY
21. Scoring57, 2018
"Baji Mohan

Yeah but why does everything black seem like people want it to be minus black people or only full of people that are sort of like black people but aren't black people? Like mixed people?"

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REPLY
22. Baji Mohan, 2018
"its natural , with wide culture around the world and people accept the changes that comes., mixed or black its just perspective., above all humanity should be respected. just my point.,"

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REPLY
23. Chidi_babz, 2018
"Scoring57 isn’t the song African tho if not please tell me and a lot of the people there are African even the guy that was leading the group"

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REPLY
24. Kur Mayol, 2018
"@Scoring57 ok this is Afo beat , and afro moves so what is your point?!"

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25. MajorrBison, 2018
"Are you slow in the head or just plain idiotic??????? this is Ivorian music from west Africa and yes those are mixed kids with black dad or mom. some full black kids and some white kids."

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26. MOHAMED ILYAAS, 2018
"this girls r dutch all"

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Discussion Thread #6:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qepmhyQAMMU
Petit Afro Presents - #PetitAfroChallenge || Afro Dance || Video By HRN; published by Petit Afro Official on Sep 1, 2018

1. Mohamed Bidanessy, 2018
"ľ afro danse ca vien de la côte ď ivoire"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English
"ľ afro dance ca come from the coast ď ivory"

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2. Sandi Hugo, 2018
"I am from Africa, many people can dance very well. But when it comes in a group dance like this where everybody must dance the same thing.We do judge and gives winner to the person who gives more styles. So the WHITE GIRL wearing all green just killed it. And also the two girls group, the WHITE GIRL wearing pink top inside, killed it too. And the last one is the GIRL wearing NIKE TOP killed it too.
That was my results, Thanks guys.. One Love"

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3. Adriano alvaro, 2018
"Eu vi toques de Angola ai irmão. Tu és de que País...
Até pk essa mistura foi feita por um Angolano mesmo"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"I saw touches from Angola to my brother. Which country are you from...
Even pk this mixture was made by an Angolan himself"

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4. Zayd Shakur, 2018
"I LOVE WHAT YOU'RE WITH THESE KIDS BROTHER!!! NEVER STOP! THIS IS SO DOPE!!! ASE, ASE, ASE!"

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5. Kenny De Araujo, 2018
"best of angolan beats"

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6. Hephzibah skillon, 2018
"My family I watch all your videos about 3 or 4 times a day such good inspiration. We have never been to Africa but we definitely feel connected to all the music and the dancing. Keep up the good work and continue putting on more videos. 😁😀😉"

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This concludes Part I of this four part series on Afro Petit.

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