African Dance Fact Sheet

From P.S. 156, The Waverly School of the Arts, African strand

• In African communities, people dance at special occasions, such as the birth of babies and marriage celebrations.
• Sometimes at marriage celebrations, the whole village does a dance.
• In African communities, people dance in churches and temples.
• They dance on holidays.
• In African communities, people dance to celebrate life and the possibility of a better future.
• African dance forms commonly include team dances using patterns, dancing in straight lines, and dancing in circles.
• Sometimes people dance in groups, sometimes one person dances for the whole village.
• Dances are sometimes done in traditional clothes and makeup.