Darkowaa A-K; Dance 0163; Response 4: Yoruba Body Attitude in Communication

Being a person of African heritage, I never paid close enough attention to the technicalities and the importance of body stance in 'African' dance. This article places a lot of emphasis on body stance/language and how it is perceived according to Yoruba aesthetics.

After reading this article, I came to the conclusion that everything about Yoruba dance and even culture is balanced and in moderation. There are not to be excesses of anything, as that is considered to be bad or evil. Only balanced measurements of everything are the best. These characteristics are also evident in social and religious activities of the Yoruba, but of course, in moderation.

Anyone who has an admirable sense of proportion in physical beauty, internal beauty, behavior and body posture is seen as a true beauty. If a person is not physically attractive, but has a proportionate body stance and posture, their beauty is still appreciated. If a person exhibits unblemished physical beauty, the person could be seen as a possible product witchcraft. I found this observation funny and familiar, as such beliefs and superstition are common in many other African countries, not only Nigeria.

What was highly noteworthy about this article was the use and interpretation of body language according to the Yoruba. They are known to be highly perceptive and sensitive to body signals as the body is seen as the 'index of person' or 'physical manifestation of person.' They also tend to view the body as an accurate signifier of conceptual thought, rather than a person's speech. Personally, I do not believe that a person's body language is an accurate measure of ones thoughts and feelings. I prefer to live by the expression, "Do not judge a book by its cover" because for some people (like myself), they do not express their feelings and thoughts through body language. Some people unconsciously frown or look anti-social, so its not the ideal measure of who the person is or what he/she is feeling. Nonetheless, I do respect the fact that the Yoruba consider facial expression to be an essential component of respect. I am actually familiar with that, as in Ghana, a pleasant face is always seen as respectful.

Finally, music is an integral part of the Yoruba dance. Music is more or less used like dialogue/conversation with the body. There can be dominance of the body opposed to the music, or even dominance of music opposed to the body. But most of the time, music and body movements are intertwined evenly, as the Yoruba believe in balance. The fact that dancers dance with 'unseeing eyes' was an eye-opener to me. I never actually realised that when dancing, a dancer can be so immense in giving a lot of energy in the dance steps that he/she would actually feel as if in a different world.
This entire article definitely opened my eyes to certain cultural aspects and functions of Yoruba dance that I would have never known.