A response: African contemporary dance? Questioning issues of a performance aesthetic for a developing continent

Abstract

The address pursues the complexities of defining African contemporary dance. Taking the often used metaphor of a rape to describe the relationship between Africa and the West, the paper evokes the aftermath of a rape as the background against which contemporary dance has been born. As such, fundamental definitions of contemporary African dance are elusive, inextricably linked as artists are to received notions of contemporary consciousness and dance from the West. The address goes on to argue for the development of an understanding of the ‘response aesthetic’ before pursuing ultimate definitions. This would interrogate, amongst other notions, a relationship with Western aesthetics and a growing Western audience. Such an inheritance has come at a price, in many instances an alienation of African audiences. As such, contemporary African dance is in danger of remaining uninfluenced by a contemporary Africa. The paper concludes that this reflex response will recede even as the original rape remains a distant memory. However, in owning this ‘response aesthetic’, the resulting self-consciousness may cause us to unpack received notions and develop contemporary aesthetics that are informed by a life lived in contemporary Africa.