Biographic Complexities of Selected Indigenous Dance Teachers in Uganda

Abstract

The cultural, academic, pedagogical, and dance backgrounds of teachers of Indigenous dances in Uganda are complex and distinct. The teachers who are covered in this book have taken different pathways to becoming Indigenous dance pedagogues. This chapter draws on the biographical information of the eight selected teachers of Indigenous dances to reveal how their educational, personal, artistic, and cultural backgrounds have framed their rationalization of dance, and construction and application of the dance pedagogies in different communities in Uganda. The stories that the dance teachers shared discloses their understanding and embodiment of inclusion, agency, accessibility, and diversity as organizing and guiding principles of dance practices. A discussion is made of how differences in familial upbringing, formal education encounters, belonging to and participating in various Indigenous dance communities, and exploration of individual artistic aspirations has informed the philosophies that these teachers draw on to teach the dances. The chapter reveals how the distinct perspectives that each individual dance teacher possesses have enriched their overall pedagogical frameworks for Indigenous dances in different communities in Uganda.