‘Kola nga bwoyiga ate oyige nga bwokola’: navigating dance pedagogies in technologically less advanced African environments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic impacted dance practice in African communities, which at the time were still grappling with building technological infrastructure and resources to advance dance education, research, scholarship, and practice. How did the dance teachers and students in environments with less developed information and communication technological (ICT) infrastructure in African countries such as Uganda navigate online teaching and learning of dance during the covid-19 pandemic? This article engages the Kiganda education philosophy ‘kola nga bwoyiga ate oyige nga bwokola’ (learn as you do and do as you learn) as an analytical frame to unpack how the dance teachers and students in Uganda navigated dance pedagogies during the pandemic. The reflections of the teachers and students revealed how the pandemic dismantled the sense of community as an actual essence dance in local communities. The pandemic stirred a radical rethink on framing online and distance dance teaching and learning, applying context-centered and technologically-responsive pedagogies, and using motion picture tools to teach indigenous dance traditions. The discussion unpacks how ‘kola nga bwoyiga ate oyige nga bwokola’ centered pedagogic reimaginations and maneuvers to activate agency, adaptation, resilience, and contextualization, underscoring the value and relevance of Indigenous worldviews in overcoming ever-emerging barriers in dance education.