Abstract
In the history of dance development, organise systems of accepted knowledge as applied in variety of circumstances were used in explaining different set of phenomena that informed the action, operation or behaviour of dance and vis-à-vis. This paper traces the long aged dichotomy between the theorists and pragmatic dance practitioners in Nigeria. The researcher observes that this un- healthy division among the dance artists in Nigeria is delaying the progress of the already margi- nalised section of the performative art. He submits that for virile development of dance to take place in Nigeria, the balance application of the theory and practice of dance art is necessary.
Highlights
In Nigerian like other African societies, a dancer does not need to attend a formal school to know how to dance especially the traditional dance form
The researcher means dancers that are guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory. Such dancers believe that all that matters is the ability to execute dance on stage. Their opinion is that the end result of theoretical postulations in dance art is the ability to perform on stage for the audience
They queried that if they have the technical knowhow of executing dance performance on stage, what is the need of wasting a long period of time in theorising dance? The dance artist in this school of thought could be found in the performing arts department of Arts Councils, community and private dance troupes and among the freelance dance artists
Summary
In Nigerian like other African societies, a dancer does not need to attend a formal school to know how to dance especially the traditional dance form. Nwaru ceived from a perspective that disregards the energy, effort and expertise needed in the execution of even the simplest movement It is a perspective shared by the Yoruba of Western Nigeria, according to Ebun Clark: The actor (dancer) or any person connected with the theatre was regarded as an “Alarinjo”, a name which Prof. This lack of respect and regard for dancers as observed by Nwankwo and Clack in the 70s is still persistent till date This has tended to make people look down on dance and dancers, a similar condition to the one that theatre and performing arts graduates suffered for a long before the advent and global explosion of Nigerian Home videos or Nollywood. In the formal school system in Nigeria, some theatre arts students (mostly dancers) and even lecturers are cajoled because of their involvement in the practice of theatre This attitude which started a long time ago still exists till today. He classified both groups as “predators” because in spite of their knowledge and authority, there was no correlation between their efforts
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