Though everybody in the community dances, there is a distinction between the trained dancer and a person who “just dances”. A person who “just dances” has picked up dance in childhood by watching and dancing within the community. They have learned the dances that are important to the initiation ceremonies. The person who “just dances” enjoys dancing for the sake of dance and enjoys the feeling of speaking with their bodies.
The professional dancer is one who has been trained from childhood to be a dancer. If a child shows the skills early of grasping the dance language they are apprenticed to a dance master. The dance master is usually the eldest and most powerful dancer in the community. The master teaches in whatever method they feel is best for the child to fully learn all that they need to know. The master's authority over the child is absolute and unquestioned. It is the dancing masters' divine duty to pass on in hopes of continuing the values of the community.
Not only must the dancing master teach their protégé the physical aspects of dance they must also teach them about the mind and spirit of dance in order for them to someday become dancing masters. This helps to pass on the knowledge of the culture from one generation to the next.
Like other African cultures, the Yoruba people also use art as a way to reinforce life. Dance is used to ensure social and spiritual harmony and as a medium for self-expression. The Yoruba people are found in West Africa, predominately in Nigeria and Dahomey. Because of the slave trade, the Yoruba culture has spread, in some respect, to Haiti, Brazil, Bahin and the United States.
There are about thirty million Yorubas now living in Nigeria. Because of the influx of Westerner's to West Africa during the late 1700's and 1800's when Africa offered a wide variety of resources sought out by Western traders. One of these resources happened to be African people this resulted in the influence of Western Civilization on the Yoruba people. The politics of colonialism led to the ethnocentric prejudices that these people were subhuman and savages because of their lifestyle.
This notion continued to be thought of as the norm even into the 20th century. Even though Western Civilization has tried to catch up with the Yoruba people they are still able to maintain their traditional beliefs while respecting and worshiping their traditional ancestral religion. If one is to fully understand Yoruba life you must first start by interpreting life in terms of their religion.
The Yoruba culture is based on myth. Just like Christian's believe in the creation myth so do the Yorubas who also have their own creation myth. The Yoruba believe they originated in the city of Ife, where the earth and human beings were created. The deities, in this version of the myth, had first lived in the sky. Many Yoruba kings claim to be descendants of these earlier deities and to have migrated directly from Ife. This creation myth helps to unite the Yoruba people by giving them a common origin. This also ensures the king's divine right to rule.
YORUBA PROVERB
If one does not marry another person's daughter, one would not to worship another person's deity.
The Yorubas are born into a patriarchal society; the members feel that they are descended from a male ancestor. Children that are born to a man's son worships the deities of his fathers family, if a daughter has a child her child worships the deities of her husband's family. The Yoruba's believe in many deities and some speculate that there are more than 400 deities, some of which are worshiped throughout Yoruba land and some which only hold significance to certain local communities.
So, where does dance fit into all this? Dance is used for secular and religious occasions. Secular dance is used to enhance appearance, to project ones taste and status. The Yoruba place significance on dress because it determines social relationships. On a religious level, dance serves to connect the people with the deities. The deities play an important role in the Yoruba religious practice because they are deemed important to the spiritual survival of the community. Dance is used to honor and communicate with the deities. This is done through a system of divination known as “Ifa”.
The “babalowo”, as they are known, are the divinators and priests of “Ifa”, who is the God of Divination. The “babalowo” consults “Ifa” by manipulating a necklace made up of sixteen palm nuts. This tells the people which deity they will hold a festival for. The deities are believed to have once lived on earth and after death they became Gods, the only deity that never lived on Earth is “Olorun”, the Sky God. The worshipers of a deity are known as the deities' children.
