Love Across Africa: Courtship Dances

Africa is a continent built on stories told through the powerful language of dance. For centuries, courtship dances have been an expressive way to celebrate love, connection, and community. For many, these rituals carry deep cultural significance. 

In the Wodaabe culture in Chad, men perform the Yaake dance as part of the Gerewol, a weeklong courtship ceremony. It’s one of the only cultures that allows girls to choose their partners. Men paint their faces with makeup from clay, stones and animal bones turned into paste and dance for hours. They adorn their heads with feathers for height and emphasize their favorite features.

In Mali, Guinea, and other places in West Africa, the Moribayassa dance tells a different kind of love story – self love. The dance is performed by women to show gratitude when their wishes are granted. The dance celebrates triumph over adversity, with dancers wearing their clothes inside out as a symbol of transformation. The clothes are later buried in a special place. 

The Larakaraka is a traditional courtship dance of the Acholi people of Uganda. Performed at weddings and special occasions. Young men show a romantic display of their vitality and agility in hopes of attracting a partner. Both young men and women participate in the dance.

The Share dance is another courtship dance performance that belongs to other Fulani groups and in it young men dance and show their physical strength.  

While not an official courtship dance, the Kpanlogo dance in Ghana is performed recreationally. The name translates to “enjoyment,” and people dance at birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations. The dance emerged in the 1960s shortly after the country’s independence from the British. The term “Kpanlogo” also refers to a type of drum and music style.

In African courtship dances, love and artistry blend together. Courtship dances are expressions of love, culture, and community values. They remind us that traditions of romance go beyond the spoken word, using the universal language of dance to create and tell stories.