Dancing

 

Home Up

Dancing

Dancing is a long-time part of the culture of Burkina Faso, both traditional dancing and contemporary dancing. There are many small groups of dancers that perform locally or travel small distances for special events.

 

 

Click on a thumbnail image to see the larger photo.

I can't believe I caught this picture of one of the amazing dancers who performed at the celebration to welcome the new Peace Corps volunteers to Bobo-Dioulasso. He was accompanied by ballophones and drums.

Summer 2001

 

 

 

<This group of dancers performed in the small village of Bondukuy, about an hour outside of Bobo. The village had a big celebration to welcome a visiting group of new volunteers and their Burkinabč facilitators.

The dancers wore home-made musical instruments on their ankles, fashioned from can lids.>

 

Bond-dncrs rem ft things-basic.JPG (78977 bytes)

 

 

Local girls (about 13-15 years old) dance at a celebration for school supplies for young girls in the village of Tangay (part of the NEEED project). This is a Mossi community, the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, located throughout the country (and beyond), including in Ouagadougou and Ouahigouya.

 

 

 

 

Goko-3 men dance-basic.JPG (228006 bytes)

 

Cathy's students organized a day in the small village of Touya to raise awareness about the importance of "scholarisation" (schooling), especially for girls. Part of the day's activities, designed to encourage the villagers to participate, included a dancing celebration. As part of the dance, these three men did a special greeting for the visiting teachers from the big city of Ouahigouya (my Burkinabč colleagues and me).

 

All photos and essays are copyright Cathy Seeley. All rights reserved. No photo or text may be reproduced without permission except for small group educational purposes (thanks for giving appropriate credit). 
For other uses, please contact Cathy Seeley.
 

 
About Burkina Faso Faces of Burkina Faso Towns and Cities Villages and Rural Life Art and Music Animals Gardening School Life Holidays PC Volunteers Cathy's Life as a PCV Cathy's Technology Reflections in the Dust Search Site Map