By XN Iraki
Every year the secondary school that wins the national drama festival books a free ticket to Kenya’s State House where they entertain the president through dancing, singing or acting.
The winners of science congress never visit State House. A quick look at our media outlets reveals several competitions that involve dancing or singing.
A visit to any “joint” late at night leaves no doubt that if dancing got into Olympics we could win several medals. From Mugithi to salsa and other dances, people dance with their souls and hearts.
Some argue that dancing is in our genes; every community had its dance, which is characterised by moving certain parts of the body. Some gyrate their waist like the Kikuyu, others like Luhya shake their shoulders, Maasai do lots of jumping while like the Zulu stomp on the ground.
Others argue that dance provides a simple and cost effective means to entertainment and relaxation for those who cannot afford exotic games like golf or tennis. It is also a means to socialisation where you meet new people informally. Some intoxication makes the shy bold.
What is not debatable is that dancing is very popular in Africa and one of the characterisation of Africa. We dance for tourists and our leaders are often welcomed from trips abroad by dancers. We dance in weddings and in some funerals. Politicians love being entertained by dancers and often dance with them. Jomo Kenyatta, our first president, loved being entertained by dancers from old to young.
Choctaw bead
A visit to Citizen Kofi joint in Accra, Ghana left me convinced that dancing may hold the key to Africa’s economic growth. Like many Kenyan joints, young people dance their hearts out as the night ages. In the campaigns for the South African presidential polls a few years ago, the eventual winner was shown several times dancing in traditional regalia. We are also familiar with reed dance in Swaziland.
To be fair, there are dances in other parts of the world from Indian, to Scottish to Maori and Native Americans. One of the most memorable dancing moments was dancing with Native Americans during a visit to Choctaw reservation in Mississippi. The Choctaw bead work and attire closely resembles the Maasai, a big surprise to a Kenyan. If dance is so much part of our culture why not leverage on it to turn our economies round?
Dancing demands energy, focus and rhythm. There is no sector of the economy that does not require that. If every worker in every sector of our economy works his heart out like dancers, we could achieve Vision 2030 much earlier. Any time I see youngsters dancing, I wish they could use just 10 per cent of that energy in science and technology to spawn the next generation of innovators.
Paradoxically, the popularity of dancing is driven also by the fact that there is not much “struggling” you just shake your body, we all have a body. In other sectors of the economy things are not that straight forward; designing a new car or a skyscraper needs lots of thinking. Besides not many dances have been invented; imagine if dances evolved like cellular phones.
Dancing also uses limited space compared with say golf, but with the same health benefits. This is what productivity is all about, doing more with less? If we did more with the resources that we have from land to labour, our economy would quickly turn round. As individuals and firms, there is so much we can do with what we already own. A crude example, why is the biggest room in the house, the living room, left empty at night? Why can’t we use the escarpments near Kijabe for gliding? Why is Kenya not a golf nation with sunshine 365 days a year? Why is mineral water imported from Dubai?
Dancing is about shaking the body in different styles; the best dancers are flexible and agile. A progressive economy must be the same, ready to adapt to changing environment. One of the big obstacles to economic growth is that most people are not ready to change. We are quick to show off our new ipads but we are not willing to be punctual for work and make suggestions on improving what we do. I know of a school where teachers refused to use Excel to record exam marks!
Ignorance
Dancing demands excellence. There is nothing more embracing like losing steps in a dance. In dancing, we want to be the best. Suppose we all wanted to be the best in whatever we do? The teacher wants to be the best teacher, parents the same, the doctor, the priest and everyone else. Relentless search for excellence is what drives an economy.
Most dances involve more than one person who must cooperate in movement. Any economy involves lots of people, each doing his part. Can we learn from dancers’ cooperation? I once watched electric dance popularly among the African-Americans and the level of cooperation and coordination is amazing. One of the biggest problems in our economy is that many people do not clearly understand, either from ignorance or lack of understanding, how their actions affect other people.
