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Fanga part 1

Origins of the Fanga Dance

Robert J. Damm is a professor of music and director of music education partnerships at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. He has studied music and dance in Cuba, Ghana, and Mali and is a certified Orff-Schulwerk teacher. He can be contacted at rdamm@colled.msstate.edu.

The Fanga Dance may be part of your elementary curriculum. Here is the back story

Abstract: The fanga is a dance taught throughout the United States to children in elementary music classes, students in African dance classes, teachers in multicultural workshops, and professional dancers in touring ensembles. Although the history of the fanga is a path overgrown with myth, this article offers information about the dance’s origin, development, and dissemination. Also included is an introduction to Asadata Dafora, the first dancer to stage the fanga in the United States; an extensive examination of Pearl Primus and her role in adapting and popularizing the fanga; and a commentary on the period when the fanga moved into the elementary school classroom.

Keywords: Asadata Dafora, dance, dance history, elementary, fanga, multicultural, Pearl Primus

In the 1990s, the fanga dance entered the realm of general music classrooms in North America as part of expanding multiculturalism. This new educational setting called for discussions of authenticity and an explanation of the relationship of the dance to the music and culture from which it originated. Music and dance teachers are held to high standards in the effort to eliminate stereotypes, promote diversity, and foster global awareness. In the case of elementary music repertoire in the 1990s, most songs and dances came from textbooks. “The textbook holds a place of unparalleled importance. . . . [These books] not only define a substantial portion of the content, sequence and aims of the curriculum, they also influence the way in which certain topics will be regarded.”¹ In a 1998 survey of elementary music specialists, more than half the respondents reported using the Share the Music general music series.² The 1995 grade 5 textbook in this series included “Funga [sic] Alafia.”³ The one-page lesson included a misleading description of “Funga Alafia” as “a greeting song from western Africa” and a “western African welcome dance.” Fanga thus entered the curriculum through the textbook and teacher workshops as a “ready-made” African dance of greeting from Liberia, perfect for a Black History Month program. However, the fanga dance, as described, is not a traditional African dance. Although the history of the fanga dance is a path overgrown with myth and fabrication, this article contains information about its origin, development, and dissemination. After reviewing this information, music educators will no longer refer to fanga as African; they can, instead, share the dance as a way to teach students about those who introduced and popularized it in the United States.

The fanga dance does not have a clearly documented and direct connection to a specific culture as is found in the many other ethnic or folk dances shared in dance classes and recitals. Cultural historian Richard Long defined African-derived dance as “dance primarily informed by traditions originated in an African milieu, and created by people of African descent who are key participants.