Africans have rhythm in their blood. While dancing in Europe is largely aestheticized and children here receive training in a wide variety of dance styles in private and state music and art schools, the dancing and movement of African children is an elementary expression of their joy, vitality and creativity and simply happens. The graceful striding and apparent floating in ballet seems very far removed from the rhythmic stamping and the impulsive upper body and arm movements in African dance. But: isn’t it precisely the strangeness and contrast that makes us humans understand our own culture more deeply and love it more deeply?
Together with the Leipzig dance teacher Dagmar Stolle-Stollberg, who traveled with me to Uganda in July, we carried out the dance project and the African children were carefully introduced to classical ballet training by her and learned simple ballet steps, turns and jumps in space . This all happened to classical music. Concentration, endurance and stamina were required, which were new to dance for the children, but are important in school and later in life. But above all, one thing can be recapitulated: the children had immense joy in ballet and couldn’t get enough of it. Many thanks again to Ms. Stollberg and also to the companies Tanzmuster and Cospo Art for donating the ballet clothing. (That made the girls happy!)
