Editing Dance (section)

=== Africa ===
[[File:Kuduro - One of the Angolan National Dances.webm|thumb|"[[Kuduro]]" (Angolan dance)]]
[[File:Cultural celebrations resumed with the end of the LRA conflict in Northern Uganda (7269658432).jpg|thumb|right|[[Uganda]]n youth dance at a cultural celebration of peace]]
{{main|African dance}}

Dance in Africa is deeply integrated into society and major events in a community are frequently reflected in dances: dances are performed for births and funerals, weddings and wars.<ref name="WelshHanley2010">{{cite book|author1=Kariamu Welsh|author2=Elizabeth A. Hanley|author3=Jacques D'Amboise|title=African Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXDWJiRr0PYC|date=1 January 2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-60413-477-3}}</ref>{{rp|13}} Traditional dances impart cultural morals, including religious traditions and sexual standards; give vent to repressed emotions, such as [[grief]]; motivate community members to cooperate, whether fighting wars or grinding grain; enact spiritual rituals; and contribute to [[structural cohesion|social cohesiveness]].<ref name="Hanna1973" >{{cite journal|last1=Hanna|first1=Judith Lynne|title=African Dance: the continuity of change|journal=Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council|date=1973|volume=5|pages=165–174|jstor=767501|doi=10.2307/767501}}</ref>

Thousands of dances are performed around the continent. These may be divided into traditional, neotraditional, and classical styles: [[folklore|folkloric]] dances of a particular society, dances created more recently in imitation of traditional styles, and dances transmitted more formally in schools or private lessons.<ref name="WelshHanley2010" />{{rp|18}} African dance has been altered by many forces, such as European [[missionaries]] and [[colonialist]] governments, who often suppressed local dance traditions as licentious or distracting.<ref name="Hanna1973" /> Dance in contemporary African cultures still serves its traditional functions in new contexts; dance may celebrate the inauguration of a hospital, build community for rural migrants in unfamiliar cities, and be incorporated into Christian church ceremonies.<ref name="Hanna1973" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Utley, Ian.|title=Culture smart! Ghana customs & culture.|date=2009|publisher=Kuperard|oclc=978296042}}</ref>