Afro World blends hip-hop, Caribbean and South African dance styles
The “‘90s called, are you going to answer,” played over the speakers before House of Pain’s “Jump Around” filled the Cannon Activities Center, launching Afro World’s performance. Dressed in a blend of Caribbean and African-American fashion, dancers moved confidently across the stage, shifting between sharp hip-hop beats and traditional rhythmic movements.
Messie Dengani-Mampaka, a junior in accounting from South Africa, president and choreographer for Afro World club, said the performance “This year is more of a highlight into Black American culture and the Caribbean.” She said the club performed four dances: two hip-hop numbers, a Caribbean dance and a South African dance called “amapiano”. She said the Caribbean dance is a blend of Afro remix with a Caribbean energy. “The Caribbean is very smiley and ‘amapiano’ is more fierce and confident,” she said.
Nokwanda Charity Sibandze, a junior studying business management from Eswatini and the vice president, said “amapiano” emphasizes leg movements that are in sync with the beat and rhythm of the music. Dengani-Mampaka said costumes for the Caribbean and South African dance blended African-American and Caribbean culture. Performers wore a Caribbean garment called madras with baggy denim jeans. She added in “amapiano”, the energy brought to the dance matters more than what is worn.
Azariah McFarlane, a senior in psychology from Florida, and Annie Haws, a junior in intercultural peacebuilding from Utah, choreographed the hip-hop numbers. McFarlane said, “We’ve done African, we’ve done Caribbean, but I don’t think we’ve actually touched on the 90s and Black American culture.” She added Afro World is about bringing different cultures among the African diaspora.
In African-American culture, dancing and music help bring people together, McFarlane and Haws said. They said the hip-hop numbers include a lot of sharp and fast movements. Both described costumes included wearing jerseys, baggy jeans and sneakers. “The jerseys came from the idea that this was a big trend in the 90s, but also a reminder of our identity as a team and how we’re together,” Haws said.