Introduction [Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaign]

Over the last century, African cultural artifacts, performances and processes like dance have mostly been studied and presented from a non-African historical angle (Schipper, 2000). For example, most of what is known about African dance seems to be from a colonial framework where it is only associated with ritualism, juju and voodoo, often labeled as savage, licentious, and heathenistic. Much of the available literature tends to emphasize on the aesthetic value of African dance rather than its functionality as a social instrument that has been developed over the centuries to meet practical needs. As a communication scholar of African descent and well versed in the culture of my people, I do feel challenged to provide insight on the rhetorical powers of dance in my culture and hopefully stimulate research on this time-tested source of communication.

Presently, one of the major issues in communication and national development studies concerns how communication can be organized so as to increase participation, achieve self-reliance, promote equity and close the communication gaps (Baofo, 1988). There is a growing feeling among researchers that the existing media systems have failed to serve the needs of development in Africa. Baofo (1988) indicated that the failure is due mostly to the undemocratic structures of the media institutions. These he says, operate in an extremely centralized fashion with a sharp concentration of the power, resources and services of the media in the urban areas.

For increased participation and meaningful development in Africa, communication technologies need to be decentralized (Zakes, 1993). The rural people, who form the majority of the populations in Africa, need access not only to the messages produced by others, but also to the means to produce and distribute their own messages. Participation in development can only be increased in Africa if communication systems will start serving the needs of the vast majority in the rural rather than the few urban inhabitants.

My study identifies creative dramatized traditional Taita (African) dance as one medium that could lead towards the realization of these objectives. Creative dramatized dance is an inventive adaptation of the pre-colonial traditional forms but with the aim of making the pieces resourceful and productive in terms of message delivery. Being an evolution from the previous forms, it is not totally new to Africa. As an innovation, it is easily adaptable by the beneficiaries since it is compatible with their cultural values (Rogers, 1995). Through the use of inventive dramatization and dancing, I envision traditional African dance and music as an effective tool that can be used to increase participation as well as educate on various development issues in Africa.