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Teaching artists Nondi Wontanara demonstrate the steps of a choreographed funga, a West African dance of hospitality performed to welcome visitors to one’s home.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• Funga—A West African dance performed to welcome people when they come to visit your home.

Materials You Will Need:

• Nothing—just yourself!

How to Dance Funga Alafia

1. Throughout the first move of the dance, you will want to be stepping from one foot to the other, as if marching in place. While doing this, the first move begins with your arms bent at the elbows at chest level, palms facing down. Push your hands up towards the sky four times, and then turn your hands over so your palms are facing the ceiling at about waist level. Now push your hands down towards the ground four times. Repeat each of these movements three times, alternating between the two. Remember to continue stepping from one foot to the other. 
2. The next movement symbolizes welcoming the guest into your home. Begin with your palms facing your body with elbows bent, again at about chest level. Extend your arms down and out in front of you, creating a large circle, ending with your hands back in their original place. Repeat this four times while running in place, taking one running step for each arm movement.
3. Next, sway the arms down and to the right and then down and to the left, as if you are showing someone the way to a path. When you sway to the right, also lift your right leg and then take two small steps in place. Do the same on the left side when swaying your arms to the left. 
4. Now practice doing steps 2 and 3 together, four times total, alternating between the two moves.
5. For the next step, touch your right heel to the ground with toes pointing up, and then do the same with your left. At the same time, turn your palms up with your wrists crossed on the right side of your body, then repeat this on the left. Try this move several more times, in double time.

6. The next movement symbolizes offering your guests a meal. First, take four steps to turn in a circle, and end up facing to the right, with your left foot behind you. Then turn in the same way to the left, ending up fencing left with your right foot behind you. Before you begin the turn, your arms should be lifted up and out in front of you, with palms turned up. When you begin to turn, pull your arms into your body so they are at chest level. Then when the turn ends, lift them up again into their original position. Repeat this several times.
7. The next movement is a celebratory movement. You’ll start by lifting your right foot, then your left, then standing up on your toes. Then lift your right foot, your left foot, and jump, turning your body so that you’re facing the opposite way. At the same time, swing your arms out, so they are parallel to the ground, then back in so your wrists are crossed in front of you, then back out again. Then repeat these movements, so that you are turning to face the front again. 
8. For the final movement, start with your left hand on your hip, and then circle your right hand over your head. Then wipe your cheek near your eye and extend your right arm out as if you’re throwing something away. Repeat this move three times.

In this video, Nondi Wontanara show us the steps to a funga dance, used in West Africa to welcome visitors into one’s home. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• At the end of the video, Nondi Wontanara challenges us to create new movements based on what we do when a guest visits our home. Do you give them a hug, or offer them a drink of water? What movements can you add to the dance that represent these actions?
• Funga alafia is meant to be celebratory—a joyful dance for welcoming people to our home. What other ways can we add these emotions to the dance aside from the choreography? What about our facial expressions, or the energy we bring to the movements?
• At the beginning of the video, Nondi Wontanara demonstrates some of the drum rhythms used in funga alafia. Can you use a drum, or a barrel or box that you have at home, to recreate some of those rhythms? You may even want to try having someone else drum while you dance!
• Can you think of a dance from your own culture that, similar to funga alafia, is used in times of joy and celebration?

Accessibility

Don’t forget that you can turn on “Closed Captioning” to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

Nondi Wontanara is a performance art group that started in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2015. Nondi Wontanara is a phrase with Guinean origins that means, “We are united in truth.” The group has been a part of the Las Vegas dance community for a combined total of 20 years. The dance and drum enthusiasts that makeup Nondi Wontanara came together to increase cultural awareness in the community through performing arts and multicultural dance forms.

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