Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu -- September 22, 2026
From 1966 to 1968, Odette Blum spent two years teaching Modern Dance and Labanotation at the University of Ghana. During her time in Ghana, she observed African dances and decided to travel throughout the country to film and notate some of the traditional Ghanaian dances.
In her publication African Dances and Games, Odette included much more than Labanotation. For each dance or game, she described the dance style, cultural/historical background, and rhythm, followed by her Labanotation of the movement. This provides a fascinating opportunity to see how movement, music, and cultural context come together in the documentation of dance.
She wrote:
“In Africa dance is very much a part of the everyday life of the people, and an important means of communication... In some dances, the hand (or sometimes the leg) gestures have specific meaning which everyone understands... The dancers are expressing themselves in movement rather than words and the reactions of those observing are similar to those who listen—they will interject comments throughout in words and dance...The musician is an integral part of African dance. Often, steps have their particular rhythms, and the Master Drummer (leader) communicates through his drumming which step is to be performed next."
All of the notated examples shown here are from Ghana, with the exception of Agide, which is from Nigeria.
This publication contains some of the earliest African dance notation we have on file in our archive. Take a look at the examples and see if you can read the notation yourself!
Acknowledgement: Many thanks to Odette Blum for granting permission for us to share this publication. The African Dances and Games PDF is provided for educational and research purposes only. It may not be shared, reproduced, or sold without prior permission from Odette Blum.
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