African dancing has both historical and social traditions that reflect more significance than those of many other cultures. The dances help celebrate not only special events and festivals, similar to other cultures, but often tell the stories of the nation's history. Unwritten oral history, passed through generation before writing became part of the culture, often included African dance as part of the process.

These dances were not only celebratory they were also instructive and were used to teach the younger generation about morals and values. They were also used to praise and pray to the gods and give thanks for a bountiful harvest or a successful hunt.

African Dance was one of the first to rely on music from choruses of trained singers who used harmony and complicated arrangements to set the pace and rhythm of the dance. Though the primary instrument for most choruses is the human voice, the second most popular instrument was and still is the African drum. There are literally dozens of different drums that are commonly used in African Dance. The basic bougarabou is one of the most popular African drums.

The dance of Africans is one method the cultures had of passing on their histories and beliefs. African dancing holds more significance than the dance steps of other cultures, since it part of their oral history tradition rather than just for social entertainment. The dance passed down each tribe's beliefs and history long before they had written records. It is part of the oral history of each tribal nation.

The African dances not only told of historical feats and actions; they were a way to pass on the societies social values to the tribe's young people. Some of the dances, however, were actually praises to the gods for help with the crops or a victory in war or on the hunt.

Singers for the dance provided the background music. The trained voices produced intricate harmonies and melodies and often provided the rhythmic pace for the dance. Some tribes used more than just the vocals for the rhythm; they used drums also. Of all the many different drums the tribes used in their dance ceremonies, the bougaragou was the most popular and frequently used.

The heartbeat of the dance came from the drums and it showed the essence of the tribe. The rapid strong rhythm indicated the tribe's vitality and strength. Just as chapel bells call people to worship, the drum called the village together for meetings and ceremonies. It also provided a symbol for the joining of all African nations, just as the African dance does.

While every culture has national dances, often, opposite sexed partners perform those of Europe and Latin America. These dances may display the culture but they also show off both the relationships between the dancers and the abilities of the dancers themselves. The African dancers often were uni-sexed and of one age group. The African dance is all about the story, not the dancers.

European dancers, displayed affection with a touch and an embrace. This is not typical of African dancers where social morays condemned the display of public touch. The culture maintains that moral value in their dance. This explains why most dances are gender specific, don't have the dancers touching and are often relegated to specific age groups. Some examples of the African dance help to display the information on its history and tend to be typical of the types of dance used by the many tribes.

Coming of Age Dance: Performed to mark the passing of a young person from childhood into adulthood.

While there are other important dances in the African culture, these few mentioned are often included in many tribal celebrations. The steps of the individual African dances might be different but the meaning it held remained the same and showed solidarity of the people of Africa.