It’s literally everywhere; afro fusion screams with hipness, novelty and energy. Those who dance it are empowered to blast their allure without inhibition, whilst showing off their physical might, respecting the beat and praising the nature within. If you know how to look, you could get some anywhere from the sweaty gyms of seedy city areas to various dance festivals, workshops and club nights. It’s so out there that it managed to penetrate Western contemporary dance and it’s univocally cherished by people who are in it only for physical fitness and those to whom it actually means something.
Afro fusion, as we know it today, surfaced in South Africa around the time apartheid ended. As a concept, afro fusion is an umbrella term for various African dances fused together with (western) contemporary dance techniques, but for indigenous Africans these dances are no novelty. The drive to create this fusion was clear-cut: to repopularise and/or glamorize local culture after a long and intense period of struggle. Cultural warriors brought together by a drive to bring light to traits of culture that were previously shunned accomplished their mission, and today Afro Fusion is a dance which stands as a symbol for the struggle for the acceptance of one’s cultural identity.
The French Afro Fusion scene presents us with this video by AfroFuzion feat Josy, which brings forth some of the strongest aspects of afro fusion: raw – beats – bodies and colours moving in heat, with pride and joy, subtly reminding us how the struggle to be seen and heard is never in vain.
For more on AfroZuzion and Josy, go to: https://www.youtube.com/user/josychannel
Twitter: @JosyNflo
Instagram: Josynflo
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VIDEO CREDITS:
Directed by: Graig La Branche https://www.facebook.com/artist.labranche
Music mixed by: Miistmak3r
