ABSTRACT
Improvisation is ubiquitous and ever-present in performances across the length and breadth of Africa (Drewal 1991). It is a generative force used within dance, music, theatre, storytelling, singing and poetry, within both secular and religious life (Barber 2000; Hardin 1993). New perspectives on existing information about how improvisation is used in performances within African contexts have to be invented and codied (Tiérou 1992). Yet, in spite of the prevalence of this phenomena and practice in diverse African performances, minimal scholarly examination or critical evaluation has been done (Albright and Gere 2003). As a British dancer of Caribbean heritage with a wide range of knowledge and experience of dance in Britain and the United States, I have recognised how improvisation is present within diasporic dance forms, stemming from social formations making their way to the mainstream stage or global popular culture (Daniel 1995; Hazzard-Donald 1990; Jackson 2001; Osumare 2007). This recognition stems from the improvisational values in my creative work over a period of nearly three decades.
