"The white man can't dance" is another cliché that needs to be debunked. My contention is that ears accustomed more to sophisticated melodies and harmonies than to rhythms have an initial difficulty in placing the beat accents. So a fresh ear would tend to dance simultaneously to the myriad beats he hears. However, just as in western beats, African grooves can be broken down to the dominating accents and from there a listener can find the top of the beat. Just consider the other "backing beats" as the "drum harmonies" and you have your license to dance. We have demonstrated this often at live concerts and many new converts find it hard to believe how quickly they learn to flow with the rhythm. Don't copy the movement of others. Just listen to the groove and from there you'd find your rhythm. Remember, music is first a listening art, not a visual one.

Vocal Language