How Did African Traditional Dance Influence Modern Dance?

The African dance has greatly influenced the way modern dance is done. The upright posture of ballet is an example as the Africans used to bend towards the earth and stood in a solid stance. The fluid movements, tapping, stamping and the shoulder and hip movement in the modern dance also comes from the traditional African dance. Other than that the circle and line formation done in the dances also has its origins in the African culture. In the same way the African music also consisted of many different complex rhythms being used at the same time. Same is the case with modern music like Jazz and rock n roll.