The Wodaabe Courtship Dance

As opposed to the general practice in most African cultures where the woman gets to do pageantry, and the men get to choose their wives. The wodaabe tribe of the Fulani has a cultural practice where the men play the display, and the women get to pick their husbands. The Fulani ethnic group is one of the prevalent ethnic groups in Africa, popularly known for its inability to settle one place.

They are living in many parts of western Africa. Nigeria, Chad, Senegal, Niger, and Sudan. They are the nomadic cattle rearers, always in the move in search of greener pastures. The wodaabe tribe is one of the subgroups of the Fulani, and wodaabe translates as “people of the taboo.” Wodaabe man wakes up on the Sahel desert, with his shelter and his castles and donkeys as possessions.

Birds do it. Bees do it. In the Wodaabe tribe of Niger, the human mating ritual takes a page from nature’s book. The Guérewol is an annual ritual and competition that sees young men dress up in elaborate ornamentation and traditional face paint and gather in lines to dance and sing.

The goal is to get the attention of one of the judges – a marriageable young woman. In this particular tribe, the male beauty ideal is all about bright eyes and teeth, so men will often roll their eyes and bare their teeth to show off their sex appeal.