I was fascinated by this description of a folk dance called the “kasa” performed by the Ajamat people, native to the Gambia.
Kasa is a celebration dance traditionally performed to celebrate an abundant rice harvest. Although dance troupes will perform a portion of Kasa’s steps in unison currently, it was historically performed as a solo. A circle would be formed from the standing arrangements of the drummers and the spectator-dancers. A person would emerge from among the spectators, to perform Kasa dance movements in the center of the circle. Afterwards, the dancer would return to their original space among the crowd and another spectator would appear to dance in the center of the circle, hence the term ‘spectator-dancer.’ Everyone in the village participates.
Sounds like a cypher to me!
From the book Historical Perspectives on Dance in Africa by Ofosuwa M. Abiola (2020).