How to Dress Like an African Storyteller
Whether you're looking to bring African culture into your classroom or you're offering a community program, dressing as an African storyteller while presenting traditional African stories allows people of all ages to learn about a culture and customs. Whether you have a deep understanding of African culture or you're just looking to spark interest in others, it is important that you represent the culture accurately.
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Instructions
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Learn about African storytelling. Before you dress as an African storyteller, you need to study the art of African storytelling, which is much more than simply telling tales to children. Instead, according to Ohio State's Kwanzaa Playground, African storytelling involves diverse customs, poems, songs and ceremonies. To dress like an African storyteller, you will need to understand these customs and how your apparel fits in.
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Choose a culture to represent. Africa is rich with diverse cultures. Adire African Textiles states that different kinds of clothing signify different positions and statuses in the traditional African community. Before dressing as an African storyteller, determine which culture you want to represent. Choose a few pieces of clothing that are important to this culture's ceremonies and customs.
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Study photos. One of the best ways to perfect your traditional African dress is to study photos of traditional African storytellers of the culture you are trying to represent. It is best if you can find photos explaining the significance of the clothing and the names of the various articles.
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Create your costume. Whether you choose to buy fabric and sew or borrow clothing items from a friend, make sure that you know the traditional way to wear them before you put them on. Costumes.org offers a database of African costume resources, some of which explain how to wrap headgear and skirts and other apparel.
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Tips & Warnings
Before the date of your performance, try on your costume several times. Make sure it fits well and that you can move in it.
Do as much research as you can before your event. Interview experts, read Internet sources and check books out from your local library. Dressing like an African storyteller is part of the educational event and you will want to be able to answer as many questions as possible about your dress.
