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Tribes in Uganda and their Traditional Dance include the following

Baganda Tribe and their traditional dance

- Baakisiimba, Nankasa, Muwogola is a traditional folk dance that originated in the palace of the King of Buganda, which is near by the Lake Victoria, in which there is the home of Nalubaale, the wife of Lubaale, one of the gods of the Baganda people.
A former Bugandan king (kabaka) greatly enjoyed the local beer, tonto omwenge. Tonto is made from banana plants, and the name is taken from the Lugandan word tontomera, which means, “Do not knock me”. At one gathering, this king drank too much of the beer and became quite happy. (In Buganda, it is taboo to say that the king is drunk; you can only say that the king is very happy.) The king then started praising the people who had made the beer, saying




abaakisiimba, which means “those who planted the bananas”, and bebaakiwoomya, “they made it delicious”.
The musicians at this gathering created an abaakisiimba rhythm that imitated the words of the king, who was so happy and relaxed that he began to move and dance. While the musicians mimicked the king’s words on their drums, the women imitated the king’s movements, which eventually became a dance that is now performed throughout Buganda by all generations. There are three major movements in this dance: the first is Baakisiimba, the second is Nankasa, and the third is Muwogola. ReadMore

Basoga people



- Tamenaibuga, Irongo, Nalufuka is a dance from the Busoga region in eastern Uganda. This dance is a sign of friendship and unity. Once there were two men who were such good friends that they shared everything in their life. One day, they went out to drink beer, which is traditionally served in a gourd. When they had had too much to drink, they began to argue, and this developed into a fight. The gourd that they were drinking from was broken in the fight, making matters worse and separating these two friends. The men’s community recognized that a quarrel between these men would break up their friendship and affect the unity of the community, so they developed a dance to unite the people.

Bagisu Traditional Dance

The Bamasaaba (Bagisu) are famous for their traditional male circumcision ceremonies, held every year. This ceremony is an important cultural link between the local people around Mt. Elgon. Today during the three-day-ceremony of dancing, visiting friends and family, feasting and receiving gifts, preceded by a couple of months of preparations, e.g. bamboo strips being handed down to the candidate by the eldest uncle on the father’s side in order to symbolize the responsibility and strength needed to face the challenge of manhood, the candidate is decorated with skins and waves two black and white colobus monkey tails in the air as he is accompanied in his running across villages. ReadMore


Iteso people

- Akembe is another courtship dance from the Teso region in northeastern Uganda. This dance shares characteristics with the Larakaraka ceromonial dance from the Acholi, and it is similar to the Runyege courtship dance of the Batooro. The music for this dance, however, is played more softly on melodic instruments such as the thumb piano (akogo / sansa) and the flute.
Acholi people

- Bwola is a court dance (in the king’s palace) from the Acholi, which live in the north of Uganda. This is a circular dance that is performed by the older men and women, and the circle represents a fence that surrounds the palace court. Many events and conversations take place during this dance, so it may last for many hours.

Acholi people

Larakaraka is a ceremonial dance from the Acholi, who have borders with the Sudan. It is primarily a courtship dance that is performed during weddings. When the young people in a particular village are ready for marriage, they organize a big ceremony where all potential partners meet. As a sign of friendship, food and alcoholic drinks are served during this ceremony. Only the best dancers will get partners, so there is a lot of competition during the dancing. In Acholi, if you are a poor dancer, you are likely to die as a bachelor.
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The Ding Ding dance is performed by the young girls of the Acholi, and their movements are meant to imitate birds. The girls dance to attract the young boys, so the dance is usually held on bright days, when the sun is out.


Batooro people
 Runyege, Entongoro is similar to the Larakaraka dance of the Acholi people.
This is a ceremonial dance from the Bunyoro and Batooro Kingdoms. It is also a courtship dance performed by the youth when it is time for them to choose partners for marriage. The dance was named after the rattles (binyege / ebinyege / entongoro) that are tied on boys’ legs to produce sounds and rhythms. The sound produced by rattles is more exciting as it is well syncopated as the main beat is displaced but everything blends with the song and drum rhythms.
In this culture, people believe that the best dancer represents the best married life. Read More


Banyancore people
- Ekitaguriro, this dance comes from the Ankole region. It is an old dance for both men and women. It is occasionally performed to demonstrate the love of the Ankole people for their cattle. This cattle breed has very long horns so making the dance aerial. The singing in this dance is similar to the sounds of the cow. You can even hear the sounds of the milk flowing from the udder of the cow in this dance. The flute that is played during the dance is the same that is used to herd cattle. The stamping movements of the men in this dance are similar to the walking movements of a cow, and the hands of the women just demonstrate the long beautiful horns of the cow.

A safari to Uganda will certainly guarantee you an opportunity to be entertained by traditional dances from several regions of Uganda not only to entertain but to educate you musically and through dance.
`In Uganda, communities generally use music and dance to celebrate the “life-cycle’’ in rite and rituals; to worship, praise and petition,to celebrate work and as a form of community recreation.
Thus dance was and still is in many communities outside the hub of towns, a part of the day-to-day life-sharing and disseminating cultural values to different generation.
Dance is value-ridden and communities emphasize different aspects of life like the courtship wwith dances such as Lamakwog (Lakaraka) among the Acholi, Naleyo among the Karamojong, Irongo (twin dance) in Busoga, and many others.
Dances of Uganda take on a pattern that mirrors the physical environment of the different nationalities.Hilly areas have dances that emphasize upper body and waist movements.This generally cuts across the country whenever there is hilly terrain, with the exception of the Bakiga who, while in hilly Kabale, emphasise strong energetic jumping.
Dances from the plains on the other hand emphasise complex footwork and head movements, with very little or limited waist movements.
Over time however, as dances meet at festivals and other functions, there has been a lot of borrowing and copying to augment one`s dance expression-a tribute to the dynamism of African culture.
All dances today have adopted the upper body and waist elements and the intricate footwork and usage of the head to enhance the dances.At many dances performances, especially socially social gatherings where traditional dance is part of the entertainment menu, the head,waist,neck and ankles are highlighted for the dance by use of bandanas,ankle bells, bracelets and beads.It is also away of beautifying the dancers.
However, some dances have withstood the test of time, staying very much the same as they have been for hundreds of years.In the proceeding pages, we look at some of the dances that make Uganda, the `pearl of Africa’ also the `Heart beat of Africa.’

Short Wildlife Safaris to Uganda 

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