Do We Really Know, or Are We Just Bandwagoning? A Dance Perspective (Ugandan Case Studies) By Ricky Orenia

To understand how Uganda’s evolving copyright framework intersects with dance, I find it necessary to ground the conversation in real spaces, real communities, and real systems that already exist. For me, dance in Uganda has never been abstract it lives in institutions, on streets, in festivals, and within communities that have been building long before policy caught up.

I often begin with Ndere Cultural Centre. Ndere represents one of the most structured and institutionalized forms of dance heritage in Uganda. Its model is rooted in preservation, storytelling, and the professional presentation of traditional dances from across the country. There is clear authorship, curated choreography, rehearsed ensembles, and a defined audience experience. In many ways, Ndere already operates within a framework that aligns with copyright thinking where performances are owned, staged, and protected as cultural products. Yet even within this structure, I am reminded that these dances originate from communities where ownership is collective, passed down through generations rather than attributed to individuals. This duality between communal origin and institutional presentation mirrors the larger tension we are now facing within copyright law.

When I shift my lens to the street and urban dance ecosystem, the contrast becomes even more evident. Initiatives like Breakdance Project Uganda reflect a completely different model one rooted in access, transformation, and community empowerment. In these spaces, dance is not just performance; it is a social tool, a form of rehabilitation, and a pathway for youth development. Knowledge is shared openly in cyphers, sessions, and workshops. Movements evolve collectively, and identity is shaped through participation rather than ownership. In such a context, the idea of “who owns a move” becomes difficult to define. If a dancer learns, adapts, and reinterprets a style within a community setting, where exactly does authorship begin and end? This is where I see rigid interpretations of copyright struggling to align with lived realities.

I have also been part of spaces like Skillz Dance Festival, which I see as a bridge between these worlds. Skillz was never conceived as a commercial product it was built as a community-driven platform, thriving on collaboration, exchange, and shared growth. Over time, it has evolved into a more structured festival, with international connections, curated programs, and economic potential. This journey from grassroots to professionalization is not unique to Skillz; it reflects where much of Uganda’s dance ecosystem currently stands.

But I often ask myself: what does “professionalization” really mean for us? In many conversations, it is framed through formal contracts, paid performances, structured programming, brand partnerships, and intellectual property recognition. These are necessary steps, especially in a sector where dancers have long been underpaid or uncredited. However, I also see how these shifts introduce new dynamics. A performance begins to move from expression to product. A choreography shifts from being shared to becoming an asset. My concern is not with growth itself, but with how we grow whether we can evolve without erasing the collaborative foundations that built these platforms in the first place.

I see another layer of this Batalo East (Batalo Dance Fest ) . Batalo operates at a high level of professionalization, incorporating residencies, curated productions, and interdisciplinary collaboration. In this space, dance is positioned within a broader arts ecosystem one that engages with funding structures, international partners, and formal contracts. Residencies, in particular, shift the process of creation. Work becomes intentional, documented, and often owned within defined frameworks. This aligns more closely with global art systems, and naturally, with copyright structures.

When I step back and look at all these spaces together, I see a spectrum:

• Ndere Cultural Centre → Institutional, heritage-based, semi-formal ownership

• Breakdance Project Uganda → Community-driven, open cultural exchange

• Skillz Dance Festival → Hybrid, evolving from community to professional

• Batalo East → Highly professionalized and globally aligned

Each of these operates with a different understanding of value, ownership, and purpose. Yet, from where I stand, the copyright framework often approaches them as if they are the same.

This becomes even clearer when I think about the contrast between commercial mainstream spaces and community or contemporary dance art. In mainstream contexts music videos, advertising, entertainment shows dance is often treated as a service. Choreographers and dancers are hired, sometimes compensated, and their work is used to enhance a product. In these spaces, copyright has a clear role to play: protecting creators, ensuring credit, and enabling fair compensation.

But in community and contemporary spaces, dance functions differently. It is exploratory, collaborative, and often process-driven rather than product-driven. A piece can evolve through multiple contributors, influences, and iterations. Ownership becomes layered, sometimes intentionally undefined. The value is not only in the final output, but in the process in the exchange, the dialogue, the experimentation.

If we apply a purely commercial lens across all these spaces, I believe we risk flattening the ecosystem. We risk turning every movement into a commodity, every collaboration into a contract, and every exchange into a transaction. At the same time, if we ignore the need for protection and structure, we leave dancers exposed especially in commercial environments where exploitation has been a long-standing issue.

For me, the way forward is not about choosing one side, but about defining multiple pathways within the same ecosystem:

• A pathway where dance can be protected, monetized, and scaled

• A pathway where dance can remain open, communal, and exploratory

• And a bridge between the two, where platforms like Skillz Dance Festival can continue to grow without losing their roots

Understanding the System: A Dance Equation

Sometimes, I try to make sense of all this by thinking of Uganda’s dance ecosystem as a system one defined by relationships, balance, and alignment. If I were to express it simply, I would say the total value of the dance sector can be understood as:

D = \alpha C + \beta M + \gamma P + \delta I + \epsilon S + \zeta R - \lambda F

Where community (C), market forces (M), policy (P), infrastructure (I), skills (S), and resources (R) all contribute to growth—while friction (F) reduces it. To me, friction is the misalignment between these forces: when policy does not understand community, when markets extract without reinvesting, or when infrastructure grows without cultural grounding.

What this reveals, in my view, is simple but critical: the biggest challenge facing dance in Uganda is not a lack of talent or opportunity it is a lack of alignment. When grassroots spaces operate in isolation from policy, or when institutions mirror models like Ndere Cultural Centre without engaging contemporary realities, the gap widens. The same happens when highly professionalized spaces like Batalo East  grow without maintaining strong connections to the communities that feed them.

This way of thinking also helps me reflect on professionalization. Growth is often measured through funding, structure, and visibility. But if that growth comes at the cost of community essence, then something fundamental is lost. For me, the goal is not just to grow the dance sectorit is to align it, so that community, market, and policy move together rather than apart.

In the end, I don’t think the future of dance in Uganda will be defined by how fast it expands, but by how well it balances. Because when these elements are in harmony, dance does more than survive it evolves with integrity, ownership, and meaning.

And maybe that brings me back to the original question: do we really know what we are stepping into, or are we just bandwagoning? Because if we take the time to understand, then we don’t just adapt to systems we shape them.