I moved to Ethiopia when I was six years old and I loved the experiences I had over the 3 years that I lived there. I got to meet many of my family members that I would have never known if I never moved there and am so grateful for that. But I am especially thankful for also learning about my culture and heritage. Throughout the time that I lived there, I was able to experience how holidays are celebrated, the language, traditions, and dances. In Ethiopia, a common traditional dance is eskista and it was the first dance I learned as a kid. The best memory I ever had of dancing was when my family and I would go and visit my grandmother who lived way out of the city. Although we would always be tired by the time we would arrive at her place we would settle down and immediately start talking and catching up. Then before we went to bed we would do a dancing competition about who could do eskita the best and my great grandma would give everyone some money 🤣.
But after moving back to the States, over time, I began to feel insecure about dancing and became embarrassed to do eskita even in front of my family. When looking back now I have no clue why I began to feel this way and I think even at the time I felt confused about my emotions. It was only earlier this year that I realized when I visited Ethiopia that I learned of the beauty of traditional Ethiopian dances. I realized that I shouldn’t be so worried about what others may think and whether or not I’m doing the dance correctly. I shouldn’t let my thoughts stop me from enjoying good times and creating new memories with family and friends. Instead, I should just enjoy the moments I am having with them.
Also good luck on finals everyone!!
Unruly Bodies 
Your story is heartfelt and I find it inspiring how your time in Ethiopia allowed you to connect deeply with your culture and heritage, especially through meaningful experiences like learning eskista and creating cherished memories with your family. I think that it’s natural to feel some insecurity about expressing yourself in certain ways, especially in environments where traditions might feel out of place or misunderstood. However, your recent realization is a reminder that cultural expression is a way to honor your roots and connect with loved ones. I like how you were able to embrace the joy of dancing and letting go of self-consciousness, and by doing this, you are celebrating your culture unapologetically. Sharing these traditions is important because they hold so much value and can inspire others to embrace their heritage, too.
It’s amazing how deeply connected dance is to culture and memory, and your experiences with eskista beautifully illustrate that. Your journey to rediscovering the beauty of traditional Ethiopian dances aligns with belief that movement and dance allow us to express our sense of belonging and identity. I think it’s powerful that you’re reclaiming that joy.
I’m so glad that when you visited Ethiopia this year, you were reminded of the beauty of your cultural dances and traditions. As someone who also moved back to my heritage country and then back to the US, I think that there is an internalized shame and embarrassment that we feel about our ethnic cultures due to White supremacy and the hierarchy of Western food, clothing, dance, and language being presented as superior to other cultures. I think many children of immigrants felt the need to assimilate into American culture, and now that we’re older, many of us are undoing that internalized racism and re-embracing our heritage and the beautiful parts of our culture. I love that for us 🙂
I feel like you may have felt embarrassed doing your traditional dance because its that feeling that if you were to do that dance somewhere where’s there no black/african people the movements of the dance would other you. It’s very obvious thats it some type of cultural dance and you’d have to deal with people just not being normal about it like jeez. Also people,especially, Europeans, are gonna be all up in your grill. Dude what is that, oh em gee what are you doing 😂 why does it have to be a whole thing. Why can’t I just be moving the body the universe gave me along to the vibrations. Vibrations transcend Earth. They’re through the galaxy and universe.
This post was very heartfelt. I believe growing up away from our culture has its negative sides like missing out on straightening certain skills whether that is a traditional dance or even language barriers. I’m so happy for you that you felt more confident when you back to Ethiopia. I’m sure that we believe people are judging us but, sometimes it can all be in our heads. I’m glad that you felt more connected with your culture once you went back, also feel like in the states not every person you will meet will be as cultured as you so, it takes away on how much you can actually keep up with. I hope you can gain more confidence and dance your heart away !!!
Thank you for sharing. It’s inspiring to see how you’ve come to embrace the beauty of your cultural heritage, especially through something as joyful as dancing. Your journey from feeling insecure to realizing the importance of enjoying those moments with your loved ones is touching. It’s a beautiful reminder that the memories and traditions we cherish are worth celebrating, no matter what anyone else might think. Keep dancing and making those wonderful memories, never feel embarrassed by who you are!
Hello! This is truly an inspiring story. I’m so glad you had the realization that enjoying your time should be the most important thing. I love that you had such a cool opportunity to take part in your culture when visiting Ethiopia as a child. That sounds like such a fun memory that you will be able to carry with you the rest of your life, so keep being you and carry your culture where ever you may go!