Yoruba Girl Dancing (1991)

Yoruba Girl Dancing is a coming of age novel published in 1991 by Nigerian author Simi Bedford. It follows Remi Foster, a six year-old Yoruba girl from a wealthy family who journeys from her home in Lagos, Nigeria, to receive an education in England. Despite facing considerable discrimination in English private schools, Remi begins to identify as English rather than Nigerian, after years of living abroad.

The book is set during the 1950s and focuses on issues of identity in the postcolonial period, particularly amongst African immigrants to the western world. As Bedford's debut novel, Yoruba Girl Dancing was first published in Great Britain in 1991 (by William Heinemann Ltd) and then in the United States in 1992 (by Viking Books). It is extracted in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa.

Plot

The novel begins with Remi Foster, aged six, living in a upper-class family in Nigeria. Remi is surprised by her parents, who tell her she is being sent to live in an all-girls boarding-school in England. Miss Pickering, nicknamed "Bigmama" by Remi, is an Englishwoman who married into the Foster family and plans to serve as Remi's chaperone while returning to her hometown of Liverpool.

Although excited at the prospect of attending an English school, Remi is disheartened by Bigmama's proactive measures aimed at transitioning her into English society, including cutting Remi's hair short and purchasing her an oversized raincoat and hat to conceal her skin colour.

Remi and Bigmama then set sail for England on a cargo liner, where Remi meets Miss Smith, who offers to tutor Remi during the voyage. Remi feigns illness to escape Miss Smith, sneaks out of her cabin, and finds herself in the crew's cabins, where she befriends a boatswain named Mr. Lowther. She chooses to spend the remainder of the voyage socializing with the crew instead of being tutored.

Upon arriving in England, Remi meets Bigmama's sister and other family members, some of whom are reluctant to house her for the short period of time before boarding school begins. Remi soon moves into the boarding school. Though initially shunned because of her skin colour, she manages to gain the trust of her schoolmates by fabricating exotic, stereotypical tales of Africa, including pretending that her father is a chieftain.

Years pass with Remi transferring from school to school, slowly becoming culturally more English than Nigerian. Her home in Lagos becomes a distant memory and she is now more mature as well as jaded to society. She now identifies as an Englishwoman, but her skin colour still makes her an outsider in English society. She feels that she has achieved a status that would be enviable to her Nigerian peers if she ever returned to Nigeria, where she would be viewed as intriguing and "cultured". The novel ends with Remi remaining in England.

Major characters

Remi Foster - A Nigerian girl sent at the age of six to attend a boarding school in England, Remi is the titular protagonist and narrator. The novel follows her from childhood to adulthood, chronicling her education within several English private schools, her experiences staying with various English families, and her eventual return to Nigeria. Remi is smart, sharp and well educated, though somewhat naïve due to her age, particularly in the first half of the novel. During her stay in England, she grapples with cultural indoctrination and racial bigotry, as well as her peers’ views of stereotypes of black Africans.

Miss Pickering / "Bigmama" – An Englishwoman who married into the Foster family, Miss Pickering — known to Remi as Bigmama — helps to prepare Remi for life in England. Bigmama, who married a Nigerian man, has experienced at first hand the racial and cultural conflict present in post-colonial England. Knowing full well that a Nigerian child will face racial discrimination in London, Bigmama does her best to groom young Remi for English society. Though well-meaning, her efforts often come off as callous to the reader.

Miss Smith – A short, youthful English woman who "tutors" Remi on board the ship to Liverpool. Miss Smith berates Remi for wandering the ship unattended, dismisses the young girl's intelligence, and generally serves as a nuisance to Remi during the voyage.

Mr Lowther – A boatswain on the cargo liner to Liverpool, Mr Lowther forms an unlikely friendship with the protagonist. He shows Remi around the ship and its crew quarters, remarking that only the two of them can "move freely" between the cargo liner's dual worlds. Kind and considerate, Mr Lowther serves as a foil to the unsympathetic Miss Smith.

Remi's parents – Absent for most of the novel, Remi's parents first appear only to send Remi off to England for an education. They meet with Remi once again, much later, this time bringing along Remi's younger sister, Aduke, and younger brother, Tunji. As head of an upper class Nigerian family, Remi's father's behaviour in public is a frequent source of shock for English strangers.

Families – During her stay in England, Remi houses with many different families, all of them acquaintances of the Foster family. In general, these families are a source of discontent for Remi, who feels out of place and unwanted in their homes, particularly later in the novel.

Aduke – Remi's younger sister, who serves as a foil to Remi in the final quarter of the novel. While Remi has decided, by this point in the narrative, that excessive flattery and charm is the best method by which to deal with new English families, Aduke refuses to assume such false identities. She views Remi's efforts to charm strangers and conform to English culture as not only vain but embarrassing.