Irigwe women dancing, Jos Plateau, Nigeria

"The Irigwe people dance in teams or groups in which the sexes are segregated. The women may join the dance making their own circle outside that of the male dancers and performing their closed or more subdued style of dance. Bunches of leaves suspended from a waistcloth to hang over the buttocks of the women may be seen in family compounds, but women today wear blouses and wrappers at the market and in public spaces." [Harper P., 1966: The Miango Dancers. Studies in Nigerian Dance number 2. Caxton Press Limited, Ibadan]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.