A caller, usually a fiddler, would call out increasingly complicated dance steps, which the dancers would have to perform without a misstep.
For example, couple dances often began with the woman placing her foot on the knee of her male partner, and he would tie her shoelace.
Worshippers of Shango, the god of thunder and fire, may dance with a flaming pan balanced on top of their head.
The Egbado Yoruba also have a ritual of challenging dancers by having them dance with a cup of water or a terracotta figurine balanced on their head.
The common moves included the ritual of a male partner tying his female partner's shoelace at the start of their dance; the award of a cake for the competition winner; and some common dance moves mimicked farm work such as hoeing or swinging a scythe.