Musical Labor Performed in Northwest Tanzania (original) (raw)

For little more than two months, just after the onset of the first rains that routinely fall from late November to early February, the everyday rural soundscape of the Sukuma region is transformed from a state of stillness and tranquility to one of boisterous, noisy cacophony. For as far as the ear can hear, the rambunctious shouts and songs of farmers meld with the thud and clang of their hoes striking the earth in rhythmic unison. Occasionally, the farmers act on cue and abandon their work all together. One by one or in groups of twos and threes, they throw their hoes into the air and catch them, or they twirl them swiftly to the accompanying drum in choreographed unison over their heads, through their legs, and around their chests and waists.