Dancers Leading the Music: Sabar Dancing in Dakar, Senegal (original) (raw)

Abstract

In the sabar tradition of the Wolof people in Senegal, West Africa, drumming and dancing are tightly intertwined. Sabar drumming is first and foremost music for dancing, and sabar dancing always needs its musical accompaniment. Sabar dancing is typically done as short improvised solos based on a few traditional movement patterns connected to each specific dance rhythm, which can be repeated and combined in different ways and also modified to some extent. Although the dancer must dance in rhythm, in relation to the underlying beat of the music, the dance movements do not simply follow the rhythmic patterns played by the drummers. Rather a dancer uses the rhythmic framework provided by the drummers to add her own rhythmic-kinetic patterns which then are made audible by the solo drummer who follows and comments the dancer’s movements with his playing, using traditional rhythm patterns. Thus, a dancer actually becomes the leader of the group of drummers, some dancers taking the musical lead more confidently than others. As this paper aims to prove, sabar dancers do pay a lot of attention to what their dance “sounds” like, mediated by the drummers, not just to the kinetic qualities of their movements. The paper will also demonstrate though video examples how sabar dancers lead the music with their movements.

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