mamady keita talks about moribayassa in balandugu

[bubudi]

here mamady is standing in front of a mango tree. in balandugu, the moribayassa dance always starts and ends at this tree, so over time the tree became known as the moribayassa tree. moribayassa is a very old dance and is rarely performed in the village nowadays, but mamady remembers it from when he was a little boy. traditionally it was reserved for women. when there was some sort of problem in the village, perhaps illness or infertility, the woman would pray and make a vow that if her problem was resolved, she would dance the moribayassa. in those days, women did not know modern fertility treatments or the fact that men could be infertile. later, when that problem was resolved, the woman would gather old, torn, discarded clothes from the rubbish pile. she would undo her braids so that her hair would go wild, wear torn pants (in those days you would never see a woman wear pants) and shirt that did not match, and tie pants around her wild hair. she would act crazy. around the village she would go, dancing the moribayassa for the whole village to see and laugh. she would be accompanied by singers and percussionists. when she returned to the giant mango tree, she would change back to her own clothes behind it, and throw away the torn clothes, which would later be burned outside the village.



credit to ali thomas for taking this video during her trip to balandugu in dec 2007.

[bops]

He made it sound like Moribayassa only exists in Balandugu. I think what he meant is that in Balandugu they have a special tree with that name. I've heard similar stories about Moribayassa in Mali. For example, in some cases, where a woman couldn't conceive, kids had to avoid the Moribayassa ceremony for fear that the woman would claim them as her own.

Another story is about Ali Farka Toure. "Farka" means donkey. He was his mother's tenth child, but every previous child had died before he was born As part of her Moribayassa ceremony, her sacrifice was to give the child a ridiculous name... hence Farka. Rest in peace Ali Farka.

[bubudi]

right, he was talking specifically about balandugu. he said that as far as he knew, only balandugu has a tree called moribayassa.

nice story about ali farka. i didn't know that the moribayassa custom extends outside mande to those areas around timbuktu.

[Paul]

Nice one, didnt know hey had a youtube channel....

Question??? I looked at that Akaran iko video, I have been wondering about soli kenkeni whether they play the beat with the bell and the double strokes in between or play doubles on the up.. Traditionally i mean.

[michi]

On Akaran Iko Iko, the kenkeni is played like this:

Code: Select all

. x x . x x . x x . x x
. . . . o o . . . . o o
1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .


It's notated in Mamady's book the same way.

I've also heard this bell pattern with the kenkeni for Soli:

Code: Select all

x . x . x x x . x . x x
. . . . o o . . . . o o
1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .


Cheers,

Michi.

[Paul]

Looks like he's playing a straight bell to me...

[michi]

Looks like he's playing a straight bell to me...

It neither looks nor sounds like a straight bell to me. If you watch carefully (the slow version), immediately after the call, you can see the bell hand hitting the two off-beats.

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

some questions:
1. do men now dance moribayassa? i've seen footage of both men and women doing the dance, complete with ripped/mismatching/oddly placed clothes, but that was done in conakry rather than in the village.

2. besides asking for a child or for good health, what are some other things that people commonly dance moribayassa for?

[Carl]

another reasons to dance Moribayassa:

Husband returning safely from war.

I heard Mamady say that it is basically a "once in a life" special request.

Seems to me that it would stay focused on the greatest needs; health, safety, family.
It also seems to be personal, so I wouldn't imagine it would be used for "better harvest" or other community driven needs.

Brings up some great questions for Mamady. Any other resources for this? Who else (that we know of) can speak as an authority on this subject?

C

[e2c]

This is kind of parenthetical, but... I'm amazed by the way in which this small village has become (in djembe circles) a template by which Westerners measure/understand West Africa in general, and Guinean drum music in particular.

While I think that all the information Mamady is passing on is valuable, this is only one small place... I wonder how the locals feel about their village and doings being "broadcast" on such a massive scale? It must seem absurd in many ways (my guess) that so many Westerners are so intensely focused on various details of life in Balandugu. Why would they even need to know? is a question that (I'm betting) goes through people's minds. (At least, it goes through my mind fairly often...) I'd imagine that you would all think it somewhat odd if I started writing and publishing super-detailed accounts of the "culture" of my current neighborhood, right down to who has garage bands and why, and so on.... It would come across as more than a little eccentric and narrowly-focused, I'm thinking.

It's as if Balandugu has become some sort of archetype for "getting" African music and culture, when the reality is so much broader and more multifaceted.... It's one (small) place; not a microcosm (imo).

Again, no disrespect intended toward anyone.

[michi]

While I think that all the information Mamady is passing on is valuable, this is only one small place... I wonder how the locals feel about their village and doings being "broadcast" on such a massive scale?

Good point. Next thing you know, the westerners go to the village next door and tell the locals that they are doing all their ceremonies wrong because they are not doing them the way they do them in Balandugu

I guess our recent discussion about information about Mendiani in Senegal shows that there can be considerable variation from place to place. And we all know that, for many rhythms, there is no such thing as THE definitive version because the rhythm has traditionally been played differently in different areas.

But, to be fair, I don't think people really are that focussed on Balandugu. It's just that it's one of the best-known villages due to Mamady's fame.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

This is kind of parenthetical, but... I'm amazed by the way in which this small village has become (in djembe circles) a template by which Westerners measure/understand West Africa in general, and Guinean drum music in particular.

While I think that all the information Mamady is passing on is valuable, this is only one small place... I wonder how the locals feel about their village and doings being "broadcast" on such a massive scale? It must seem absurd in many ways (my guess) that so many Westerners are so intensely focused on various details of life in Balandugu. Why would they even need to know? is a question that (I'm betting) goes through people's minds. (At least, it goes through my mind fairly often...) I'd imagine that you would all think it somewhat odd if I started writing and publishing super-detailed accounts of the "culture" of my current neighborhood, right down to who has garage bands and why, and so on.... It would come across as more than a little eccentric and narrowly-focused, I'm thinking.

It's as if Balandugu has become some sort of archetype for "getting" African music and culture, when the reality is so much broader and more multifaceted.... It's one (small) place; not a microcosm (imo).

Again, no disrespect intended toward anyone.

i see what you're saying, but i think it may be limited to what's here on the forum. there's a lot of us here who've done lots of time with MK, and others who are on the path with him. look at who's been posting the most frequently lately: Carl, Michi, Dununbabe, myself...It's no surprise to me that some of the threads have been MK-centric.

i agree with you though. it's just a tiny village near the Mali/Guinea border in Wassolon country. it's one version of the story. but it's the story of one of the most prolific djembefolas since the instrument came out of the village.

regardless, he (along with Fams) has done more to promote and teach djembe than any other Master/Teacher i can think of.

[the kid]

e2c, i'm amazed at your tread jack
and not impressed

Personally i want to learn more about balandugu and west africa. I have a dream that some day we'll have info on all the djembe regions of west africa

It's great there are people on here willing to share their experiences on their travels and studies in West Africa. Nobody is using one village as a template on how we understand or try to understand West African culture.

Cheers Guys

[e2c]

Keanie, i don't think it's a threadjack at all... and bops hinted at something along the same lines in his post. So did Carl, just above -

Any other resources for this? Who else (that we know of) can speak as an authority on this subject?

No offense intended toward anyone - as michi says in his post, there *is* a wider world out there, in W. Africa and far beyond. Check the mendiani book/CD thread for a hint at that - includes a bit about the longtime Senegalese presence in the African drum and dance community here in the States. (Link: media/mandiani-drum-and-dance-book-and-t1593.html )

Mamady and others are part of a second wave here. Granted, the first wave was very small, but it did happen, starting in the late 1950s, right up through the 1980s.

I've benefited greatly from the openness of many of these "Second wave" teachers (very much including Mamady), so I'm hardly complaining.

So go ahead, K - be as "unimpressed" as you like. It's no skin off my nose, after all.

...but it's the story of one of the most prolific djembefolas since the instrument came out of the village.

No question! at the same time, I would love to hear more stories, from other places.... Everyone who dances, everyone who plays - they all have their stories, and those might vary a lot from person to person, no? (I'd cite someone like Marie Basse-Wiles as an example: her grandmother Maimouna Keita was a Malian jelimuso, yet Marie grew up in Senegal and has experience with both Senegalese and Malian styles of dance and music... she's in NYC, actively teaching and running a company. There's Ladji Camara's family and others as well, in that one area.)

As it happens, there are lots of people here in the East and Midwest who've trained with Senegalese drummers and dancers. Guinean and Malian steps and interpretations of rhythms are new to them. (I know someone who is teaching dance near where I live whose dad trained with one of those drummers - this person is still adjusting to the whole Guinean "vocabulary," as they grew up with the Sengalese styles. )

cheers,
e.
[/threadjack]
back to Moribayassa...

[e2c]

Re. Moribayassa, I guess one question that comes to my mind is this: would it be possible to learn about this from women who have actually made the commitment and done the dance, or from their friends and female relatives?

I don't know if it would be at all polite (or acceptable) to ask that question in W. Africa (my guess is that it might be a very uncomfortable situation for the person being asked), but at the same time... I would love to hear from others about their day-to-day - or, as in the case, extraordinary - experiences with many of the dances and rhythms, what importance they place on them, how they view them, etc. (Like everyone else here, I'm looking to learn as much as I can.)

dununbabe, I'm wondering if you've had an opportunity to talk with any of the women in Balandugu about this, or with anyone from another village?

Parenthetical note: I know that the guy who wrote Griots and Griottes has been working on a book about womens' songs and music from Guinea... but i have no idea when it's slated for publication. am hoping we don't have too long a wait for it.