Rwandan Culture - Dancing To The Traditional Beats

Traditional singing, dancing to the beat of the drums, locally brewed beers and millions of brightly smiling faces – there’s more to Rwanda than just mountain gorillas and beautiful landscapes.

- Aditi Gupta & Pallavi Goel

The ground is pulsating from a heavy synchronised thumping, so much so that you feel the bass pounding in your body. At first, it seems that it is coming from the beating of drums, but then your eyes trail down to the dozen or so pair of feet clad in ankle bells, thumping on the ground. The leader of the group calls for the next dance, looking at his companions who then repeat after him, in unison, the name of the dance or the beat. The drums start beating louder, and the dancers are now swiftly jumping, kneeling and twisting their body, carefully yet menacingly brandishing their spears in one hand and manoeuvring shields in the other; all the moves are in complete coordination. Another remarkable movement that adds to the spirited performance is the strong swaying of the head, which is adorned with a long white wig that swings gracefully and in perfect sync with the head movements. The dancers are performing up to four different sets of choreography of 30 seconds each.

In earlier times, it would have been the Rwandan warriors putting up an expressive display of their pride and strength to inspire their own selves before facing the enemy, or celebrating their king’s victory after a hunt or a battle. The dance, called Umuhamirizo, is a part of the Intore dance – a traditional local dance – whose origin can be traced back to the 19th century. While earlier the dance used to be performed exclusively by men in the royal court, today, it is performed during major ceremonies.