Description
Simba Theatre is a popular group that performs ngoma music from all over Tanzania. Ngoma music is the traditional music and dance of Tanzania. The performers are: Drummer, James Mbunju (leader of the group), Athumani Ally, Hamed Nancheketa, and Khalid Chiamba; dancers, Franco Mpangala, Hussein Pipi, Salum Francis, Mwanakhamisi Rashid, Angela John, Suzy, Mwahija Mohamed, and Zawadi. Nyumba ya Sanaa is an 'Art House' located in downtown Dar es Salaam next to the Movenpick Royal Palm (formerly the Sheraton Hotel). The Nyumba ya Sanaa was renamed the Mwalimu Nyerere Cultural Centre around 2002, but is still commonly referred to by its original name. The organization that runs the Nyumba ya Sanaa is a non-profit established by former president Julius Nyerere and the CCM (Chama cha Mapinduzi/ Revolutionary Party) government to promote the traditional arts of the country. It sells art, crafts, and features plays and music throughout the week. Simba Theatre practices throughout the week at the Nyumba ya Sanaa and usually performs once or twice a week. Ngoma, which translates as dance, drumming and song, either taken together or separately, is considered the traditional music of Tanzania. Most ngoma groups consist of a leader (who composes songs and directs a group in performance), drummers, instrumentalists, song leaders (who lead the main call of songs), and dancers (who also backup the singers). The music and songs of ngoma vary by cultural group, yet there are similarities in the use of certain rhythms and the relationship of a dancer’s movement to rhythms of drummers. Due to the importance of ngoma in Tanzania’s past, it is impossible to adequately summarize their historical development here, though such a study would be useful since no broad research on Tanzanian ngoma exists. Nonetheless, several key periods in ngoma history serve to highlight the development of the genre. The first period may be explained as the period of trade. As early as 120 C.E., Arab traders settled on the East African coast, followed by Indonesians (though this is debated), Portuguese, Germans, and British over the next 1600 years. Each introduced new instruments to the territory, such as the marimba, zeze (a type of violin), guitar, and trumpet (Horton and Middleton 2000; Kubik 1980: 567). By the 1800s, trade occurred throughout Tanganyika and between the country’s cultural groups. For traditional music, this trade brought exchanges in cultural ideas, musical styles, and musical practice. Iliffe in his work A Modern History of Tanganyika writes about these exchanges among various cultural groups: In Ukerewe the modes of specialized status groups were supplemented by dances borrowed from Sukuma elephant-hunters, Jita lion and leopard hunters, and Ganda traders, warriors and canoeists. Chagga adopted Masai dances. Safwa borrowed almost all their songs. Nywamwezi travelers introduced drums to Usandawe where the most famous composer of songs in the nineteenth century was Mugonza, a blind Kimbu minstrel. Slaves and colonists from Zaïre introduced their styles of dance and carving. (1979: 80) By virtue of economic, cultural, and material exchanges that occurred during trade, traditional music among groups adapted to new ideas and musical trends. The German colonial period in East Africa beginning from 1884 and continuing to 1919 also brought new musical influences, particularly military and brass band music (Ranger 1975). African musicians assimilated elements of the music and culture of these brass bands into a style called beni ngoma. Beni ngoma most likely began in Mombasa, Kenya around 1890 and diffused down into Tanga, Dar es Salaam and then other areas of East Africa (Iliffe 1979: 248). Groups that performed beni ngoma used European military titles (king, captain, lieutenant, and judge), uniforms, and drill steps, but retained Swahili song texts and ngoma drumming. The groups were well disciplined, again modeled after the image of colonial military establishments, and were, “concerned with the survival, success, and reputation of their members, acting as welfare societies, as sources of prestige, [and] as suppliers of skills” (Ranger 1975: 75). Beni ngoma became an extremely popular and successful style of ngoma, and competitions and performances spread throughout eastern and southern Africa after World War I (Ranger 1975: 177). The popularity of beni ngoma in Dar es Salaam and other areas of Tanganyika began to decline in the 1930s, but ngoma music, with all its variations of rivalry, competition, and entertainment continued. Ngoma in cities and towns became less about cultural or ethnic distinctions than about strengthening communities and overcoming adverse living situations. Laura Fair found that in Ng’ambo, a poor, African quarter of Zanzibar town that: [E]very night someone danced. In 1931, for instance, there were 2,450 licensed ngoma, or roughly seven different ngoma each night in urban Zanzibar. Many elders wistfully recalled the fun of their youths; following the performances of their favorite bands, hopping from party to party several nights a week, and in the process making friends and meeting lovers from neighborhoods across the town. (Fair 2001: 23) In other urban centers around Tanganyika, popular ngoma dances were being performed, including changani, unyago, and uyeyei, a snake-handling dance. These dances were held at clubs such as Silver Day and Golden Night in Dar es Salaam (Anthony 1983: 131). Another popular ngoma was lelemama, which was danced in towns and on caravan routes, and developed alongside beni ngoma. Unlike beni ngoma, however, lelemama remained popular well into the 1960s. By the 1950s, ngoma had become a significant part of the nationalist movement, particularly for women. Ngoma groups, as Susan Geiger points out, reinforced a, “sense of commonality among women participants,” and assisted in the mobilization of support for TANU (1997: 67). Women’s groups were critical for gathering support for TANU and for singing TANU’s praises. After independence in 1961, women continued to perform ngoma, particularly lelemama, at government functions, parades and public gatherings, weddings, and occasionally for entertainment. But, ngoma declined in importance as urban residents became increasingly interested in other genres, particularly dansi. Currently, urban centers feature only a handful of ngoma groups that perform publicly for audiences, although there are numerous others that exist but rarely perform. In Dar es Salaam, there are currently sixty-one ngoma groups listed as active even though only five regularly perform. Most of these groups feature five to ten musicians and four to eight dancers during the performance, though numerous other drummers and dancers act as backup artists. While ngoma is widely respected as an important cultural tradition, few people actually attend shows. Groups, such as Simba Theatre and Sisi Tambala, mainly perform for tourists, not local Tanzanians. Others perform irregularly throughout the year for large weddings, government celebrations, or at festivals and competitions. Due to the dearth of ngoma, Elias Songoyi writes, “In a city like Dar es Salaam, the traditional community has ceased to exist. . . . The dances which were once most revered in the traditional community are no longer seen with the same attitude” (Songoyi 1988: 45). It is important to note, however, that in rural areas, ngoma music is still important and often performed nightly. Nonetheless, these performances are outside of the music economy explored in this dissertation. Ngoma, which translates as dance, drumming and song, either taken together or separately, is considered the traditional music of Tanzania. Most ngoma groups consist of a leader (who composes songs and directs a group in performance), drummers, instrumentalists, song leaders (who lead the main call of songs), and dancers (who also backup the singers). The music and songs of ngoma vary by cultural group, yet there are similarities in the use of certain rhythms and the relationship of a dancer’s movement to rhythms of drummers.
