#congolese dance

[afrotumble]

Zitany Neil - Marcory Gasoil (Vidéo Danse)

[kimludcom]

Wedding Entrance 1 (Acceleration - Congolese Dance) Phoenix AZ

Wedding Entrance 1 (Acceleration - Congolese Dance) Phoenix AZ

[lamoodz777]

Kompa dance

[fybr]

"koyimbiko" by ferre gola (2002)

[yearningforunity]

La danse dans les bars de rumba congolaise. Kinshasa 1955-1965

Dancing in Congolese rumba bars. Léopoldville, DRC 1955-1965

Photographer: Jean Abou Bakar Depara

[kemetic-dreams]

Music of African heritage in Cuba derives from the musical traditions of the many ethnic groups from different parts of West and Central Africa that were brought to Cuba as slaves between the 16th and 19th centuries. Members of some of these groups formed their own ethnic associations or cabildos, in which cultural traditions were conserved, including musical ones. Music of African heritage, along with considerable Iberian (Spanish) musical elements, forms the fulcrum of Cuban music.

Much of this music is associated with traditional African religion – Lucumi, Palo, and others – and preserves the languages formerly used in the African homelands. The music is passed on by oral tradition and is often performed in private gatherings difficult for outsiders to access. Lacking melodic instruments, the music instead features polyrhythmic percussion, voice (call-and-response), and dance. As with other musically renowned New World nations such as the United States, Brazil and Jamaica, Cuban music represents a profound African musical heritage.

Clearly, the origin of African groups in Cuba is due to the island's long history of slavery. Compared to the USA, slavery started in Cuba much earlier and continued for decades afterwards. Cuba was the last country in the Americas to abolish the importation of slaves, and the second last to free the slaves. In 1807 the British Parliament outlawed slavery, and from then on the British Navy acted to intercept Portuguese and Spanish slave ships. By 1860 the trade with Cuba was almost extinguished; the last slave ship to Cuba was in 1873. The abolition of slavery was announced by the Spanish Crown in 1880, and put into effect in 1886. Two years later, Brazil abolished slavery.

Although the exact number of slaves from each African culture will never be known, most came from one of these groups, which are listed in rough order of their cultural impact in Cuba:

The Congolese from the Congo Basin and SW Africa. Many ethnic groups were involved, all called Congos in Cuba. Their religion is called Palo. Probably the most numerous group, with a huge influence on Cuban music.

The Oyó or Yoruba from modern Nigeria, known in Cuba as Lucumí. Their religion is known as Regla de Ocha (roughly, 'the way of the spirits') and its syncretic version is known as Santería. Culturally of great significance.

The Kalabars from the Southeastern part of Nigeria and also in some part of Cameroon, whom were taken from the Bight of Biafra. These sub Igbo and Ijaw groups are known in Cuba as Carabali,and their religious organization as Abakuá. The street name for them in Cuba was Ñáñigos.

The Dahomey, from Benin. They were the Fon, known as Arará in Cuba. The Dahomeys were a powerful group who practised human sacrifice and slavery long before Europeans arrived, and allegedly even more so during the Atlantic slave trade.

Haiti immigrants to Cuba arrived at various times up to the present day. Leaving aside the French, who also came, the Africans from Haiti were a mixture of groups who usually spoke creolized French: and religion was known as vodú.

From part of modern Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire came the Gangá.

Senegambian people (Senegal, the Gambia), but including many brought from Sudan by the Arab slavers, were known by a catch-all word: Mandinga. The famous musical phrase Kikiribu Mandinga! refers to them.

Subsequent organization

The roots of most Afro-Cuban musical forms lie in the cabildos, self-organized social clubs for the African slaves, and separate cabildos for separate cultures. The cabildos were formed mainly from four groups: the Yoruba (the Lucumi in Cuba); the Congolese (Palo in Cuba); Dahomey (the Fon or Arará). Other cultures were undoubtedly present, more even than listed above, but in smaller numbers, and they did not leave such a distinctive presence.

Cabildos preserved African cultural traditions, even after the abolition of slavery in 1886. At the same time, African religions were transmitted from generation to generation throughout Cuba, Haiti, other islands and Brazil. These religions, which had a similar but not identical structure, were known as Lucumi or Regla de Ocha if they derived from the Yoruba, Palo from Central Africa, Vodú from Haiti, and so on. The term Santería was first introduced to account for the way African spirits were joined to Catholic saints, especially by people who were both baptized and initiated, and so were genuine members of both groups. Outsiders picked up the word and have tended to use it somewhat indiscriminately. It has become a kind of catch-all word, rather like salsa in music.

The ñáñigos in Cuba or Carabali in their secret Abakuá societies, were one of the most terrifying groups; even other blacks were afraid of them:

Girl, don't tell me about the ñáñigos! They were bad. The carabali was evil down to his guts. And the ñáñigos from back in the day when I was a chick, weren't like the ones today... they kept their secret, like in Africa.

African sacred music in Cuba

All these African cultures had musical traditions, which survive erratically to the present day, not always in detail, but in the general style. The best preserved are the African polytheistic religions, where, in Cuba at least, the instruments, the language, the chants, the dances and their interpretations are quite well preserved. In few or no other American countries are the religious ceremonies conducted in the old language(s) of Africa, as they are at least in Lucumí ceremonies, though of course, back in Africa the language has moved on. What unifies all genuine forms of African music is the unity of polyrhythmic percussion, voice (call-and-response) and dance in well-defined social settings, and the absence of melodic instruments of an Arabic or European kind.

Not until after the Second World War do we find detailed printed descriptions or recordings of African sacred music in Cuba. Inside the cults, music, song, dance and ceremony were (and still are) learnt by heart by means of demonstration, including such ceremonial procedures conducted in an African language. The experiences were private to the initiated, until the work of the ethnologist Fernando Ortíz, who devoted a large part of his life to investigating the influence of African culture in Cuba. The first detailed transcription of percussion, song and chants are to be found in his great works.

There are now many recordings offering a selection of pieces in praise of, or prayers to, the orishas. Much of the ceremonial procedures are still hidden from the eyes of outsiders, though some descriptions in words exist.

Yoruba and Congolese rituals

Main articles: Yoruba people, Lucumi religion, Kongo people, Palo (religion), and Batá

Religious traditions of African origin have survived in Cuba, and are the basis of ritual music, song and dance quite distinct from the secular music and dance. The religion of Yoruban origin is known as Lucumí or Regla de Ocha; the religion of Congolese origin is known as Palo, as in palos del monte.[11] There are also, in the Oriente region, forms of Haitian ritual together with its own instruments and music.

In Lucumi ceremonies, consecrated batá drums are played at ceremonies, and gourd ensembles called abwe. In the 1950s, a collection of Havana-area batá drummers called Santero helped bring Lucumí styles into mainstream Cuban music, while artists like Mezcla, with the lucumí singer Lázaro Ros, melded the style with other forms, including zouk.

The Congo cabildo uses yuka drums, as well as gallos (a form of song contest), makuta and mani dances. The latter is related to the Brazilian martial dance capoeira

[adoresia]

✦˚₊ NE DOUTE PAS

Pairing : e42 Miles x FemHaitian!reader

Synopsis : You teach Miles how to kompa.

Sierra speaks : I was thinking of requesting this to another writer, but i was like nah, ima do my own thing ima right it myself 😋 I love Kompa so much (im not Haitian but im Congolese its close enough) it was so hard trying to explain how to kompa but alas.. enjoy pookiewookies !

Warnings ❕: Intimate dancing, kissing, slightly (? suggestive, cuss words, a sprinkle of spanish (im not spanish do correct me 🥲 using what i learnt last year), also not that proof read i skimmed through it. tell me if i missed out anything !

Listen too’s :

youtube

You sat in your swivel chair, decorated with pink faux fur and a curved lumbar support to rest your back on. The chair swung gently back and forth while you talked to Miles on the phone.

The face-time call had reached about 30 minutes, it was now 1:30pm in the afternoon and you did not really have any plans for the day so you stay stuck with the fact that you two would be conversing all day.

“What are your plans for today mami?”

“I don’t know baby, I was just gonna stay on the phone to you all day I honestly ain got nothing else to do soo.�� you shrugged, almost choking on your words trying to get it all out in one breath.

“lentamente mami you boutta drown in your own words.”

“Ughhh im sooo bored.” you pushed your chair away from your chair gliding backwards and stood up stretching your arms.

“So im boring now?” he questioned sarcastically.

“Nooo Milo, you know what i meant.” You pouted jokingly while going to play some music on your tv.

Miles watched intently while you typed the name of the song into your tv, finally searching it up and clicking on the first video that popped up.

“Whatchu playin on yo tv?”

“Just a song, i feel like dancing.” you said swaying your hips as you walked backwards.

“i could watch you do this allll dayyy.” Miles said with a grin on his face, you laughed at him.

You began to whine to the song, turning around. Your waistline moving in circles like water. The stringed beads that laid on your hips followed the pattern of your movements as you slowly lowered down the the floor with your arms either side of you.

Your boyfriend’s glued onto your waist, you span around quickly catching him staring at you so intensely.

“Miles stop staring at me nd-“

“What am i not allowed to stare at you now too?” He smirked, cutting you off.

“I was gonna say come over so you dont have to stay staring through a screen, but now you can stay your ass at home.” You rolled your eyes with a smile.

“Nah im on my way baby, then I can watch you dance f’me.”

“really? what if I teach you to Kompa instead.”

“Say no more . I wanna see you do that dance again though, when i get there.”

Miles wasted no time slipping his shoes on and kissing his mom goodbye on the cheek before speed walking through 2 blocks to your house.

He texted your phone stating he was a few steps away from your front porch and you ran to your front door with a huge smile plastered on your face while you opened it.

“Miloooooo!!” You screamed, spreading your arms out so he could come and pick you up. You loved when he picked up, especially in his puffer jacket.

“Heyy baby.” He gave you a quick peck on the lips before picking you up. You swung your legs around his waist, bear-hugging him.

He closed the door behind the both of you and took off his shoes leading you to your bedroom and dropping you onto your bed.

“Where yo moms at?”

“Why cause you came here for her or for me?” you rolled your eyes flopping back into your bed.

“Don’t be like that ma, you aint tell me you were here on your own. I woulda been here earlier if I knew.”

“She just went grocery shopping Milo, she’ll be back.”

“Aight. You finna dance f’me then?” He laid back in your chair manspread. His elbows laid on your desk behind him.

“Oh right! watch the hips, you’ll needa learn this bit..” You restarted to music and threw the remote on your bed.

Miles licked his lips squinting at you with hooded eyes.

“Watch the hips…” You began whine again. This time you started off with a ‘tik tok’ motion, slowly moving into a slow circular motion with your hips. Your waist-beads moving along with you which made it all more intriguing for Miles.

You brought your hands to your hips caressing your shape up until you reached the sides of your stomach and came to a stop.

Miles was visibly in love with the way your hips moves so swiftly and like water. His eyes stayed stuck to your waist even after you stopped.

“Damn ma, youn tell me you could do all that.”

“Well now you know, and im finna teach you.. now get up i wanna show you how to kompa with me.”

You pulled Miles by his arm taking his puffer jacket off and throwing it onto your bed.

“Right first gimme your hands” You held your hands out to Miles as he placed both of his in yours. You lowered them down to sit on your waist.

“mmmm i like this already.”

“Shutup Miles.” You grinned at him

“Then.. i place my arms around your neck… like so.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and held your other arm with your hand since he basically towered over you.

“Now you look at me.”

“This is easy, I could look at you all day.”

“Miles stop, you can compliment me later.”

You brought his head down to lean against yours, he stared right into your eyes making your knees almost buckle. You tried to divert your gaze elsewhere so you could regain focus.

“Your meant to look at me back. Right? Eyes on me mami.” He lifted his hand up from your waist to tour chin, averting your gaze from the floor to his eyes. You felt as if you were going to collapse with the way he started so deeply into your soul.

“You lucky im holding onto you, you look like you abour to collapse.”

“Miles.”

“Right, sorry baby.” he stiffled a laugh

For the next hour you continued to teach Miles as you guided his hands and hip movements with your waist.

“And thenn… turn.”

You slowly spun around both still holding onto eachother, swaying your hips to the music.

“Yeahhh.” You slid your arms down to his shoulders grinning at him, ecstatic that he was learning so fast.

“Now here comes the hard part.” You returned to the same position, this time swaying your hips into his instead of side to side.

“Oh shitt.” Miles lost all composure staring down at your hips grinding into his at a rhythmic pace. Your cheeks begin to heat up as you smile a little at what he said.

“You can do that right? same time.”

“Shit, of course I can.”

Miles spun you around, then closing the gap between the two of you. Your body pressing gently against his, fit like a jigsaw piece.

Your hips both meeting in the middle while you swayed them into eachother, both looking into each-others eyes as Miles held onto either side of your waist guiding it into his.

[ visual : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJ4eeBRc/ ]

You were both absorbed im each-others gaze not even realising the music had finished, and you continued for the next half an hour. Dancing in each others embrace.

After a while had passed you pulled away from miles.

“Fuck, ian know you were so good at kompa Milo? I woulda taught you ages ago.”

“Not better than you baby, lost all composure when your hips collided with mine.”

He made it to your waist before pulling you in for a kiss, bringing you as close to him as he could while deepening the kiss as you giggled. While his breath mingled with yours, your tongues danced over one another. When he intentionally nipped your lower lip, you let out a gentle whine pulling away.

“Fuck I love you so much.”

Extra :

— reader calls miles ‘milo’ because it works well with her Haitian accent

— Miles is actually a really good dancer

— Your mom came back from the supermarket ages ago, she watched you both dance in your room with a smile on her face.

— you had Miles dancing kompa with his pillow when he got home

“Miles? the fuck are you doing…” Uncle Aaron walked in on Miles waist dancing with his pillow.

“Yoo wtf, youn never heard of knocking?” Miles threw the pillow as far away as he could, dusting himself off.

“Ian even gonna ask mane.” Uncle Aaron shook his head with a laugh, closing the door in reverse.

© All rights reserved to @444morales on tumblr.

Please do not repost, translate or copy any of my work !

[madamlaydebug]

So we document our lives, we document everything, from our phones mined by Congolese children, for the profit of some men who don't need more money... Another selfie not saying anything, let me show you my lifestyle, look at the food I'm eating, look at who I'm with... Look at how much money I just made, while another child got played, another sister just got aids, which is a test on many diseases graded, by those who invented & made it but don't give a sh*t... look another rapper faded, another undereducated woman so we call her basic, let's face it, this society's tasteless, the super rich remain faceless, at least the melanin keeps me ageless, am I destined for greatness... I'm not sure what the definition is, is greatness creating a revolution, where we seek retribution, destroy constitutions to find resolutions... or is it just trying to get children to eat healthy, forget selfies & remain wealthy. I'm not sure anymore, keep shining in your African diamonds, keep climbing & finding that if you just pray to god it's all just timing, while I'm rhyming keep grinding at the system that treats darker children like dogs, whether their clever whatever the weather, locking them up forever, they're tethered to false hopes of a life better but never, unless they can severe oppressors...they remain stuck in this nexus. Didn't they pray to the same man in sky, but their dad is on drugs, Jesus wonders why?

Their mum caught slugs from the police, shouting thugs but they worship the same man above, they both believe in the same man that loves, but the man that shot her was tried by a judge who didn't budge, police walked free & the children got a hug. Keep dancing King, like it's all good, keep dancing Queen, in your own blood, you can't see this proactive vanity is all insanity & you should, escape the calamity & of all the tragedies, put down the liquor killing your uterus, put down the junkfood destroying the future us, pick up a book, put down your own face, now take a look at your own place, & ask yourself this are we winning, or still drowning & thinking we're swimming...

#ChakraBars

[unhonestlymirror]

Our Ukrainian Beyoncé -

Gaitana!

In Ukraine, everyone loves her. She was extremely popular in the 2000s, and she recently promised a comeback. :D

Gaitana or Gaita-Lurdes Essami (translated as "strong and glorious" from Lingála; born March 24, 1979, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Congolese origin, who combines in her work the style of soul performance with the dance style of songs, which include elements of jazz, blues, funk, soul and folk music. She's the author of most of her own songs.

She was born on March 24, 1979 in Kyiv. Until the age of five, she lived in the Republic of Congo, where her father came from, and spoke only French and Lingála. Then, she returned to Ukraine with her mother. Gaitana's father still lives in Brazzaville, is engaged in the transport business, and rarely sees his daughter.

Gaitana graduated from a music school in the saxophone class, later received an economic education. She has been playing table tennis since she was a child, earning the title of candidate for master of sports.

On February 18, 2012, she won the right to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Gaitana performed the song "Be My Guest." According to the results of the second semi-final, which took place on May 24, the composition made it to the final. In the final, the song scored 65 points and took 15th place.

One of her most popular songs:

"Lonely bossa (boss-lady)"

"Dances"

"Drink me, eat me, run amok"

"Ukraine! Buďmo!" ("Let's be!")

[kimludcom]

Best Congolese Wedding Entrance Dance (Cleveland) 🔥

[queer-cinephile]

30 Days of Queer Tenderness

Day 17: Two Congolese Men Dance Together, c. 1950s

[yandere-writer-momo]

Omg yarems reaction to a/o listening and dancing to music from their place of origin, I’m from west Africa so we waistline and work our hips and I feel hun would be really into Congolese music😂😂

I’m latina so I understand the dancing 💃 ✨✨

But Katsumi and Doyle are the top two who would try to dance with you. Doyle wants you to give him waist beads

Oliva is hyping you up. He would dance with you and record. Best HUSBAND ever

Jun would also dance with you, he’s Latin. He can dance dance

Baki would want you to teach him how to dance. He would try

Hanayama and Jack would just stare at you. They don’t know how to dance but they’d enjoy the movements

Retsu has no idea what’s going on. He would give you a thumbs up and continue to eat at the food table if you’re in a public gathering

[eatmangoesnekkid]

The (Abrahamic narrative) Christianity/Islam/Judaism) centered around a Hebrew patriarch "Abraham" controls most things in the Western world— labeling every other spiritual practice as "bad,""evil," or"wrong" and keeping female bodied people in conflict with our natural sensuality and sexuality. These narratives conditioned our minds from birth on what was "right/good" or "wrong/bad." Having other ways to access God/divine/truth, whether through art, nature, Congolese dance, Mediterrean belly dance, yoga, sacred bathing, fasting, heart-connected sex, meditation, transcendental playfulness, African traditional practices, etc. has always been true since the beginning of time. We are just hearing more about them now because people get to publicly talk and share far more and not risk being stoned, hung, or stabbed and never heard from again. Back in the day, only Abrahamic religions were given a voice, an asé. -India Ame'ye, Author

[randomvarious]

Technotronic - "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)" 1990 Eurodance / Hip-House / Eurohouse / New Beat

When Belgian project Technotronic first stormed onto the global dance scene in 1989 with their all-time classic debut single, "Pump Up the Jam," it legitimately became the single-biggest song in the entire world. And the sudden star of the group happened to be a beautiful Congolese model named Felly, who naturally shined in the music video, performed the song on TV multiple times, and was exclusively featured in the art for both the single and its corresponding album too.

But as the world would soon find out, all of this actually turned out to be an enormous ruse. Felly was *not* the singer-rapper of Technotronic that everyone was tricked into believing she was. She actually had nothing to do with the making of the group's music at all and apparently didn't even speak English either! And whenever she performed "Pump Up the Jam," all she did was just lip-sync the words! 😲

So, who was Technotronic's lead vocalist then? Another Congolese-born person: a mere teenager named Ya Kid K, who seemed to possess this uncanny ability to both rap and sing effortlessly in this assertively cool, deep, distinct, velvety-smooth, and magnetically thick New York-sounding accent. She wasn't the most technically skilled rapper out there by any means, but as someone who served as a sort of cross between fitness tape instructor and narrator of catchy contemporary tracks that had been inspired by 1960s dance craze tunes, Ya Kid K was unparalleled. No one else in the world seemed to have a voice that was quite like hers and her mic presence was spectacular.

So then why did they initially try to hide her? Well, Ya Kid K didn't want to sign a contract with ARS Records, the label that was intent on releasing "Pump Up the Jam" and shooting a video for it, and she was already signed to Technotronic leader and producer Jo Bogaert's own record company anyway. In fact, the initial pressing of "Pump Up the Jam," before it ever even broke big, was released on his Sound 89 label, and Ya Kid K was actually credited. But Bogaert wanted to make the record much bigger, and ARS was apparently capable of helping him do that.

But when Ya Kid K refused to sign that contract, what she didn't seem to be aware of is that ARS was then going to recruit someone else to pump up the jam. And when she found out that her own record was in the shops, with some other woman featured on the cover, she was not happy about it, to say the least.

Now, you also have to keep in mind that Technotronic exploded right at the time when lip-syncing was seen as this totally scandalous act of purely unconscionable inauthenticity. It *ended* Milli Vanilli's career and Italo-dance project Black Box caught a whole lot of flak for it too. So when people finally managed to actually catch on to Technotronic's game, Ya Kid K rightfully and immediately became the face of the group, and then Felly was cast out to the sidelines. And in 1990, Ya Kid K would front Technotronic as the opening act on Madonna's own Blonde Ambition tour.

So, this super fun video here for the group's second single, "Get Up (Before the Night Is Over)," is the one that really marked Ya Kid K's official introduction to the world as the person who truthfully possessed Technotronic's captivatingly golden voice. And she comfortably rocked a wholly different look than Felly's too, by decking herself out in a rotating wardrobe of baggy hip hop clothes, while also covering her short, cornrowed hair with an alternating pair of backwards snapbacks. Felly's presence as the group's original frontwoman had clearly been a boon to Technotronic, and she also still appeared in this particular video by mouthing Ya Kid K's multitracked "before the night is over line" too, but this full package that finally matched Ya Kid K's voice to her own genuinely infectious tomboy swagger was simply unbeatable.

And rather than Technotronic flailing to stay relevant after they'd inevitably found themselves caught up in such an embarrassing fiasco, "Get Up (Before the Night Is Over)" ended up succeeding as an excellent follow-up to their previous era-defining smash, landing itself in the top ten across the entire globe, including #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the US Dance Play chart as well.

The group's magic would virtually run out by the dawn of the mid-90s, but at least Ya Kid K got a couple years to really bask in a moment that she had been so clearly deserving of all along. It was unfortunate that "Pump Up the Jam" had left her out of the spotlight, but we also don't know if that record would have succeeded as well as it did without Felly either. However, with such a momentous hit then under their belts, Technotronic no longer had to sell that faux image that had helped them become famous in the first place; the people had clearly fallen in love with their tunes, and they were now free to be themselves.

More fun videos here.

[adoresia]

Hiii I just want to say I love your writing especially the one where the reader teaches Miles that Hatian dance. Also I’m Congolese too!

HELLO AND THANK YOI SO MUCH? I’m so sorry I’m like 7 months late to this eish how terrible am I? Merci yaya 🩷🩷🩷 😏