DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0383
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
367
Chindimba: the chindimba songs are the favorites among all the older people. They
have been in late years partly replaced by others, but, at the present time, there is a tendency
to return to them; they are staid in tone and the dance is sedate. Chindimba is always
played at mournings. While the whole company sits around in a circle with the drums at
one side, a couple of people do the dancing in the middle. The drums used are a chinganga,
two wAoTna, and a With the commencement of drumming, a man well known for
his songs steps out into the middle and begins singing; he is followed by another man
or maybe a woman who sings a second part; the two singers are generally people who
have found that they sing well together. Two such people will be welcomed, and they may
sing many songs, while any young upstarts who do not sing well together, will be given to
understand that their performance does not meet with approval. People have their favorite
songs, and there may be much heart-burning if an old man finds some one else singing a song
that he considers especially his own. As they sing, they dance their peculiar shuffling steps.
(The words of some of these songs are given later.)
Salapa: an Anguru dance sometimes danced by the Yao. It resembles chindimba in
that all sit singing and clapping while, one at a time, men dance in the open space to time
given by bamboo sticks knocked together. The songs are all hunting songs.
It is impossible to describe the steps used in all the dances; for each dance, they differ,
of course, and except by a cinematograph film, they cannot be reproduced. The movements
of the feet are ordinary stepping motions or patting of the ground with the feet, the actual
excursions being very small, so that in most cases it is impossible to devise any means of
making out the steps. To enable them to perform these steps, they commonly dance with
the knees bent, the buttocks protruded behind, and the back arched. In some cases, this
attitude is extreme.
There is a larger series of dances which, to the uninitiated spectator, appear to resemble
each other very closely. The general plan of the dance is as follows. The drums are placed
in the middle; around them in a circle are the dancers and outside these, the onlookers.
The circle may be thirty or forty strong, composed of men only or of men and women as
the case may be. Commonly, the ring of dancers is divided into two halves, each half
being headed by a leader who sings the song, all joining in the refrain, while the onlookers
do the clapping. When the drums begin, they all walk round in a circle, but at a given signal,
one of the drums gives out a new time, and the whole circle starts dancing with short,
shuffling movements already described, usually progressing in the circle, sometimes going
backwards, sometimes facing the drums or turning right around in the line.
Mkomaula is a dance of, I believe, recent introduction which has replaced to some ex-
tent chindimba, much to the disgust of the older people who dislike the innovation. They
shake their heads and say, “ Chilambo chimasile!” “ The world is finished.” The drums used
are likuti, ntiyatiya, mchoso, and chinganga. It is danced by men and youths only.
Njeula or, as it was known some years ago, mgumbuli, is danced like mkomaula, but the
367
Chindimba: the chindimba songs are the favorites among all the older people. They
have been in late years partly replaced by others, but, at the present time, there is a tendency
to return to them; they are staid in tone and the dance is sedate. Chindimba is always
played at mournings. While the whole company sits around in a circle with the drums at
one side, a couple of people do the dancing in the middle. The drums used are a chinganga,
two wAoTna, and a With the commencement of drumming, a man well known for
his songs steps out into the middle and begins singing; he is followed by another man
or maybe a woman who sings a second part; the two singers are generally people who
have found that they sing well together. Two such people will be welcomed, and they may
sing many songs, while any young upstarts who do not sing well together, will be given to
understand that their performance does not meet with approval. People have their favorite
songs, and there may be much heart-burning if an old man finds some one else singing a song
that he considers especially his own. As they sing, they dance their peculiar shuffling steps.
(The words of some of these songs are given later.)
Salapa: an Anguru dance sometimes danced by the Yao. It resembles chindimba in
that all sit singing and clapping while, one at a time, men dance in the open space to time
given by bamboo sticks knocked together. The songs are all hunting songs.
It is impossible to describe the steps used in all the dances; for each dance, they differ,
of course, and except by a cinematograph film, they cannot be reproduced. The movements
of the feet are ordinary stepping motions or patting of the ground with the feet, the actual
excursions being very small, so that in most cases it is impossible to devise any means of
making out the steps. To enable them to perform these steps, they commonly dance with
the knees bent, the buttocks protruded behind, and the back arched. In some cases, this
attitude is extreme.
There is a larger series of dances which, to the uninitiated spectator, appear to resemble
each other very closely. The general plan of the dance is as follows. The drums are placed
in the middle; around them in a circle are the dancers and outside these, the onlookers.
The circle may be thirty or forty strong, composed of men only or of men and women as
the case may be. Commonly, the ring of dancers is divided into two halves, each half
being headed by a leader who sings the song, all joining in the refrain, while the onlookers
do the clapping. When the drums begin, they all walk round in a circle, but at a given signal,
one of the drums gives out a new time, and the whole circle starts dancing with short,
shuffling movements already described, usually progressing in the circle, sometimes going
backwards, sometimes facing the drums or turning right around in the line.
Mkomaula is a dance of, I believe, recent introduction which has replaced to some ex-
tent chindimba, much to the disgust of the older people who dislike the innovation. They
shake their heads and say, “ Chilambo chimasile!” “ The world is finished.” The drums used
are likuti, ntiyatiya, mchoso, and chinganga. It is danced by men and youths only.
Njeula or, as it was known some years ago, mgumbuli, is danced like mkomaula, but the