Becoming Sérére

One of the many tribes populating Senegal is the Séréres. Wolof is the dominating tribe by fare, while the Sérére are constitute the majority of the Christian population. Danes are said to be Séréres because of our surnames. Here a person's tribal affiliation is signified by his or her last name, and for the Séréres it is usually 'Sen'. And don't we all know that the Danes are known for all their Jensens, Hansens, Jørgensens, Larsens and so on. So when I moved in with a Sérére family, it seemed like a perfect match. This weekend I had the opportunity to get a bit closer to my tribal 'roots'.

I was invited by the youngest sister of Cécile to come see her choir perform Christian and traditional Sérére songs and dances at their annual concert. It was a big event with many people attending and it all turned into a big party as the evening progressed. The choir was remarkably well prepared and sang beautifully, but what impressed me the most was their ability to switch between multiple languages without any difficulties. Not only did they sing in 4 different Senegalese tribal languages, they also mastered songs in French, English, Spanish, Italian and Latin. And did they bring the lyrics on stage? - NO! Nobody would be able to read them anyway, since they were all shaking, jumping and waving their way through the concert. At a point I even had to ask my friends if they had already started the dance session or what was going on. What a show! Unfortunately, it was very dark so the pictures are terrible, but I hope you can get an impression of the vibrant choir anyway:

The bongo-band

The choir dressed in traditional Sérére gowns

When the concert was done the audience formed a big circle and the band moved down from the stage. It was now accompanied by a male lead-singer and a choir of three girls with surprisingly pitchy voices. The big space in the middle became the dance-stage where anyone who felt like participating could perform the traditional Sérére dance. Get the party started! Each song starts out in a slow pace where a volunteer starts walking to the rhythm of the music collecting people from the audience to join the 'snake' of dancers. As the snake become a considerable length the music becomes more hectic and the drums start dominating. The snake breaks into smaller parts and the dancers battle each other in small duels. The speed with which they manage to move their feet is difficult to understand and they look like they are having spasms continually running through their bodies. The ambiance made it impossible to sit still. Well, I did not have much of a choice anyway. As the only Toubab I was pulled to the centre of the stage to be taught how to dance like a proper Senegalese. I am not sure if I succeeded or if I ever will. I think it has to be in your blood. The intensive dancing continued until sunrise! I have attached a short video clip of the dancing although the quality is awful, but words just cannot explain the bizarre and energetic movements of the dancers.