I finally had an opportunity to experience a slice of local culture. Mrs Juma, a colleague of mine from the Nurses and Midwives Council, invited me to her home village Kamadzu (meaning Small Water) to view a special ceremony. The day was to commemorate the unveiling of a tombstone for a villager that had recently passed away. The actual ‘unveiling’ and feast were in the morning and for family members and close friends. In the afternoon, the entire village was invited to take part in the 2nd part of the ceremony - the Nyua dances, and this was the part I was able to experience.
As we walk into the village I could immediately feel all eyes on me, as I was the only mzungu in the crowd. There is absolutely no way to blend in here in Africa!
The village chief came up to introduce himself and invited us to sit in the special area… the VIP seats. I felt uneasy about this and was happy to stand in the crowd, but Mrs . Juma accepted, which ended up being a good call on her part, as the crowd grew quite large and I would not have been able to see a thing.
So sitting in our VIP seats I spotted one of my night guards, Mr. Masauko also in the VIP area as he is a chief of a neighboring village. It was good to see him in his own element and enjoying himself.
Soon the dancers were lined up and vying for position to be in the front of the line.
These local Nyua dances, are also known as the Gule Wankulu or masked dances of Malawi. These dances have roots from the Chewa culture, and had more significance in the recent past, but now seem to simply provide entertainment at such functions. I could not get any clear explanation of these dancers, not even Mrs. Juma knew the details of these masked dancers - other than they are a secretive group of non-Christian dancers. Her nephew explained that because it is secretive, he was not able to tell me any more. I guess ‘It’s a cultural thing…I wouldn’t understand’. Fair enough!
Hope you enjoy these photos!
First the women came out for a song and dance:
Then the Gulewankulus came into the circle to perform for the crowd and for money:
The drummers create the beat for the dancers as the women sing ‘backup’.
