Afro-Haitian Folkloric: Danse Kongo

When Africans were brought to the Caribbean island of Haiti as slaves, they carried deep within themselves their rituals and cultural traditions. Songs and dances from many parts of Africa, and from diverse African cultures and ethnic groups crossed paths and mixed and fused there, creating new, uniquely Haitian expressions. Some of the old traditions, songs and dances remained, predominantly from the Congo, and the Dahomey region, but they evolved through time, and mixed with elements of the Haitian indigenous Indian,(the Arawak), and the French, who occupied Haiti.

Like in the neighboring island of Cuba, the Africans who found themselves in a new land with new rules were innovative and ingenious in maintaining their beliefs, customs, and sacred and social art forms, while surviving arduous, restrictive, and oppressive conditions. Important religious traditions involving dance, music, and spirit possession, were transmitted through generations and continue to this day. Gods and goddesses called Loa or Lwa in the Vodou cosmology correspond directly with Cuban "Orisha", and practitioners continue to dance and sing in religious ceremonies.

Afro-Haitian dance has greatly influenced the modern dance world, largely through the research and exposure through Katherine Dunham. Haiti captured Dunham's heart in the 1930s, when she arrived as a dancer and anthropologist to study the country's culture, history and, particularly, its dance. Dunham, in turn, captured the hearts of Haitians by making the dances of Haiti and the Caribbean internationally known. Now, the "folklorization" of Haitian dance allows both religious and social dances to travel and be performed in the secular context of the proscenium stage.

French dances that originated in the courts and the upper classes, such as the Quadrille, color the style of Haitian social dance, while incorporating the vivacious torso, pelvis, and leg movements and the strong rhythmic accompaniment hailing from Africa.

In People Like Me 2001, Group Petit la Croix presents "Danse Kongo," a flirtatious social dance between a young man and woman. This dance is named for the people of West Africa who originated in the Congo region. Red and white is usually worn in honor of the Congo people.

The actual significance of this dance is not clear but it is thought that the Kongo started out as a ritual dance, and then evolved into a social dance. It is still danced at rituals, not for any particular spiritual entity, or Loa, but as a social break in the ceremonies.

There are several Kongo rhythms, and in this piece, the drummers are playing a rhythm called "Kongo Pailette." This rhythm differs from the other Kongo rhythms in that the head drummer plays with sticks instead of hands. This particular rhythm and the playing of sticks on the drums was borrowed and evolved from the drumming style of the French marching bands.

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