Gwoka music combines responsorial singing with Guadeloupean Creole rhythms played on the Ka drums. It emphasizes qualities of improvisation and is found among all ethnic and religious groups of Guadeloupean society.
In its traditional form, the dance combines these three forms of expression, focusing on individual qualities of improvisation. Participants and the public form a circle where dancers and soloists perform in turn, facing the drums. In response to the soloist, the audience claps and joins in.
Gwo ka is a French creole term used to describe a big drum, alongside Gwotanbou, simply Ka or Banboula (archaic), which generally refers to a group of hand drums and the music they produce. The term may also be applied to the small, flat-bottomed tambourine (tanbou d'bas) used in kadri music or even to drums (tanbou) in general.
In Guadeloupe, Gwoka can be found in all ethnic and religious groups. During the transatlantic slave trade in the 17th century, the Gwo Ka musical practice emerged. It was characterized by a creolization process, during which African slaves of Guadeloupe gathered to play drums, sing, and dance.
The use of any kind of instrument was forbidden by the Code Noir at that time, which led slaves to imitate drums with a vocal technique called bouladjèl. In those days, Gwoka practice was closely associated with agriculture, specifically sugar cane, coffee, and banana farming.
At open-air Gwoka evenings, more than a thousand people practice Gwoka, where the dance circle functions as a place where individual talents can be developed. Gwoka is passed down both formally and informally through families and groups of friends as well as through workshops and schools of traditional dance and music.
As one of the most identifiable elements of Guadeloupean society, gwoka can be discovered in new forms such as music, choreography, and singing. It is present at high points in daily life, festive, cultural, and secular events, as well as during social and political protests. Gwoka strengthens identity, as well as gives a sense of community and pride, conveying values of conviviality, resistance, and dignity.
Despite the presence of léwôz experiences, a modern and popular version of gwo ka, known as gwo ka moderne, exists independently among rural Guadeloupans. Today, playing the drums is no longer synonymous with dance, but historically it was inseparable from léwôz.
Léwôz was held fortnightly on Saturdays near the bigger plantations (payday) and each Saturday of the carnival season in areas of greater land parceling. Gwoka music was played throughout the year in various cultural manifestations such as léwôz, kout’tanbou, véyé, and religious events.
Gwo ka is a French creole term used to describe a big drum, alongside Gwotanbou, simply Ka or Banboula (archaic), which generally refers to a group of hand drums and the music they produce, which is central to Guadeloupean folk music. Moreover, the term may be applied to the small, flat-bottomed tambourine (tanbou d'bas) used in kadri music or even to drums (tanbou) in general.
In Guadeloupe, Gwoka can be found in all ethnic and religious groups.
During the transatlantic slave trade in the 17th century, the Gwo Ka musical practice emerged. It was characterized by a creolization process, during which African slaves of Guadeloupe gathered to play drums, sing, and dance.
The use of any kind of instrument was forbidden by the Code Noir at that time, which led slaves to imitate drums with a vocal technique called bouladjèl. In those days, Gwoka practice was closely associated with agriculture, specifically sugar cane, coffee, and banana farming.
Traditionally, this dance combines Guadeloupean Creole singing, rhythms played on Ka drums, and dancing. In its traditional form, the dance combines these three forms of expression, focusing on individual qualities of improvisation. Participants and the public form a circle where dancers and soloists perform in turn, facing the drums. In response to the soloist, the audience claps and joins in.
At open-air Gwoka evenings, more than a thousand people practice Gwoka, where the dance circle functions as a place where individual talents can be developed. Gwoka is passed down both formally and informally through families and groups of friends as well as through workshops and schools of traditional dance and music.
As one of the most identifiable elements of Guadeloupean society, gwoka can be discovered in new forms such as music, choreography, and singing. It is present at high points in daily life, festive, cultural, and secular events, as well as during social and political protests. Gwoka strengthens identity, as well as gives a sense of community and pride, conveying values of conviviality, resistance, and dignity.
Despite the presence of léwôz experiences, a modern and popular version of gwo ka, known as gwo ka moderne, exists independently among rural Guadeloupans. Today, playing drums is no longer synonymous with dance, but historically it was inseparable from léwôz. Léwôz was held fortnightly on Saturdays near the bigger plantations (payday) and each Saturday of the carnival season in areas of greater land parceling. Gwoka music was played throughout the year in various cultural manifestations such as léwôz, kout’tanbou, véyé, and religious events.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gwoka-music-song-dance-and-cultural-practice-representative-of-guadeloupean-identity-00991) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwo_ka) |Subject=Art, dance, Music |Country=France |SDG=(11) Sustainable Cities and Communities }}