SEGA

TRADITIONAL SEGA

Emerging from a brewing of various African waves of expression in the bowels of slaves in Mauritius, the sega was the significant way slaves expressed their desperation, sufferings and feelings.  The sega, with its luring music, songs and dance was also the main source of entertainment in their ruthless existence. Today, two centuries later, their tam tam still echoes...

TRADITIONAL SEGA DANCE

The sega is a swing which works a lot on the hips and tummy while feet movements are performed on tiptoe.  Traditional sega usually takes place around a camp fire.  A once slave story, traditional sega has been relating everyday exotic, sad or funny situations in Mauritian life. Dancers are usually dressed in a very flowery, colourful and exotic way

TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Traditional sega is accompanied by three main instruments, the Ravanne, the Maravanne and the Triangle.

The Ravanne...

The Ravanne is a small, shallow circular drum covered with stretched goat skin.  The stretched goat skin is fixed on a circular wooden frame.  The 'Lacolle' wood is generally used for its extraordinary flexibility without cracking. 

The instrument must be heated by a wood fire for the goat skin to stretch further in order to attain a higher and better sound performance while playing.  The sega man grabs the Ravanne in his left hand
and holds it against his abdomen and uses his right hand to beat the goat skin.  The left hand plays on the border and the back of the Ravanne.

The Ravanne is the main instrument which guides the rhythm and dictates the dancers' movements and speed of the swing

The Maravanne...

The Maravanne comprises two rectangular pieces of tied floral shafts from sugarcane and bamboo stems, fixed one against the other.  A wooden frame is placed between the two pieces and dry seeds (usually 'cascavelle' ones) inserted in. 

The instrument is shaken from left to right to produce a remarkable sound as the seeds rub against the floral shafts.

The Triangle...

The Triangle is indeed a triangular instrument !  It is an iron bar folded in the form of a triangle.  A metal stick is used to rap the sides of the triangle to produce a wonderful jangling.

Through decades and centuries, sega evolved tremendously and penetrated the living rooms of the Mauritian society to become the national dance.  Sega music, its creole songs and dance have experienced various rythmic changes.  Instruments, once traditional, are now also modern.  In Mauritius, there is no good party without a sega.