Shaking my body

Every Monday, one of my co-workers and I discuss our weekend doings and whether we had a chance to "shake our bodies". This weekend I shook my body with a few thousand other people at Sauti za Busara ("Sounds of Wisedom"), a six day musical festival in Stone Town, Zanzibar that showcases musical talent from across the African continent. This festival is held on an annual basis and attracts people from all over Africa, both in terms of spectators and participants.

The Stone Town we arrived in on Saturday morning was buzzing with energy and with wazungus (I think half of Dar had decamped to Stone Town on Thursday when the festival started). A marked contrast to the rather staid and quiet Zanzibar that Wes and I visited during Ramadan and during Eid al-Fitr. The energy was infectious. On Saturday evening, we got our first taste of what the energy and excitement was all about. We watched in amazement, as artist after artist confidently took to the stage and blew us away. At the start of the evening, everyone was sitting very demurely on the grass soaking in the music. However, by the time the last band hit the stage around midnight, the crowd was enthusiastically shaking their bodies.

For me, the emphasis on Sunday shifted from enjoying the music to enjoying the crowd that was attending the festival. The crowd was a mixed bag of ex-pats, tourists and locals. I had the good fortune to spend the evening sitting with a group of Muslim ladies and their children, who were endlessly fascinated by the mzungu bouncing away to the music. Ultimately, I bounced away to the music with a child holding each hand and a little boy leaning on my shoulders for support, as he tried all his moves. He had some pretty good moves, despite being only 2 or 3 years old. I was suitably impressed.

My favourites artists of the festival were the The Moreira Project from South Africa, Nawal from the Comoros and Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga from the DRC/Kenya.