A quick post, this time, featuring a video from Malian television. The artist is the wonderful Mariam Bagayogo (who as far as I know is no close relation to Assa Bagayogo or Hawa Dramé). The quality is - regretfully - slightly below zero, but the music and the spectacular performance should compensate for this.
The song was recorded in the Palais de la Culture in Bamako, in November 1988. And the occasion was a 'soirée' in protest against the Apartheid regime of South Africa.
The music is firmly rooted in the Bambara tradition of what used to be called (and is often still referred to as) the Bélédougou region. It is therefore pentatonic.
I think you'll agree with me that the dancing is out-of-this-world....
Mariam Bagayogo is a hurricane when she dances.
ReplyDeleteI saw her dancing with many more years and was the same.
Thanks.
Just remember that there is a cassette of Mariam in Awesome Tapes of Africa.
Thank you for the Grand Kalle! Beautiful
ReplyDeleteThat was extremely impressive. Would I be right in assuming such dancing still occurs, and has not been erased yet in the service of something some people call "modern civilization"?
ReplyDelete@glinka21: In fact, Mariam Bagayogo is still active. I refer you to Ngoniba's delicate YouTube offerings and to my post pointing to these.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'll be sure to check them out.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my wife came in when I was about three-quarters of the way through. She's not as tolerant as I am of vintage visual or audible artifacts on movies, or in recordings, but she stayed, and like me, was gaping at the conclusion. I hope somewhere there's a national archive of these treasures, treated for best quality results and longterm preservation. This should not be lost through the years.