The Traditional East African Dance Known As "Igishakamba" (YouTube Videos, Online Information, & Comments)

Nazarite Image, Oct. 8, 2015

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an embedded YouTube video of the Igishakamba dance.

This post also quotes several online sources about the history and performance of the  "Igishakamba" dance, including summaries or comments from other hyperlinked YouTube videos of this dance. 

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and all those who are featured in this video and the videos that are given as hyperlinks below.
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I changed the title for this pancocojams post on Jan 5, 2021 to hopefully increase the possibility that viewers will find and read it. 

I'm interested in learning about any differences in the ways that igishakamba is performed by people in various East African nations and also about any contemporary changes in the ways that this dance is performed. Please share information and comments in this post's discussion section. Thanks in advance! 

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ONLINE ARTICLE EXCERPTS

These quotes are presented in chronological order by publishing date with the quote with no date given first, and then the oldest quoted information given next.

Excerpt #1
From https://www.inganzongari.com/music/ikinimba/igishakamba.html
"Igishakamba cultural dance is said to be portraying the beauty of long- honed Ankore race cows and the general way of life of the semi- pastoral inhabitants of the North-Eastern region of the country."

-snip- 
This quote is from the website of "Inganzo Ngari", a Rwandan dance company. 

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Excerpt #2
From  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIj35gIR1z8&ab_channel=milk11honey Burundi traditional dance: Igishakamba published by milk 11 honey, April 2, 2011
"Burundian Students at Université de Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada) performing Igishakamba by Club du Lac aux oiseaux (Intashikirwa) at Vieux Clocher de l'UdeS."

[Selected comments; numbers added for referencing purposes only] 

Espe Gatako, 2011
"for me, personally i don't think that this is fully a burundian traditional dance, true burundians don't dance like that... and i'm also gonna say that it ain't Rwandan either..... it's just a combination of both....i like it BTW..."

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Mpinga Nzima, 2011
"@johnpascal77 This is a folkloric dance from Kirundo (Northern Burundi). The singer is part of the "Club du Lac aux Oiseaux/Intashikirwa", her name is Ciciri"

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Mpinga Nzima, 2012
"@ndayikeze Club Giramahoro ntiserukira uburundi bwose. "Igishakamba" is one of the folkloric dances of Kirundo. The proximity of Kirundo to Rwanda explains the cultural blend. But Kirundo being in Burundi, this is a Burundian dance. People who live in proximity with each will tend to be similar in so many ways despite political borders."

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mukeanne, 2012
"Why do you guys have to argue over nothing? Its okay just be happy about wat this girls are doing bcz it s a such good thing. For those who are saying it s not bundi dance, believe it or not this is burundi dance as some of u metioned it the dance from Kirundo. I myself can do the dance very well as i come from Kirundo, Commine Bwambarangwe. So this is completly burundi tradional dance as we have too many moves not only one moves. God bless u all."

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gwasam, 2013
"Thanks for this nice video my dear! Just a general comment,there are many similarities culture wise,way of living, etc btn Burundians and Rwandans.I am Rwandan but I have attended a function (urubanza as u say) in Kirundo in these back areas where people haven't traveled in order to say that they were performing what they saw somewhere else...for the ones who are bringing in here nationalities or whatever, just enjoy the moves of the Vanessa and others, the rest, leave it to God who created us!"

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Excerpt #3
From http://bericai.blogspot.com/2015/04/igishakamba.html Gutamba Ikirundi
Unknown, April 18, 2015
"Igishakamba is a burundian traditional dance originating from Burundi an African country located in the east central part of the continent. the dance originated from Kirundo a province found in the north part of the country. It is an all female dance like most of the Burundian traditional dances, it was performed for the king and his guests on special events like weddings."
 
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Excerpt #4 
From https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/202762 "Do You Know The Origin Of The Popular Traditional Dance "Igishakamba"? by Francis Byaruhanga, Published : August 20, 2016 
"Well, growing up in Tooro, in Western Uganda, I used to see young people - both girls and boys - gather in the neighbourhood after dinner to participate in folk songs, Igishakamba and share riddles, in what was known as Ugutarama in Kinyarwanda.

In the East African region, just like many parts of Africa, there are multiple ethnic groups with different music traditions, one of which is Igishakamba – a fusion of contemporary-music influences of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzanian and DR Congo.

The dance is performed during weddings, ceremonies and important cultural events. Notably, Igishakamba dancers and drummers, express communal desires, values and collective creativity.

Jean-Damascène Rwasamirera, a historian and an expert in the folk traditions says this type of dance is adaptive practice between the Ekitagururo from Uganda and Umuhamirizo from Rwanda- the two contemporary dances were merged and Igishakamba was born. It was introduced between 1960s-1970s and later spread to Burundi, Tanzania and DR Congo.

Today, Igishakamba is one of the most performed traditional dances in Rwanda and is very popular in Umutara, in the Eastern Province.

Dr Jacques Nzabonimpa, director of Culture, Research, Protection and Promotion unit, says that in the pre- historic Rwanda, people inhabiting a certain place would have their own style of dancing. He cites Ikinimba of the Bakiga people in the South-western part of Uganda, Gutsoma and Ikinyemera of Bagogwe people in north-western region and Igishakakamba of Bahima in south-western Uganda.

He explains that Igishakamba originated from the Bahima of Nkole in Uganda and parts of Karagwe in eastern Tanzania as a result of adaptation that resulted from Rwandans, who lived with in these areas.

Stick, whistle and a drum

Sticks, whistles and a drum are important instruments when performing Igishakamba. While dancing, the male dancers use sticks and whistles, while the female dancers use whistles too.

Traditionally, the sticks are used to guide the performance and the whistles, which create a collective rhythm and allow linguistic meaning to be expressed non-verbally.

Apart from the Igishakamba, there are several other traditional dances in Rwanda like Amaraba, Intore, Ikinimba, Ikinyemera, Inkaranka and Umuhamiriz"

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Excerpt #5
From https://www.jstor.org/stable/26357872?seq=1
Journal Article: "Contemporary Dynamics in Rwandan Dances: Identity, Changing Creativity and the Globalisation of Affect" by Carine Plancke
Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research
Vol. 34, No. 2 (WINTER 2016), pp. 150-169 (20 pages)
Published By: Edinburgh University Press
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26357872
"Abstract
In contemporary Rwandan society, a revitalisation of 'traditional' dances can be observed which manifests in the proliferation of youth dance troupes, especially in urban areas. This revival is part of the drive, which has characterised Rwanda, to reconstruct itself after the traumatic 1994 genocide and to create a new, unified nation that strives to be 'modern' and integrated into the global market economy. This article explores the repertoire and dynamics of current Rwandan dance performances as they embody the new national identity, pointing to differences between the practices and views of dancers trained in the pre-genocide period and dancers from contemporary youth troupes. In this respect, two divergent views of creativity, found among these two categories of dancers, are distinguished: a perspective that privileges improvisation as a key creative process, on the one hand, and a view of creativity as innovation and the realisation of novel, pre-designed forms, on the other. With regard to the affective power of these performances, the article advances that contemporary dance shows generate affect, as bodily intensity, among the onlookers captured by the flow of spectacular, homogeneously performed dance forms. While evocative of Rwanda's new national identity, the latter neutralise connections with the dancers' subjective history and erase the dances' sociocultural background. In a final note, the changing dynamics in Rwandan dances are linked beyond this specific case study to the flow-closure dialectic of globalisation. It is suggested that dance's dual nature of both rhythmic flow and visual form is what makes it such a privileged marker of identity in our uncertain and violence-generating global times."

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Excerpt #6
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weJrwoxbILA&ab_channel=FiacreIgihozoAzerf

Igishakamba, Rwandan traditional dance [shot from the back]

Fiacre Igihozo Azerf, May 19, 2019

'Igishakamba is one of over 10 existing traditional dances in Rwandan culture based on the regions. It's originates from the northwestern part of Rwanda and the southwestern part of Uganda"

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Excerpt #7
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NtOwI-cy_U&ab_channel=YAWETV 
UMUDIHO NYARWANDA IGISHAKAMBA KIRYOHEYE IJIJO, published by YAWE TV, Nov. 28, 2019
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This dance was performed at a wedding. 

[Selected comments from that video's discussion thread]
1. Birungi Tibasima, 2020

"A’bahima?"

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Reply
2. Aha Ta, 2020
"They are bakonyine from North East Rwanda. Tutsi/Hima pastoralists culture."

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