This course is not only talking about music and dance in Uganda, we also learned a lot about how music and dance influence people in Uganda. Before I took this course, I just regard it as an elective course. But I feel different now. I understand how music and dance bring happiness to Uganda people. Music and dance also helped people came out from the haze of the war; plays an important role on rituals; makes people who suffered from HIV/AIDS happier and also gave women a chance to show up.
Firstly, music and dance helped people came out from the haze of the war. There is a movie called ‘War Dance Uganda’ which talks about people who lived in a war zone Acholi tribe which is located in northern Uganda. They suffered from the war and lose their relatives. Most children lost their parents during the war. Some of their parents were killed by rebels; some of them were abducted by rebels. These children have to live with their relatives. They have to do a lot of chores and also take care of their younger brother and sisters. Under that situation, music became a part of their life. Only dance and singing can help them to forget those bad memories. Otherwise, people who suffered the war put their hopes into the lyrics of the song. For example, there is song called “Long ago” by BSG Labongo, the song texts said: “Long ago we used to walk with our heads up/ Today we walk with our heads bowed down/ War has made our tribe small.” (Wadiru, Stella, 2012, Pgs. 183) These three sentences absolutely make clear purpose that people afraid of the war and they concerned to end the war, so that the Acholi can leave the camps and return home.
Secondly, music and dance plays an important role on rituals. There is a particular ritual in Bagisu wh...
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...gy in East Africa: Perspectives from Uganda and Beyond. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Pgs. 73, 85
• Wadiru, Stella. 2012. “Sounding the War: Acholi Popular Music in the Peace Process in Northern Uganda.” Ethnomusicology in East Africa: Perspectives from Uganda and Beyond. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Pgs. 183
• Isabirye, Joel. 2008. “Philly Lutaaya: Popular Music and the Fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda.” Journal for Postcolonial Writing 44(1): 29 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17449850701820632 Accompanying Video: “Born in Africa,” a documentary about Ugandan popular musician Philly Lutaaya and the AIDS epidemic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHfN5PsTkY • Barz, Gregory. 2006. “No One Will Listen to Us Unless We Bring Our Drums!: AIDS and Women’s Music Performance in Uganda.” Singing for Life: HIV/AIDS and Music in Uganda. London: Routledge. Pgs. 81
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Movie “And the Band Played On” is the framework of the earliest years of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Also known as the Gay disease. The movie examines HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States in the earlier 1980’s and emphasizes on three crucial components. An immunologist with knowledge in eradicating smallpox and containing the Ebola virus, joins the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to attempt and recognize just what this disease is. The film also deals the administration and government side that does not seem to care. The homosexual community in San Francisco is separated on the nature of the disease but also want to know what should be done
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
“And the Band Played On” was an HBO movie that illustrated the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and early 1990s. The movie touched on subjects concerning the reaction of the gay community, the heterosexual community, and the medical community. It showed not only the research in AIDS, but also the way that the US government dealt with it. The movie expressed the consequences the gay community suffered, the plight of the medical community in researching the disease, and the issue of government response to it.
In sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of languages, cultures, and geographical regions helped influence our African society. The ways in which we produce our artwork, spiritual ideals, and ritual performances are organic and raw. From the tropical regions of Congo and Ghana, to the arid regions of Mali; I pass through the global gateway into a domain where the Western world lost its roots and artistic imagination and grandeur. Africa appeals most to me for its ability to create a realm where the living, dead, and artistic ideals come into a single unit of tranquil philosophy.
Hip-hop music and the culture embodied within it has become a global and hybrid phenomena. The latter has been both adopted and arrogated by many different cultures, ethnicities, races, and nationalities all over the globe. Globalization plays a notable role in the significant growth presence of hip-hop in major cities around Africa in the past two to three decades, by gaining access to information through the Internet and television (Charry 2012, p. 170). Specifically speaking, Nigeria has become the hub of the television and entertainment industry in Africa gaining a large following, influence, and adoption of hip-hop music but specifically the rap genre. Nigeria is among the very few nations that have successfully incorporated hip-hop culture amidst the youth but also creating their own form of authentic Nigerian hip-hop called Naija hip-hop (Oikelome 2013, p. 85). More so, this form of hip-hop has created an outlet for the youth to listen to something new with a global edge...
In the movie “And the Band Played On”, illustrated the origin of the AIDS virus, how it was spread across the world quickly. It began with a scene in 1976, Central Africa, shows how the Ebola disease affected a village and was contained before it was spread. This was to show the beginning of another serious disease called AIDS. The world was not prepared to handle such a contagious plague. Doctors treating people with this virus thought that the first cases of the HIV virus was just an abnormality disease. The disease started to spread all over, especially gay men. Throughout the movie, I was able to see different points, such as the beginning of AIDS, the misconceptions it had, and the anguish it brought to the doctors as well as people around the world.
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
To conclude, one can say that dancing has been a true life saver for some of them because not only is it allowing them to express themselves but it also gives them another option than just being a gang member. Dancing also helps them express their passion for the art and it a form of spiritual connection, while connecting them to the African culture. They relieve all their stress and anger through dancing. Lastly, dancing give them a sense of pride and hope that life could get better with hard work and perseverance.
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
Throughout the semester, various styles of music and the aspects of culture associated with these styles have been analyzed. Musical elements such as dynamics, texture, form, timbre, melody, instruments, etc., have been used to thoroughly explore each kind of music from different areas of the world, with an emphasis in music from Africa, India and Indonesia. These aspects of music go far beyond just music itself. Culture also plays a huge role in music and the accompanying musical elements. Each country and culture has a different style and distinctiveness that add to what makes the music of that certain culture unique. Music in Africa may differ dramatically from music in Indonesia or India not only due to those certain elements but also due to how it is interpreted by people and what it represents for those people. In addition to this, what one may consider music in one culture may not be music to another. These differences have been made apparent in the several demonstrations that we have been exposed to in class.
Achebe uses the symbol of tribal drums to show the flourishing culture and life that Umuofia experiences before the Europeans arrive. The symbol of drums is often present during cultural gatherings and celebrations in Umuofia. During the feast, which marks a new harvest year, “drums [are] still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound [is] no longer a separate thing from the living village” (104). Drums distinctly relate to the culture and traditions of the village. Moreover, the “persistent and unchanging” beat to the drums also reflects the unity of the society, and how the tribe currently operates (104). These traditions are unique to Umuofia and are an integral part of African culture. However, this unchanging and pe...
Every West African village had its own professional musicians and singers who would perform for the community. Musicians were idolized in their villages. They normally sat with the king or chief because of their elevated status.
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.