Page 11 - DILMUN 9
P. 11

in origin, as their names indicate,    The     Chapoua
          tamboura is a primitive, six-stringed instru­
          ment like a harp. It is attached to a wooden
          bowl and the frame is bound with coloured                           as
          cloth, coins and beads. The chapoua is a two-       £v-
          feet high open-ended, wooden drum skin-                       /Vv.
          covered. Umsondo and jiganga are other in­
          struments. Strangest of all is the manjour. a
          small apron, worn slung over the buttocks. To
          it are stitched in rows, so as to cover the cloth,
          the horny outer casing of goats’ hooves, which
          have been boiled out for the purpose. The                             g- • —  ----
          dancer, rotating his hips, jumping up and down,                res*
          shaking his body, can produce a dry, swishing
          sound, louder and more coordinated than a                            ttV
          mere rattle, which adds considerably to the
          volume of sound produced by the musicians.
            The individual dances last for a hour or
          more and are cumulative in their effect. The                                          !
          zinzumari players have a technique of breathing
                                                                                                I
          through their noses and expelling the air                        3
          through their instrument, which enables them                            I
          to keep up the blaring thread of their music
          without interruption.
            This is the strange, monotonous wild music
          that is heard at dusk from the palm-frond
          ‘ harasti ’ huts, where the poor labouring class                           Tabal Taviboura
         still clusters.
            The Zarr. or communing with spirits, has
          close affinities to witch - doctoring, and is
          presided over by negresses, powerful figures in   This article may not be reproduced, in part
          this twilight world of crude psychological mani­
         pulation. Heavy, immobile, shrouded in their    or in full, without the consent of the Author.
         gauzy black wraps, their faces masked, gold
         flickering on their chests and down the seams of
         their garments, they sit like so many massive   Drawings by Paddy Simpson of instruments
          idols, silently observing the dancers. It is their   lent by Ahmed A1 - Fardan.
         stillness and aloof, cold silence, in contrast to
         the noisy animation of the dancers and the
         good humour of the onlookers, that give the
         impression of power.


          Kanoon
















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