.Contombley percussion in the .....Seychelles Good Website on Sega Music

 

 

The citizens who live in the Seychelles Islands are called the Seychellois. There are a number of ethnic races represented in the Seychelles, most of which come from Africa. There are also significant numbers of Arabs, Indians, French, and Chinese. You will also see Polynesian, Indian, and Arcadian influences. The Seychellois are a beautiful combination of British, Chinese, French, Indian, and African blood. The Seychellois live simple lives in an earthly paradise where the tourism trade is closely regulated to preserve the abundant natural charms of the islands. Languages spoken in the Seychelles include Creole, French, and English.

Upon meeting someone in the Seychelles, it is customary to shake hands. The Seychellois are friendly and often invite newcomers to their houses. When visiting someone's home in the Seychelles, it is the custom to bring a small gift. Because the Seychelles consist of over 100 islands and only has a population of around 83,000, it has the distinction of being the least crowded country in the world. Population growth in the Seychelles is low, but the average age is quite young. Half the population is under 25. Nearly 70% of the inhabitants of the Seychelles live on Mahe, which is the largest island. Life expectancy in the Seychelles is about 72 years.

Though the Seychellois population is made up of many different ethnic groups, the people get along in harmony and are proud of their republic. The life on the Seychelles is casual, peaceful, and spiritual. Some 90% of Seychellois are Catholic. Other religions include Protestant Christians, Muslims, and Hindu. Most people are quite friendly and are glad to have any reason to have a party.

Music is an important part of the Seychellois culture. The music is influenced by Polynesian, Arcadian, and Indian music. The two main types of folk music in the Seychelles are the Montea and the Contombley, based on music, and drums respectively. Singing and dancing are important facets of life here. After all, if you lived in this earthly paradise, wouldn't you feel like singing and dancing? Sports are big in the Seychelles, too. Football, boxing, and volleyball are popular sports.

Seychelles cuisine is a Creole that is made up of the very best of the foods of India, Britain, China, France, Africa, and America. The staple foods are rice and fish, but creative combinations of spices along with the use of coconut milk and breadfruit make a huge variety of different tastes. Locally, cari bernique, daube (sweet sauce), rougaille, and carii coco (a meat curry with cream of coconut), salade de palmiste et bredes are prominent dishes. Spinach, along with many other fruits and vegetables grow in this warm climate, including guava, aubergine, lychee, melon, and calabashes.

One of the most famous drinks is Seybrew German lager. It is actually made on a nearby island and not in Germany. Many types of tea are available. Most restaurants in the Seychelles are "sit down" restaurants, where waiter service is the norm. Usually, tips run about 5% to 10% of the bill.

Though there is no culture indigenous to the Seychelles, many influences from African origins have remained for centuries now. The government created a National School of Music and a National Cultural Troupe to encourage growth and tradition. You can partake of the wonderful Seychellois culture simply by visiting, dining, dancing, and having a great time.

You will find in the Seychelles numerous shops selling souvenirs and gifts such as local hand crafts, ornaments, and jewelry, many of which are prepared with snail shells. As nightlife goes, the Seychelles are rather quiet, though there are some local music venues and dance performances. Also, some of the larger hotels hold dinner dances and barbecues. In most hotels, men are asked to wear long trousers rather than shorts, but that is about as "formal" as life gets in the Seychelles.

French and African influences are very noticeable in the Seychelles. There are three kinds of music that are associated with the local culture: the sega, which has strong African influence, moutia, a style that originated in slaves, and contredanse, a style of music and dance with French and British origins. Of the contemporary artists, Adams Michael is thought of as the "Gaugin of the Seychelles." There are also many other artists who live in the Seychelles, including Leon Radegonde, Gerard Devoud, Marc Duc, and George Camille.

Seychelles holidays

 

Every October a Creole Festival is held. It is the biggest cultural event in the island chain. During this festival, the Seychellois celebrate the creole culture with music, art, great food, and dance. Though almost 100% of the Seychellois speak Creole, French and English are also widely used.

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Brazilian Creole Music and Dance Origins

Capoeira a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music.

 

Capoeira

 

(Portuguese pronunciation:is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences[citation needed], probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for leg sweeps.

The word capoeira probably comes from Tupi, referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior.

History

Capoeira's history probably begins with the adoption of African slavery in Angola. Since the 16th century, Portugal extensively adopted slavery to man their colonies, coming mainly from West and Central Africa. Brazil, with its vast territory, was the major destination of African slaves, receiving 38.5% of all slaves sent by ships across the Atlantic Ocean.

Capoeira has a long and controversial history, since historical documentation in Brazil was very scarce in its colonial times. Evidences, studies and oral tradition leave little doubt about its Brazilian roots, but it is impossible to precisely identify the exact Brazilian region or time it began to take form.

Origins

In the 16th century Portugal had one of the biggest colonial empires of the world, but it lacked people to actually colonize it. In the Brazilian colony the Portuguese, like many European colonists, opted to use slavery to supply this shortage of workers. Colonists tried to enslave Brazilian natives in the beginning, but this quickly proved too difficult for many reasons, including the familiarity natives had with the land. The solution was importing slaves from Africa.[1]

In its first century the main economic activity in the colony was the production and processing of sugarcane. Portuguese colonists used to create large sugarcane farms called engenhos, farms which extensively used enslaved workers. Slaves, living in inhumane and humiliating conditions, were forced to work hard and often suffered physical punishment for any small misbehaviour.[1] Even though slaves outnumbered the Portuguese colonists, the lack of weapons, the colonial law, the disagreement between slaves coming from different African cultures and their complete lack of knowledge about the land and its surroundings would usually discourage the idea of a rebellion.

In this environment capoeira began to develop. More than a fighting style, it was created as a hope of survival, a tool with which an escaped slave, completely unequipped, could survive in the hostile, unknown land and face the hunt of the capitães-do-mato, colonial agents armed and mounted in charge of finding escapees.

End of slavery and prohibition of Capoeira

At the end of the 19th century, slavery in the Brazilian Empire was already doomed for many reasons, among them the ever increasing number of slave's escapes and the frequent raids by quilombo militias on properties which still adopted slavery. The Empire tried to soften the problems with laws that would restrict slavery, but Brazil would inevitably recognize its end on May 13, 1888, with a law called Lei Áurea, sanctioned by imperial parliament and signed by princess Isabel.

Free, black people would soon find themselves abandoned. A vast majority had nowhere to live, no job and were despised by Brazilian society, which usually saw them as lazy workers.[7][8] The increase of European and Asian workers of that time would diminish job opportunities even more and many black people would become marginalized. Naturally, they maintained capoeira as a means of recreation and martial arts practice.[8][9]

It was inevitable that capoeira practitioners would start using their abilities in unconventional ways. Many began to use capoeiristas as body guards, mercenaries, hitmen, henchmen. Groups of capoeira practitioners, known as maltas, used to terrorize Rio de Janeiro. In little time, in 1890, the recently proclaimed Brazilian Republic decreed the prohibition of capoeira in the whole country,[10] as things were pretty chaotic in the Brazilian capital and many police reports would demonstrate that capoeira was an undeserved advantage in a fight.[9]

After the prohibition, any citizen caught practicing capoeira, in a fight or for any other reason, would be arrested, tortured and often mutilated by the police. The art of capoeira, after brief freedom, was once again condemned and repressed. Cultural practices, like the roda de capoeira, were conducted in far or hidden places and often practitioners would leave someone as sentry, to warn if the police were approaching the area.

Capoeira today

Capoeira nowadays is not only a martial art or a small aspect of Brazilian society, but an active exporter of Brazilian culture all over the world. Since the 1970s masters of the art form began to emigrate and teach capoeira in other countries. Present in many countries in every continent, every year Capoeira attracts to Brazil thousands of foreign students and, often, foreign capoeiristas work hard to learn the official Brazilian language, Portuguese, in an effort to better understand and become part of the art. Renowned Capoeira Masters are often invited to teach abroad or even establish their own schools. Capoeira presentations, normally theatrical, acrobatic and with little martiality, are common sights in the whole world.

The martial art aspect is still present and, like old times, is still subtle and disguised, leading many non-practitioners to ignore its presence. Trickery is ever present and expert capoeiristas never take their sights off their opponents in a Capoeira game. An attack can be disguised even as a friendly gesture. Such trickery amongst a collection of others are all a form of malicia which is used by both Capoiera Regional and Angola.

Symbol of the Brazilian culture, symbol of the ethnic amalgam that characterizes Brazil, symbol of resistance to the oppression, Capoeira definitely changed its image and became a source of pride to Brazilian people. It is officially considered intangible cultural heritage of Brazil.

 

Capoeira a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music.

Martial Art

Capoeira is a fast and versatile martial art which is historically focused on fighting outnumbered or in technological disadvantage.

The ginga (literally: rocking back and forth; to swing) is the fundamental movement in capoeira, important both for attack and defense purposes. It has two main objectives. One is to keep the capoeirista in a state of constant motion, preventing him or her from being a still and easy target. The other, using also fakes and feints, is to mislead, fool, trick the opponent, leaving them open for an attack or a counter-attack.

 

 

The attacks in the Capoeira should be done when opportunity arises and must be decisive, like a direct kick in the face or a vital body part, or a strong takedown. Most Capoeira attacks are made with the legs, like direct or swirling kicks, rasteiras (leg sweeps), tesouras or knee strikes. The head strike is a very important counter-attack move. Elbow strikes, punches and other forms of takedowns complete the main list.

The defense is based on the principle of non-resistance, meaning avoiding an attack using evasive moves instead of blocking it. Avoids are called esquivas, which depend on the direction of the attack and intention of the defender, and can be done standing or with a hand leaning on the floor. A block should only be made when the esquiva is not possible. This fighting strategy allows quick and unpredictable counter attacks, the ability to focus on more than one adversary and to face empty-handed an armed adversary.

A series of rolls and acrobatics (like the Cartwheels called aú) allows the capoeirista to quickly overcome a takedown or a loss of balance, and to position themselves around the aggressor in order to lay up for an attack. It is this combination of attacks, defense and mobility which gives Capoeira its perceived 'fluidity' and choreography-like style.

Capoeira game

Playing Capoeira is both a game and a method of practicing the application of Capoeira movements in simulated combat. It can be played anywhere, but it's usually done in a roda. During the game most Capoeira moves are used, but capoeiristas usually avoid using punches or elbow strikes unless it's a very aggressive game.

The game usually does not focus on knocking down or destroying the opponent, rather it emphasizes skill. Capoeiristas often prefer to rely on a takedown like a rasteira, then allowing the opponent to recover and get back into the game. It is also very common to slow down a kick inches before hitting the target, so a capoeirista can enforce superiority without the need of injuring the opponent. If an opponent clearly cannot dodge an attack, there is no reason to complete it. However, between two high-skilled capoeiristas, the game can get much more aggressive and dangerous. Capoeiristas tend to avoid showing this kind of game in presentations or to the general public.

Capoeira survived in the African-American community in the United States during the slavery era, for the same reasons that it was practised among Brazilian slaves. In the U.S., it evolved into the stick dance (African-American), and by the late 19th century, the martial art origins were gradually forgotte

 

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