We have different cultural activities and all members are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Those activities include drums and traditional dances and each of the groups meet twice a month on Saturdays in order to perform and teach the younger generation.
Drums
Brief history of Burundi Drums.
Since ancient times, drums have been considered sacred in Burundi . Traditionally, the word ingoma meant both drums and kingdom.
Drumming ensured the prosperity of the kingdom and they are considered the most important representatives of the country's musical tradition.
Burundian drummers channel history and ritual into the exuberant and enthusiastic performances that have earned them the title of one of the greatest percussion in the world today.
Dances
The imvyino dance songs are categorised depending on the circumstances of their performance.
- Dance songs accompanying a wedding celebration: Songs to prepare the future bride, giving advice on the way she has to behave with her in-laws; songs during the bridal procession, songs when the procession leaves at the end of the ceremony. This category of songs also includes those sung to mark the various traditional and compulsory visits to the families of the two newly-weds after the wedding.
- Dance songs at the birth of a child. These songs are performed by family, friends and neighbours to salute a mother who has passed the test of bringing a baby into the world, and to greet the baby as he enters the society. These dances acquire special, ritual solemnity when they celebrate the birth of twins ; this is an event almost within the realm of evil. The dances performed then become part of a rite to correct this abnormality and to protect the family.
- Dance songs for entertainment during shared, family occasions , at the end of ploughing or other joint activities where the warmth of the occasion - especially when drinking is involved - leads to spontaneous dancing.
- The war dances of the intore: rhythmic dance in strict lines, with weapons: spears and shields, leopard skins, headdresses, pearl costumes and bells on the feet:
- Presence of a leader to encourage the dancers with lyrical odes, war-like panegyrics: ( amazina y'ubuhizi ) and ( amazina y'intore ).
- Parade dance ( kwiyereka ) in a winding line reminiscent of the Indian line during which the warrior-dancers display their weapons