ASC Seminar: “They Will Destroy Our Wamarde”: Mbororo youth dance in transition in Cameroon

Tea Virtanen explores the changes taking place in the indigenous youth dance of the pastoral Mbororo Fulani of Cameroon. The change is related to broader socio-religious adjustments to the increasing pressure that is put on the Mbororo to abandon their “coarse” cultural practices in order to attain a more decent and modern Muslim identity. This seminar focuses on one development that is related to these modernization pressures, namely the recent trend of professionalization of the singers who are central actors in the Mbororo dance events. This professionalization is bringing about fundamental changes in the wamarde tradition e.g. in terms of the music style and the context of performing. Please register

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