Travel - Escaping to the scented Islands - Part 4

There are a few nightclubs on the main Island of Mahe, but each hotel and resort ensures that you are kept entertained whether you come for a week or a month. Each day the Hotel has an itinerary filled with exciting entertainment. At night you need to be ready to boogy, because when you come to Seychelles you have to be prepared to let your hair down and just let the music take over.

The sounds of the Seychelles are diverse. The folk music of the islands draws multiple influences in a syncretic fashion, including African rhythms with complex drums and instrumental sounds like the zez and the bom. A similar sound is known in Brazil as berimbau. European contredanse, polka and mazurka all have a big influence, even French folk and pop is there. The traditional sega that originated from Mauritius and RÈunion relly gets the crowd on their feet, when they hear the rhythm they let out yelps of joy and head for the dans floor. Sega Music originated amongst the slave populations of Mauritius and Reunion. Used as accompaniment for traditional dance, and uses simple instruments such as rattles, hand drums, gourds and musical bows.

Taarab, soukous and other pan-African genres, and Polynesian, Indian and Arcadian music are all mixed in a salad of musical culture. A complex form of percussion music called contombley is also quite popular, as is Moutya, a fusion of native folk rhythms with Kenyan origins. Almost every kind of music out there is welcomed by these fun loving people.

The traditional moutya is an erotic dance derived from the days of slavery and still features today, together with the sega with its colourful lyrics; the kanmtole, reminiscent of a country reel, and the contredanse, an import from the French influence.

The origins of Seychellois can be found in a multiple of African regions, as well as South Asia, Madagascar, Europe, and the Middle East.

Africans were imported as slaves to the islands, by the Europeans, and they reverted to traditional music and instruments. The Europeans brought the polkas, mazurkas, and contradans music of Northern Europe and the British Isles and it all got mixed up together in a melting pot of musical culture.

Local slaves combined their music with the European music, additionally blending in the music of Polynesia and India.

A Maloya is slower and more reflective than sega, though their instrumentation is similar, it is typically sung in a shout-and-response style with a rebellious, political tone.

In the Seychelles music is associated with the movement to keep the Creole culture alive. Moutya (Montea), similar music to Sega, but the accompanying dance has more suggestive movements and the dancers move freely around the floor. This usually takes place around a campfire, which is used to heat and tune a goatskin drum.

So if you like reggae music, this will be right up your alley. Locals are always keen to get you to join in the celebration. They often invite tourists into their homes and encourage them to celebrate their culture with them.

On many occasions we were invited into locals homes where there was always music playing from one or more speakers. It is like nothing on earthlike an island party celebration wherever we went.