Beni (music)

Beni dance performed in the Mangochi District of southern Malawi

Beni, also spelled Mbeni, ^[1] is an indigenized East African form of brass band music. ^[2] The word beni derives from the English word "band." ^[3] Beni appropriated symbols of colonial authority as the military drill, uniform, and elaborate hierarchies. ^[4]

The beni ngoma is a competitive dance genre based on a military drill performed to brass-band music. The corresponding Beni dance was developed during the colonial era, and mimicked military and colonial traditions with Africanized music and movement of the dancers. ^{[5] [6]} Beni has been considered an evolution of taarab, a traditional form of Swahili music. ^[7]

This kind of dance to brass music also included Swahili songs. ^{[4] [8]} It is a popular form of wedding entertainment with a strong focus on rhythm and dance, and audience participation.

History

Beni has its origins in urban Swahili communities on the Kenyan coast in the 1890s, ^[9] where it came to be part of the culture of competitive associations. ^[10] Brass band music was performed for British audiences in East Africa. Brass band music was used by missionaries to introduce European culture to young people in Zanzibar. ^ ^[4] At the same time, in the late colonial period, beni was a way for young people to express their independence. ^{[9] [4]}

Around 1914, the style spread to Tanga and Dar es Salaam. The first accounts of beni in Nyasaland were around 1918. During the First World War, beni was danced by askari soldiers. ^[11] Prisoners of war danced it in the detention camp at Zomba in Malawi, and by detachments of the 2nd KAR when they returned to Nairobi. ^[9] Beni dancers were also instrumental in structured communication during the 1935 Copperbelt strike in Northern Rhodesia. ^{[5] [6]}

When Beni was indigenized, western instruments were sometimes exchanged with local instruments, and march time was replaced by African cross beats and polyrhythm. ^[12] In Kenya, for example, wooden trumpets were substituted for traditional brass versions of the western instrument. ^[13]

In Zanzibar, Beni has been performed both as a street parade and stationary as a wedding dance. ^[14]

See also

• Music of Tanzania
• Ngoma music

References

1. Muthini, Charles, Danson Siminyu, and Kenya Presidential National Music Commission. (2007). "Mbeni: dance of the Akamba". search.worldcat.org. Nairobi: Permanent Presidential Music Commission. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
2. Manuh, Takyiwaa; Sutherland-Addy, Esi (2013). Africa in contemporary perspective: a textbook for undergraduate students (1. publ ed.). Oxford: Sub Saharan Publ. p. 447. ISBN   9789988647377.
3. The Garland Handbook of African Music. p. 305.
4. Ranger, T. O. (2023-04-28). Dance and Society in Eastern Africa 1890–1970: The Beni Ngoma. University of California Press. doi:10.2307/jj.2711640. ISBN   978-0-520-32836-5.
5. Freund, Bill (2016). The Making of Contemporary Africa: The Development of African Society Since 1800. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 114. ISBN   978-1-137-60620-4.
6. Ranger, Terence O. (1975). Dance and Society in Eastern Africa, 1890–1970: The Beni Ngoma. University of California Press. p. 139. ISBN   978-0-520-02729-9.
7. "The 'Waswahili' and Their Hold on East Africa's Popular Musical Culture – The Elephant". 22 November 2019.
8. Brucher, Katherine (15 April 2016). Brass Bands of the World: Militarism, Colonial Legacies, and Local Music Making. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN   978-1-317-17266-6.
9. McCracken, John (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966. Woodbridge, Suffolk (GB). pp. 156–158. ISBN   978-1-78204-028-6. OCLC   815390658.
10. Playing with identities in contemporary music in Africa. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet in cooperation with The Sibelius Museum/Dept. of Musicology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. 2002. p. 171. ISBN   9789171064967.
11. Garofalo, Reebee (1992). Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements. South End Press. ISBN   978-0-89608-427-8.
12. Antwi, Patrick Awuah (2013). Africa in Contemporary Perspective: A Textbook for Undergraduate Students. Accra, Ghana: Sub Saharan Publishers. ISBN   9789988647490.
13. The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 1. Routledge. 11 January 2013. p. 68. ISBN   978-1-136-09570-2.
14. McIntyre, Chris; McIntyre, Susan (2013). Zanzibar. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN   978-1-84162-458-7.

Literature

• Martin, Stephen H. (2017). "Brass bands and the beni phenomenon in urban east Africa". African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music. 7 (1): 72–81. doi: 10.21504/amj.v7i1.1931 . JSTOR   30249988.