Watoto Conference Day 3
The show was described as “a unique cultural experience” – but in simple terms I would call it a praise rally. The Watoto children showed amazing talent, singing and dancing. We traveled to central part of Uganda - Buganda for the “Bakusimba” dance, then all the way up North - Gulu for the “Bwola” dance, down to the west – Ankole for the “Kitogoro” and then flew to America for some hip-hop.
The Bakusimba dance involves vigorous movement of the back side (seriously, I’m not making this up) and legs to the rhythm of the drum. The Bwola dance (my favorite) is a dance of celebration involving movement of every part of the body. I loved the way the girls smiled and moved their necks back and forth gracefully like birds, they shook their waists from side to side and their legs moved like they were being pushed by a force which they were trying to resist, all to the rhythm of the drum. The leader would blow her whistle signaling the dancers to change formation.
The boys, I just love the way they dance, had feathers tied on their heads and calabashes in hand, they danced and the hit the calabashes with sticks making a “kwara kwara” sound.
The Kitogoro dance I think relates to cattle because the Banyankole are known to have large herds. The girls danced and raised their hands indicating the length of their cattle horns. The Ankole cattle have the longest horn in Uganda.
I sat in the parking lot, the place designated for the hundreds of people who couldn’t get into the main auditorium. It was the best place to sing and dance and make lots of noise.
Then to crown it all we had a show case of fire works, I tried to take a few pictures and this is how they turned out.
We all started home after that, looking forward to the Festival of Hope that all the KPC celebration points gather
The Bakusimba dance involves vigorous movement of the back side (seriously, I’m not making this up) and legs to the rhythm of the drum. The Bwola dance (my favorite) is a dance of celebration involving movement of every part of the body. I loved the way the girls smiled and moved their necks back and forth gracefully like birds, they shook their waists from side to side and their legs moved like they were being pushed by a force which they were trying to resist, all to the rhythm of the drum. The leader would blow her whistle signaling the dancers to change formation.
The boys, I just love the way they dance, had feathers tied on their heads and calabashes in hand, they danced and the hit the calabashes with sticks making a “kwara kwara” sound.
The Kitogoro dance I think relates to cattle because the Banyankole are known to have large herds. The girls danced and raised their hands indicating the length of their cattle horns. The Ankole cattle have the longest horn in Uganda.
I sat in the parking lot, the place designated for the hundreds of people who couldn’t get into the main auditorium. It was the best place to sing and dance and make lots of noise.
Then to crown it all we had a show case of fire works, I tried to take a few pictures and this is how they turned out.
We all started home after that, looking forward to the Festival of Hope that all the KPC celebration points gather
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