The Soul of a People: Batuku an Everyday Holistic Practice of Cape Verdean Women

Tania Camara

11391405

The Soul of a People:

Batuku an Everyday Holistic Healing Practice of Cape

Verdean Women

Figure 1: A Batuku Performance, Batukadera Azul (2016), painting by Luis Levy Lima

University of Amsterdam

(July 2018)

The Soul of a People:

1

Contents Page

2

Introduction

6

Outline of Case Studies 9

Theoretical Framework 10

Short History of Cape Verde 12

Illusion of the Civilising Mission 13

History of Famine in Cape Verde 14

Slavery and Food Production 16

The Cape Verdean Diet: a Survival tactic 18

Forced Emigration: New mode of African Enslavement 20

Chapter One: What is Batuku?

21

History of Batuku 21

The Interdependent Features of Batuku: Finason, Txabeta and Torno 22

1.1 What is Finason? 23

1.2 What is Txabeta? 24

1.3 What is Torno? 25

Kriolu in the composition of Batuku 27

External relations of Batuku: Colonial Spectres 29

Always in a Circular Motion 32

Everyday Practices 33

Batuku as Embodied Memory and Knowledge 36

Chapter Two: Reaching Higher Consciousness through the Txabeta 38

Further exploring ‘Da Ku Torno’ 39

The Black Male Gaze 43

The White Male Gaze 44

The Oppositional Female Gaze 46

The Presence of the Physical Body 47

The Element of Trance in Batuku 49

Generating Aesthetic Space 50

Batuku, Resistance against Colonial Rule

52

Sing in the Name of Freedom 56

Batuku, becoming a National Symbol 58

Social Call and Cultural response 61

Conclusion

66

Illustrations

71

Bibliography

72

Youtube Videos Used 74

Abstract

Batuku, Performance, Cape Verdean Revolution, Africanness, African Spirituality

Keywords

This work aims to explore what a Batuku performance is and what role it plays in the everyday lives of Cape Verdean women specifically during times of crisis, such as famine. This thesis examines every aspect of Batuku a) the finason, b) the txabeta and c) the torno. In order to

understand what this performance is, what knowledge is embodied in it and how it was used during the Cape Verdean revolution that led to independence. Batuku Performance is represented as a holistic practice that has been and continues to be cultivated by Cape Verdean women, it is a mode of education, memory preservation, social affirmation,

communication and resistance. It is the legacy of ancestors that survived the Maafa.

Introduction

Relevance of Research

The research on the practice and performance of Batuku (Batuque or Batuko means ‘to beat’) is relevant because it is a tradition from the island of Santiago that is under represented in academia and artistic practice. Since, my artistic practice is interdisciplinary and consisted of all the aspects of Batuku, spoken word, dance, music and performance. And I am doing a research masters’ that aims to bridge the gap between artistic practice and theory, I decided to research my own practice

alongside my Cape Verdean heritage and my relationship with Batuku. This is not an attempt to classify Batuku in western frames of music, dance or cultural conceptions but rather an open exploration of the practice in terms of performance, ritual, improvisation and a form knowledge production. The cultivation of this practice has allowed for Cape Verdeans to formulate a hybridised identity and representation of themselves that derives from the their own image. The question I have been asking throughout my research has been what does the black African female body look like in resistance and not in despair, since I am interested in generating alternative images for the black African woman. For this purpose I want to use the concept of Sankofa, which means, ‘we must return and claim our past in order to move toward our future. It is in understanding who we were that will free us to embrace who we are now.’ (DeGruy, 2005: 6) This concept will enrich the research further because it speaks not of origins, (or returning to an origin) but rather to the idea of using historiography from the past in the present, taking what used to be great about the self and bringing that knowledge into the present. This concept is important because it allows for the discussion of gender politics within this thesis to be centered within an African philosophical framework. I want to focus on Batuku and how it became a platform of visibility for Cape Verdean women, because for most of Cape Verdean history women have occupied an invisible and silent position and in the performance, they are visible in every sense.

Background/Context of Research

The current research on Batuku is based on its musical structure, the scholarly work on the subject of Batuku falls under the fields of Ethnomusicology, anthropology and musicology (Cardoso 1983; Castro Ribeiro 1993, 1994, 2004, 2006, 2010, Cruz 1981; Hurley-Glowa 1997, 2001 and 2005; Lopes 1949 and Varela da Silva 1985, 1988 and 1990). As well as Batuku as a form of resistance but the research done by Katherine Carter and Judy Aulette (2009), was short and superficial since it explored the practice in relation to colonial oppression and did not examine in depth what makes/ made Batuku such a power practice and performance. Batuku has not been studied in its entirety, but separately either as a music genre or a dance, there are 3 basic components that make up Batuku, the Finason, the Txabeta and the Torno, through all of these mediums a story is narrated. I want to analyse Batuku as an interdisciplinary art form that incorporates three separate genres that stand on their own but when they come together they tell a story, a Cape Verdean national narrative. I will take a different approach by analysing the practice and performance of Batuku as a holistic and/or spiritual practice. Therefore, I will explore this aspect of Batuku, by analysing it in depth its relation to African cosmological philosophies, the representation of African women in Batuku and African spiritual practices and finally the call and response structure and how this helped build community and sisterhood.

Overall Objectives

The main aim/objective of this thesis is to research the cultural practice of Batuku and its cultivation during the famine of 1947 to independence in 1975. In order to investigate what role Batuku played, as a cultural practice as well as a form of healing for Cape Verdean women throughout this colonial period. I want to investigate how Batuku can be seen as a form of resistance against colonial rule,

resistance in everyday practices, a form of embodied knowledge, a communal memory preserver, an identity constructer, a form of liberation and release from everyday hardships, as an everyday ritual performance, a carrier of cultural values, a carrier of the kriolu language; and a form of healing. The question being explored throughout this thesis is in what ways could performing/practicing Batuku during the periods of 1947 to 1975 in Cape Verde serve as an act of self-claiming, self-defining and resistance for women. In order to investigate this topic, first there has to be an understanding of what the practice of Batuku entails and its history, alongside the history of slavery, colonial governance and famine in the archipelago.

Methodology

This research will use a non — empirical approach due to the time restrictions and lack of funds. I will examine archived material of the practice, such as, documentaries about the Batuku Groups, to begin with, Batuque: A Alma de Um Povo (2004) a documentary that follows the history of Batuku from the early settlement on the islands by the Portuguese and enslaved Africans, to the

development and cultivation of the practice in this globalised era. This is done through the story of the Batuku group Raiz di Tamabarina (1971) here the members narrate their relationship with the practice from their first encounter to now. The group is one of many traditional Batuku groups but, their have a very interesting story because they are one of the few groups that was ‘officially’ founded straight after independence was gained. And so, in some of their songs they highlight the Cape Verdean experience as it was happening, particularly in the case of the famine. Secondly,

Documentário Tradison di Terra (2011), where group Tradison di Terra discuss their development

trajectory, how and why they formed a group. And what they have achieve as a group for the larger Cape Verdean culture on the national and international level. Followed by the their CD and DVD

Nós Bandera (2011) and the group Kultura Esperansa’s CD and DVD Realidadi (2009). I will also 1

analyse Finason/Batuku singer Nacia Gomi (Gomes) who was one of the oldest batukaderas of Cape Verde, in this instance, the focus will be on the performer rather than on the music itself. I want to explore Nacia Gomi as a performer, the way she delivers her finason, how her body is incorporated into her delivery of the finason and her playfulness. This documented material of Batuku facilitates the investigation of what the practice is and how it works and compensates for the lack of testimonies by practitioners about the practice. As well as official documentation from the colonial era that demonstrated the spaces the practice occupied in Cape Verdean society. However, there are many disadvantages in working only with documented materials, for starters, because Batuku is a practice that uses oral history as a form of documentation, it is extremely difficult to find original materials that have not been influenced by the archivist and directors of the material. It is also difficult to get a sense of the atmosphere that is created during a Batuku performance from a recording because it looses its liveliness.

Outline of Case Studies

I will analyse the body of work of the following Batuku groups, Tradicon di Terra (2003) and Raiz di Tambarina (1971) Kultura Speranca (2000). While looking at these videos I want to examine every aspect of Batuku, (meaning the music, the lyrics, the dance and the imagery) in order to

This CD Nós Bandera (translates to Our Flag) is the first recorded work of Tradison di Terra (translates to Tradition of

1

the land) and there are many different themes that run through this body of work. The main now is that of motherhood, the act of giving birth a child, nurturing, feeding and caring for them. The lyrics narrate stories of mothers raising their children, having to work in manual labour, having to gather sand and rock for the making of construction material, and selling fish at the markets. In order to put their children through school and to provide for their families. The gathering of women to form group and facing the stigma that some men hold against the practice and as a result of that stigma these men prohibit their wives from partaking in the Batuku group. Celebrating the Cape Verdean identity through the flag, by singing about what the flag represents to them. And finally, a longing for the motherland, waiting to reach out to Africans on the mainland and connecting with them over their shared history of slavery and colonialism.

This CD Rialidadi (translates to Reality) is the first that was composed by the group “Kultura Speranca”, (translates to Culture and Hope). The main theme that runs through this body of work is that of Cape Verdean cultural at large, from the early settlement on the islands and slavery, to the fight for independence, the vision Amilcar Cabral had for the development of Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, the migration of many Cape Verdeans and their return to the islands to celebrate the day of the saint Santo Amaro that takes place in January, to overcoming addiction to drugs, homeless children and the importance of present mothers. And finally, love, the relationship between being in love and being in

construct a narrative of what Batuku is and its importance in times of drought. Looking at the presentation of everyday Cape Verdean life that is represented in the music videos. In the following chapters I will explore Batuku in terms of its structural make up, examining what Finason, Txabeta and Torno are as individual forms that when combined under one space become the cultural practice of Batuku. In order to examine the disciples that are embedded in the practice, how it became a tool for education, since during the colonial period most of the women in the archipelago were considered illiterate in the Portuguese language. Therefore, looking at the cultural practice as a source of education for women and young girls, lessons that comes from lived experiences which is shared through the performances. As well as the importance of presence in the performance,

focusing of the body which is intrinsic in the embodied practice of Batuku. In order to explore this, the song Tempo Antigo (2011) by the group Tradicon di Terra will be analysed in terms of the execution and presentation of the dance in the video. Therefore, I will focus on the internal relationship of the torno and the txabeta, examining how the dance is constructed, in order to explore the notion of the gaze; the power of the black female gaze, the black male gaze and the white male gaze. Lastly, focusing on Batuku as a cultural revolutionary practice by examining its relation to the P.A.I.G.C liberation movement and the formation of a national Cape Verdean identity post independence. In order to examine this, the song Liberdadi Ki Nu Kre (2009) by the group 2

Kultura Speranca will be analysed in terms of lyrical construction, the content in the lyrics and the message being transmitted throughout the song. Investigating the spaces Batuku has occupied over the course of its existence, from the periphery of society to the centre.

Theoretical Framework

The primary theorists I will draw from throughout this dissertation are, to begin with, Laura Bigman’s History and Hunger in West Africa: Food Production and Entitlement in Guinea-Bissau

Partido Africano da Independência de Guiné e Cabo Verde

and Cape Verde (1993) where the author gives a compact historical narrative of Food Production

and Entitlement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. With this text, I will focus specifically on Chapter 5 (Cape Verde Islands: Colonialism, Commerce and Crop Failures) and 6 (Cape Verde

Islands: Slavery, Sharecropping and Chronic Malnutrition) where the author explores the history of

famine in the archipelago, highlighting the relationship between the Portuguese colonial

administration (from the first settlement to just before independence) and famine. Focusing on, just to name a few, corruption, the history of slavery in relation to the economy, and forced migration. This provides my research with a historical perspective into the situation of the people during the famine of 1947, which allows for further understanding of how the practice of Batuku survived during times of crisis. Since most of the population died due to hunger and many of those remaining were forced to migrate to the islands of São Tomé e Princípe and Mozambique to work in the

plantations. Secondly, Richard Lobban’s Cape Verde: Crioulo Colony to Independent Nation

(1995) where the author offers a diversified exploration of the heritage of Cape Verdeans, the

descendants of Africans, Europeans, and Luso-Africans. Discussing the economic and political journey of the islands, reflecting on the economic growth and developments, the transition from colony to independent nation state. This will further the understanding of the national Cape Verdean identity and how it was constructed as well as the history of the islands in relation to colonial administration and the economy. Thirdly, Amilcar Cabral’s Unity and Struggle: Speeches and

Writings of Amilcar Cabral (1979) where Cabral defines the importance of culture as an ‘essential

element of a people’s history.’ (142) I will use this text because of the detailed statistics about the social, cultural, and political situation of Cape Verde, from the famine through to the struggle for independence. Alongside investigating the relationship between the practice of Batuku and Cape Verdean nationhood by exploring the role Batuku played in the early construction of a national Cape Verdean culture. As well as the space it occupied in the development of an independent nation state, in order to understand in what ways Batuku is as an act of culture and resistance against

colonial domination. I will also use Fernando Arenas’s Lusophone Africa (2011) to discuss the formation of Batuku and what its place is within the Cape Verdean musical scene. Katherine Carter and Judy Aulette’s Cape Verdean Women and Globalization: The Politics of Gender, Culture and

Globalization (2009) to analyse the practice of Batuku as a force of resistance against colonial rule

as well as resistance to the hardships of everyday life in Cape Verde. Lastly, Jorge Ribeiro

Inquietação, memória e afirmação no batuque: música e dança cabo-verdiana em Portugal (2012)

this text explores the social, political and cultural place of Batuku in a postcolonial context, the relationship between Cape Verde and Portugal. Looking at the practice from a standpoint of history, postcolonial theory and migration, focusing specifically on the Cape Verdean immigrant community in Portugal and how through the performance of Batuku that community affirm themselves socially and show memories of resistance.

Short History of Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an Archipelago made up of ten islands that resides 455 kilometres off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. The archipelago was uninhabited when it was reached by the Portuguese in 1456 and the islands were arranged into two categories, a leeward group that

consisted of São Tiago, Fogo, Brava and Maio. And a windward group that consisted of São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista, Santa Luzia, São Vicente and Santo Antão. The early Portuguese settlers and the enslaved Africans who were imported from various locations and carried with them different languages, values, musical and cultural traditions informed what was later to become the essence of Cape Verdean culture and identity. The geographical position of Cape Verde was considered a strategic point during the early development of the Atlantic slave trade, because it allowed the Portuguese to navigate throughout the West African coast, without having to spend huge amounts of time on the main land. The island of São Tiago (Santiago), specifically, Riberia Grande (now known as Cidade Velha) was the primary port for the trading of enslaved Africans and

other goods. The slave trade was an intrinsic part of the developing Cape Verdean society and growing economy. Since the islands did not have any valuable natural resources that could strengthen the economy. As Colm Foy notes, ‘indeed, the slave trade was what made the

development of Cape Verde into a fully settled colony possible at all. Without it, survival for the first white inhabitants would have been precarious in the extreme.’ (1988: 10) The living conditions on the islands were precarious at times, because the climate is similar to that of a desert, which means that it is subject to numerous periods of drought. As a result, the free flow of merchants and enslaved Africans alleviated the harsh living conditions for those that settled on the islands, on behalf of the Portuguese crown. The enslaved Africans were at the bottom of the developing social ladder, and they were categorised into three different groups ‘(1) escravos bocais or novos

(“African-born, ‘stupid’ or raw slaves”); (2) escravos naturais (“Cape Verdean-born slaves”), and (3) escravos de confissão or landinos (“baptized or ‘civilized’ slaves”).’ (Lobban, 1995: 24) The process of landinizaçao consisted of teachings about the grounding principles of Roman

Catholicism, the basics of the Portuguese language and finally fundamental labour skills. The perpetuation of the Portuguese language alongside the practice of Catholicism was essential for the Portuguese colonial project, because it facilitated the colonisers attempt to break with the notion of self of the enslaved Africans. The teaching of the Portuguese western civilisation maintain its domination over the enslaved population, by removing the self representations of the African population and attempting to assimilated Cape Verdeans into the political, cultural and social order of the Portuguese Crown. This resulted in assimilation into Portuguese society imposed by, the authorities of the time, the Catholic Church and the Portuguese colonists attempted to suppress any form of the native cultural practices.

This initial division between enslaved Africans facilitated the established social order that was beneficiary to Portuguese men that held the status of Capitão (Captain). The Roman Catholic church played a pre-dominant role in the history of the archipelago, during the colonial period ‘the priests and religious were almost entirely of Portuguese nationality and the colonial regime was unabashed in referring to them as agents of its “civilising mission”.’ (Foy, 1988: 175) The notion of humanitarianism and spiritual salvation, became a pretence for colonial powers to enslave people of African descent. Without fear of punishment, because according to their religious beliefs, ‘the indoctrination of non-Christians and the ‘saving of their souls,’ (Rego, 2008: 146) was the work of civilisation and the will of their God. The civilising mission was a tactic that softened the impact of European domination, it worked because the church and the state had an interdependent relationship at the time. In Yurugu: An Afrikan-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior (2014) Anthropologist Marimba Ani discuses the notion of Eurocentrism that is present in Christian beliefs, ‘and so their lot was quite contrary of what it had been; since before they had lived in perdition of soul and body; of their souls in that they were pagans, without the clearness and the light of holy faith; and of their bodies, in that lived like beasts, without any custom of reasonable begins,’ (156) This statement demonstrates an attempt to justify the Portuguese slave trade, because Africans were deemed uncivilised by the Europeans. Yet the very action of enslavement by the Portuguese (and other European nations) was in itself barbaric behaviour; highlighting the contradictory nature of the Portuguese ‘civilising’ mission. Religion was a mechanism that facilitated the conquering of foreign lands, resources, and peoples.

History of Famine in Cape Verde

The archipelago has a long history of famine and drought because of factors like insufficient rain and negligent colonial administration. In History and Hunger in West Africa: Food Production and

Entitlement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (1993) African Studies scholar Laura Bigman notes

that:

‘Drought, floods, cyclones and invasions by hordes of insects have caused crop failure year by year. Indeed, there were crop failures on some or all of the islands during the following periods: 1580-1583; 1609-1611; 1685-1690; 1704-1712; 1719-1723; 1738-1742; 1748-1750; 1754-1755; 1764; 1773-1775; 1790-1791; 1810-1814; 1830-1833; 1845-1846; 1863-1865; 1875-1876; 1883-1886; 1894-1900; 1903-1904; 1911-1915; 1916-1918; 1921-1922; 1922-1924; 1941-1943; 1947-1948. In the famine of 1773-1775, 44 percent of the population died; between 1830 and 1833, over 42 percent starved to death. In the years 1863-1865, 40 percent of the people lost their lives along with 95 percent of the livestock.’ (80)

It is evident that the archipelago has suffered continuously with drought and that very little precautions were taken by the early Portuguese settlers to minimise the devastating effects of famine. During the period of slavery, commerce and trading was the most important factor for the Portuguese colonial administration and the Portuguese crown. The ‘goods’ being traded consisted of enslaved Africans, Orchil, Grogo (Rum made with sugar cane) and Cape Verdean cloths. These ‘goods’ were exchanged with other goods, money was hardly used as a trading coin and this was one of the causes, that led to the underdevelopment of the Cape Verdean economy. Along with pirate attacks, drought and lack of precious natural resources, which led orchil to become the primary source of income. The trading of orchil was in high demand in Portugal (from 1460s to 1840s) but when the dye became to expensive to process and use in the European textile industry, Cape Verde fell into further colonial neglect. And with the decrease in activity of Portuguese slave traders because other European ports, the archipelago seemed to no longer have a usefulness to the Portuguese Crown. The Portuguese Crown and colonial administrators focused primarily on

specific rates of return, relating to investments in particular projects and this hindered any attempt to reduce the effects of drought. One of the strategies that they could have developed, was

environmental development focusing especially in restoration and preservation of the natural

ecological systems. Concentrating on poor planning by strategising in preparation for future drought periods, deforestation and desertification by planting trees and vegetation that could survive in extremely dry climates, soil erosion and overgrazing by limiting the space used by livestock (goats). These strategies were only implemented in times of crises, when famines were already happening. According to African studies scholar Robert J. Cummings,

‘Internal factors that generate famine can be categorized (not in order of priority) as follows: (a) the insufficient development of human resources; (b) the continued maintenance of inherited colonial institutions and structures; (c) the existence of too many small economies; (d) the negative trends in food production; (e) poverty; (f) high population growth rates; (g) increased dependence on food imports; and (h) the violation of the delicate balance between Africa’s environmental realities and the dire necessity of agricultural development.’ (1987: 112)

The internal factors outlined here reference the causes that prevent a nation to produce sufficient food, but in the case of Cape Verde, these internal factors are also combined with external facts of poor colonial administration, state and church corruption. That exploited the masses of Cape

Verdean people in terms of commerce and trading with the help of foreign ships that passed through the islands to resupply.

From the start those that suffered most with famine and drought periods, were the enslaved Africans and during the colonial period the landless masses and crop farmers that lived of the land.

According to Bigman, ‘during times of crisis, people sold their clothes, their kettles, whatever they owned, including the doors and tiles of their homes.’ (1993:80) These were desperate times and therefore required desperate measures, because the most important objective during the hunger crisis was that of survival. Fear of death resulted in a new system of slavery, one the one hand, the domination of the small food market trade and on the other, forced migration. But before exploring these systems, first the feudal economic system must be understood, the feudal economic system included ‘the feudal capitãos, the absentee landlords of the donatarios, the fidalgo nobility, the feitor and lancado merchants, and the foreign representatives.’ (Lobban, 1995: 51) Those that held any of 3

these tittles were placed in positions of power, they became the administrators of the islands and most were white. Whereas, the positions of servitude, be that in the cultivation of the land or the construction of public spaces where designated to the enslaved population, that later became the poor peasant masses of Cape Verdeans. As a result of this power division between Portuguese citizens and the African population, the best land lots was given as a birth right to the Portuguese citizens and was used as a planation. To begin with, the landlords used the land for cultivation of edible vegetation and pasturage for grazing livestock and later for sugarcane, due to its importance during drought periods, since it enable the production of the spirit grogo. In times of crisis, many landlords freed their slaves, leased them land so that they could cultivate food crops and sugar cane and in return, the tenants would give half of their harvest the landlords. However, this system had many disadvantages for both the landlords and the tenants, in many cases, ‘the parcels [of land]

According to Lobban, Capitãos (translates to Captains) is ‘a military governor representing the Portuguese Crown’.

3

(1979: 34) Donatarios (translates to Grants) is ‘the system of local rule in Cape Verde and some other colonial holdings in which a Capitão (captain) was given a royal grant to administer with a high degree of local autonomy’. (1979: 43) Feitor (or Feitoria) is the Portuguese royal trade monopolies and private mercantile concerns were usually represented by a feitor, or local business agent, sometimes with very considerable powers’. (1979: 51) Lançados (translates to Outcast), were Portuguese settlers, including fugitives known for having courage and initiative; also, half-caste traders living on or near African coastal communities who maintained semi-autonomous control of local costal communities’. (1979: 67)

allocated to the slaves were inadequate even in good years, and the slaves did not get enough to eat.’ (Bigman, 1993: 96) And this resulted in a new form of slavery that derived from the colonial control of the small food trade. In many cases, the landlords used the good parcels of land to grow

sugarcane for exportation purposes instead of cultivating sufficient food crops. The labour in the production of the sugarcane was done by the peasant sharecroppers, according to Colm Foy, ‘it was this liquid which was ‘sold’ to the land lords at a price to be determined by him after a deduction had been made for the use of the press. Even in a good year these sales rarely achieved a value sufficient to allow the peasant to accumulate enough money in his hand to enter the cash economy.’ (1988: 8) The landlords dominated the cash economy and the small food trade and because of this, the peasant population fell into a reoccurring cycle of poverty, impoverishment, and debt, since they hardly made enough money from their own crop production. They found

themselves accumulating debts with their landlords in order to feed themselves and their families, ‘typically, a peasant family would be forced to have supplies on credit throughout the growing season of the sugarcane from the estate shop.’ (Foy, 1988: 9) The debt accumulated before the harvest was then deducted from the buying price of the product being ‘sold’ by the farmer.

The Cape Verdean Diet: a Survival tactic

In Cape Verde women are responsible for food preparation in their homes and due to crop failures there was not much variety in the prepared dishes. The typical Cape Verdean diet consisted of beans and maize corn, there are many dishes in which corn is the main ingredient and it may be used in various forms. Beginning corn flour which is used for cuscus (a breakfast dish); corn on the cob and dried corn used in the traditional dish cachupa, this dish is very important because it tells the

devastating story of famine and drought that haunts the islands. The basic make up of cachupa is of dried corn and beans, but those that had better resources could add fish or meat and vegetables such

as, cabbage and carrots. Cachupa is a dish that has a long preparation time, because the dried corn would have to be pounded and then boiled for four to five hours so that it would be ready to combine with the beans.

Figure 2: Women pounding corn, Midju Pilon Pilon (2017), painting by Luis Levy Lima

On top of that, ‘women may spend upwards of ten to eleven hours a day trying to obtain wood and water.’ (Bigman, 1993: 107) In order to prepare a simple meal such as cachupa, a lot of energy would be used in the preparation tasks and in times of famine these tasks would have been extra difficult to achieve, yet it was a need for survival, since this was the basis for the everyday Cape Verdean diet. This diet lacked iron, protein, calories, calcium, vitamins A and C and this had a devastating effect on the health and live of Cape Verdeans. Many people fell sick because of their weakened immune system and the rates of infant mortality increased. Cape Verdean women suffered under a triple form of oppression (colonialism, racism and sexism). Lobban suggests that, Cape Verdean women suffer a notable degree of gender discrimination - in their relatively higher level of illiteracy, lower pay, and diminishing numbers in upper social, political, and educational

positions.’ (1995: 83) Even though, Care Verdean women are the backbone of the social life, because they are the caretakers of the children and elderly, they work at the markets trading goods, such as fish, clothes, fruits, rice, beans, and traditional snacks like pastries and pork scratching, they collect water and do the domestic work in their own homes and of others. They are treated as the inferior of the two sexes, as if only the male contributions to society are valuable.

Forced Emigration: New mode of African Enslavement

Those able to work became ‘contratados’ and embarked on a journey to the cocoa plantations on the islands of Sao Tome e Principe, because when slavery was abolished in the Portuguese colonies, the plantations were abandoned by the enslaved africans. Cape Verde was suffering from 4

continuous periods of drought and famine and since Cape Verdean society was built on cheap labour, all they had to offer now was their labour power. As a means for survival forced labour became the new form of slavery in Cape Verde, people were contracted to work on the plantations. According to Lobban, ‘the Badius were more likely to be recruited for contract labor, and they were the backbone of the system of forced emigration.’ (1995:74) The conditions in which the Badius found themselves were almost identical to that of slavery and ‘laborers worked exhausting hours and were routinely tortured, beaten, and put in chains.’ (Lobban, 1995: 63) Supposedly, Africans were free, but they were treated as less than human, after their humanity had been ‘officially’ recognised by the colonial powers. A Cape Verdean wrote home saying, ‘I have seen the workers from Cape Verde being treated like dogs, whether as regards food or comportment. Many of them die bereft of all comforts, starving and miserable. A few days ago, someone from Santo Antão was whipped to death. He died in the hospital with the skin flayed from his shoulders and his lungs exposed. The assassins (foremen) were let go.’ (Bigman, 1993: 86) This statement demonstrates the brutality experienced by those that were forced to migrate to other parts of the African continent.

Contratados (translates to Contracted)

Chapter One: What is Batuku?

History of Batuku

Batuku is a dance and music genre that comes from the Cape Verdean Archipelago, the origins of which are traced to the time of the Atlantic Slave Trade. In Popular Music of the Non-Western

World: an Introductory Survey (1998), Peter Manuel connotes that, ‘both of these genres [batuco

(batuque) and funana] are associated with the badius, a poor, relatively acculturated underclass living in the interior of the Island of Santiago.’ (96) The Badius are the descendants of enslaved Africans that managed to escape and survive in the uninhabited interior regions of the island of São Tiago. In the stories passes down from one generation to the next, the reason of its development has many variations. Batuku is a practice that was formed in the remote areasnear the villages of Assomada and Tarrafal. The practice could have originated, on the one hand, from the horrible violence imposed on enslaved African women by their Portuguese masters. On the other, a practice that helped them cope with grieving, the harsh realities of loosing a child, husband or other family members due to death or being sold during slavery. (Carter, 2009: 121) The history regarding the origin of Batuku varies only in its explanation yet its function remains the same in all the stories, it was developed as a tool to express, relieve pain, and facilitate healing. According to Jessica

Barros,‘[in] batukadera narratives, slave women often gathered at night and created their own rhythms and sang impromptu songs about their lives and danced provocatively as way of expressing their oppressions under bondage.’ (2012: 102) Through the practice of Batuku during the horrific conditions of the slave trade, Cape Verdean women were able to cultivate and develop a tradition that has the ability to initiate a process of healing from traumatic events. This is done through the narration of their own stories, while being supported by a group of women that may have had similar experiences. In its analysis of Performance genre Batuku, this first chapter examines the

cultural practice in numerous ways. Researching the practice of Batuku primarily as a holistic cultural practice, that enabled a process of healing to Cape Verdean women during the Maafa. The 5

framework of Batuku allows its’ participants to express themselves in the fields of dance, music and poetry, it provides a space for contemplation of identity and cultural freedom. Exploring the

complex historiography of Batuku and its relation to Portuguese colonialism, aiming to analyse Batuku outside polarised binary extremes of civilisation and primitivism. Here I am presenting the cultural practice of Batuku in its entirety, examining and defining every aspect of this practice in order to get an understanding of its importance during the Famine of 1947.

The Interdependent Features of Batuku: Finason, Txabeta and Torno

This first section examines the internal relations in the cultural practice of Batuku. It explores the 6

formation of Bauku as an artistic practice by analysing the three main components: a) finason b)da ku tornu (torno) and c)txabeta. The internal relations of Batuku consist of the beating of the txabeta (a makeshift drum), the rotation of the hips in torno (the dancing aspect of practice) and the stories in the finason (the spoken word element). The practice of Batuku is a multifaceted tradition [that] involves singing, percussion, dancing and spoken word’ (Arenas, 2011: 81). The collaboration between spoken-word, song, music and dance invites both the batukaderas, the practitioners of Batuku and the spectators to form a sense of community as the audience listens, claps and sometimes dances alongside the batukaderas. All of these elements have an interdependent relationship, if the txabeta (percussion) is not coherent, the torno loses its power and if the lyrics

The Maafa is a key Swahili term that means disaster, calamity, or catastrophe, it is used to reference the black

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holocaust which includes the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism in the continent of Africa. (DeGruy, 2005: 73) This term was coined by Anthropologist Marimba Ani in the USA and I am using it in order to speak about the experience of slavery and colonialism as one happening, rather than two separate events, because in many cases the Maafa is a continuous event.

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o suggests that, ‘there are many ways of looking at performance space. One is to see it as a self-6

contained field of internal relations: the internal play between the actors and props and light and shadows — the mise en

scène — and between the mise en scène as a whole and the audience.’ (2009: 39) The relationship between all the

don’t provoke an emotional response to the collective and the audience; the energy of the rest of the batukaderas is low.

1.1 What is Finason?

In “Batuku and Funana”: Musical Traditions of Santiago, Republic of Cape Verde (1997)

Ethnomusicologist Susan Hurley-Glowa states that, ‘finason is a genre based on “rhythmic spoken word,” much akin to other African and Afro-Diasporic expressions in the tradition of griots and rappers.’ (Arenas, 2011: 82) The lyrics are expressed and accompanied by a rhythmical beating, or strings of a guitar yet the text itself sets the tempo of the narrative being performed. The word Finason means to ‘tune’ or to prepare (vocals) and it is used in Batuku as a ‘chain of proverbs or allegorical poetic images, sometimes improvised at the moment of a Batuku

performance.’ (Gonçalves, 2015: 214) But finason is also an artistic practice that exist outside of Batuku. It is a form of spoken poetry that is accompanied by a guitar or the txabeta and at times can consist of, two soloist competing against each other. The allegorical images presented in the finason mention themes of, marriage, motherhood, migration, nationhood, collective memory, and culture, just to name a few. Fernando Arenas notes that, ‘the poetic/performance tradition of finason is built into Batuku ritual to a point where both become almost indistinguishable from one

another.’ (Arenas, 2011: 82) It is extremely difficult to distinguish between finason and batuku, since both are independent cultural practices yet have a very complex interdependent relationship. Batuku and finason are distinguishable in one aspect, that is in the tempo and length of the verses performed by the soloist. A Batuku song is considered a finason when the soloist delivers a large section of text (somewhat like a monologue) which is accompanied by the continuous txabeta. The use of the call and response structure which is essential to the practice of Batuku is minimised during the performance of a finason. In this instance the focus remains on the content of the song and fine tuning of the soloist. The repertoire of finason performers is one of storytellers as they

represent in their performative spoken word a shared cultural memory. The language used in the finason is the Cape Verdean Kriolu which is a Portuguese and African derived language. 7

1.2 What is Txabeta?

The txabeta has three different meanings in the practice of batuku, to begin with,‘txabeta means the clapping hands in rhythm during batuku singing.’ (Gonçalves, 2015: 626) The clapping of the hands is normally associated with audience members, as the spectator begins to clap along with the

txabeta that is produced by the batukaderas. In this instance, ‘the Batukaderas use rolled-up cloth wrapped in plastic as a cloth drum, or txabeta, held between the knees and beat it in contrasting rhythmic patters of 2/4 or 6/8.’ (Arenas, 2011: 81) The performance of batuku is initiated by the percussive rhythm of palms striking the pano (cloth), the banban meaning ‘making

noise,’ (Gonçalves, 2015: 93) is the beating of the cloth incessantly, it acts in binary balance with the rapika (or rapikadu) meaning ‘fast, alive n fast moving - di txabeta, the fast movement and clapping hands in a batuku dance.’ (Goncalves, 2015: 520) the combination of the two make up the txabeta. In Inquietação, memória e afirmação no batuque: música e dança cabo-verdiana em 8 Portugal (2012) Ethnomusicologist Jorge Ribeiro suggests,

‘The cloth, or cloth of the earth, is a symbolic and characteristic element of Cape Verde's rural culture. It is a cotton cloth, spun on a manual loom, with a black base and geometric patterns, complex, embroidered in white. The cloth is composed of several strips of about twenty centimetres wide by two meters long, sewn in parallel. This cloth is used although at

There are different ways to spell Creole (English), Portuguese (Crioulo) and Kriolu (the Cape Verdean Language). For

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present it is becoming less frequent simultaneously as clothing and as a functional prop.’ 9

(82)

Figure 3: Cape Verdean Traditional Cloth, Google Image

Here the cloth is not merely an object used in the everyday of the Cape Verdean woman, the cloth can be see as a cultural prop that symbolises the transition from girlhood into womanhood, ‘mothers also use panos [cloths] to carry their infants on their hips in a typically African manner.’ (Lobban, 1995: 82)

1.3 What is Torno?

The dancing element of Batuku is called Tornu (or Torno) meaning ‘hips; lathe (feramenta);turn (kurva); hip movement performed in Batuku traditional dance’ (Gonçalves, 2015: 612) The focus here is on the rotation of the hips to generate the movements of the torno. In order to achieve the torno, the legs have to move in a particular manner, generating enough power from the hips. As a

According to Jorge Ribeiro, ‘A tchabeta é um idiofone constituído por um “pano” enrolado sobre si próprio formando

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um rolo que se coloca entre as coxas, posição sentada, e se percute com as palmas das mãos. O pano, ou pano di tera (“pano da terra”), é um elemento simbólico e característico da cultura rural de Cabo Verde. Trata-se de um tecido de algodão, fiado em tear manual, com uma base preta e padrões geométricos, complexos, bordados a branco. O panoé composto por várias tiras de cerca de vinte centímetros de largura por dois metros de comprimento, cosidas

result, creating the traditional torno, which can then increase in tempo and change in the style of dancing. According to Jose Ribeiro,

‘The designation of the ‘ku torno’ refers to the central aspect of dance in which women make extremely rapid movements with the pelvis and ventral areas as well as the hips, the word “torno" referring to that area of the body. Usually the ‘torno’ dance takes place in the second part of the batuque song, called the rabira. At the moment when the ‘torno’ dance begins, the performers of the batuque shout out the word "rabira" or the expression "tá rabira" and that means "to turn around”.' (Ribeiro, 2012: 80) 10

Figure 4: Women dancing the torno. Da Ku Torno (2003), Picture of Batukaderas di Rincon

A designação da ku torno refere-se ao aspeto central da dança em que as mulheres efetuam movimentos

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extremamente rápidos com as zonas pélvica e ventral bem como as nádegas, sendo a palavra “torno” referente a essa zona do corpo. Geralmente a dança do torno tem lugar na segunda parte da cantiga de batuque, designada por rabira. Na altura em que se dá início à dança do torno, as executantes do batuque gritam a palavra rabira ou a expressão “tá rabira" e que significa “dar a volta”. (Ribeiro, 2012: 80) Translated by Tania Camara

The development of the torno within a Batuku song relies on the skills of the dancer, since the dance in and of itself is mostly improvised. The hip movements are not uniform, because every dancer has a unique manner of moving, the uniformity resides with the synchronisation of the torno with the txabeta.

Kriolu in the composition of Batuku

Frantz Fanon suggests that, ‘to speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.’ (2017: 26) In using the Portuguese language as its’ only official language, Cape Verdeans’ are taking on the worldview and culture of the Portuguese people. While Kriolu (creole) exists outside the Portuguese language and culture, it becomes present in the gathering of those in the periphery of Portuguese society. According to Marcia Rego,

‘Kriolu can be said to have originated from the convergence (or clash) of two opposing movements. The first toward collaboration — between coloniser and colonised, between master and slave, between Portuguese, Cape Verdean and African slaves, between slaves and the Catholic Church. The second movement, in contrast, was geared toward differentiation, whether in the form of exclusion, resistance or subversion.’ (2008: 147)

The relationship between colonised and coloniser is one of opposing binary extremes and the suggestion, that one collaborated with the other, seems to negate the power relations that were present and performed during the creation of Kriolu. The clash of the first movement is between a group of people that have institutionalised their so called superiority over another group of people, this division defines the spaces occupied by Kriolu and the Cape Verdean culture at large. The

phenomenon of the Cape Verdean language is immersed in contrasting binary oppositions, yet the language in itself is within Portuguese culture as well as existing simultaneously on the outskirts. Kriolu exists in continuous duality to the Portuguese language, occupying an outsider’s place while being submerged in Portuguese culture. In the case of colonialism the Portuguese ‘language was the means of the spiritual subjugation,’ (Thiong’o, 2005: 9) of the colonised people. Katherine Carter and Judy Aulette suggest that, ‘Cape Verde represents a diglossic speech community, meaning “society-wide” use of two linguistic varieties. In Cape Verde the two languages are Portuguese, which is a “high” language, and Creole, which is a “low” language.’ (2009: 136) The place of a 11

“high” language that Portuguese occupies in Cape Verdean institutions shows the power of the colonial experience. While Portuguese is deemed sophisticated and used in an authoritative manner that delivers legal matters, ‘Kriolu has embodied the shameful, the vulgar and the primitive, as well as the impenetrably intimate, the communal, and the pleasurable. It is the language of jokes, satire, and irony of romantic relationships and strong emotions. (Rego, 2008: 152) The use of derogatory language to describe the place of Kriolu in the imagination of Cape Verdean people and colonial powers, reiterates the colonial stereotype that is fixated on negative differentiation. Kriolu is fundamental in the composition of Batuku because it is in this language that Batuku is sung and Finason is written. Even though it is a Portuguese derived language, it combines different African tongues and in that reinforces the African connection. Kriolu is a language that combines elements

‘Ferguson’s (1959) classical description of diglossia was divided into two categories: a “high” language H, used for

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education, literature and formal purposes, and a “low” language L, used for informal purposes (Mendoza- Denton, 1999). Speakers of “low” languages challenge the power of those speaking “high” languages.’ (Carter, Aulette, 2009: 136)

from Portuguese and various African languages which allows a navigation of the colonial structures, whilst simultaneously reinforcing the connection to linguistic imaginaries outside of the colonial. 12

External relations of Batuku: Colonial Spectres

In this section I will explore the external relations of Batuku, in order to understand the relationship of the practice to institutions such as the catholic church and the state. Batuku was practiced in the 13

periphery of Cape Verdean and Portuguese culture. The practice of Batuku became possible only in remote areas, places on the island of Santiago that escaped the control of colonial powers. The locality of Batuku was important in its continuous cultivation since the rural areas of São Tiago, had the advantage of minimal institutional development. Revolutionary leader Amilcar Cabral suggests that, ‘African culture, though repressed, persecuted and betrayed by some social categories who compromised with colonialism, survived all the storms, by taking refuge in the villages in the

It is extremely hard to pinpoint exactly what African languages were used in the creation of Kriolu. ‘According to the

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slave registers from 1526 to 1550, the majority of slaves were from the peoples of Senegambia (particularly the Wolof, then at war with the fula), and Guinea-Bissau (especially the Beafada), trapped between the coast and the Mande kingdom of Gabu. Even in the slave registers for 1856, most slaves still were being taken from the peoples on the Upper Guinea coast. These registers list such coastal Senegambians as the Bagas, Baiotes, Balantas, Banhuns, Beafadas, Bololas, Brames, Cassangas, Cobianas, Diolas, Felupes, Manjacos, Nalus, Paples, Qissis, Susus, and Tandas, as well as the offshore Bissagos and some inlands peoples, such as the Mandinkas and Bambaras.’ Lobban, 1995: 69) The diversity of ethnicities that were brought to the archipelago is quite huge and all of these ethnic groups also have their own language and cultural values. So, it becomes extremely difficult to deduce what languages were used exactly in the creation of Cape Verdean Kriolu.

What I mean by external relations is the locality of the practice of Batuku and its accessibility. According to Ngugi Wa

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Thiong’o, ‘the real politics of the performance space may well lie in the field of its external relations; in its actual or potential conflictual engagement with all the other shrines of power, and in particular, with the forces which hold the key to those shrines.’ (1998: 40) While examining the practice in its internal relations, questions about the external

forests and in the spirits of generations of victims of colonialism.’ (1979: 148) Through the 14

criminalisation and demonisation of cultural practices such as Batuku, colonial powers highlighted the power of the practice. Cape verdeans’ were also aware of the power that resided in Batuku because it created space for self representation, self defining and self expression. To practice and perform Batuku during the Atlantic slave trade and the colonial period became extremely difficult and later illegal. As decreed by King Manuel I of Portugal, on March 7th 1866 on the island of São Tiago, according to journalist Elizangelo Ramos:

‘By order of the King, who God protects, let it be known to all that heretofore, the pagan rite known as Batuku is here by outlawed. It is an offence to good morals, so to keep order, something which was mostly practiced by freed slaves and a smattering of others, was forbidden. Allegedly, so that honest, hardworking folk would not be corrupted by such uncivilised and improper behaviour, which encourages debauchery.’ (Paes, 2004:

Amilcar Lopes de Costa Cabral (12th September 1924 - 20th January 1973) was a revolutionary leader that originated

14

from Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. His Parents were Cape Verdeans that settled in Bafata, Guinea Bissau. He comes from an impoverished background, his ‘family did not starve like so many Cape Verdeans, they were very

poor.’ (Rabaka, 2016: 6) However, Cabral was able to study abroad in Portugal and during this time there he became a ‘ politically conscious man who did not hesitate to speak his mind.’ (Rabaka, 2016: 5) In his awakening Cabral began to notice the complete lack of government assistance towards the catastrophic effects of drought in Cape Verde.Cabral believed that Cape Verdeans and Guineans were one people that were only separated by geographical location because the mass population suffered from colonial neglect, and famine among other things. In 1956, Comrade Amilcar Cabral and five other patriots from Guinea and Cape Verde set up in Bissau. The P.A.I.G.C., whose objective is the immediate achievement of independence and the construction of peace, well-being and progress for the people of Guine and Cape Verde. P.A.I.G.C. liberated 2/3 of the national territory and built a new life of progress in the liberated regions in the interests of the masses, once dominated by Portuguese colonialism. (P.A.I.G.C., 1974: 147)

Original quotation: ‘Em 1956, o Camarada Amílcar Cabral e cinco outros patriotas da Guiné e Cabo Verde se estabeleceram em Bissau, oP.A.I.G.C., cujo objetivo é a conquista imediata da independência e a construção da paz, bem-estar e progresso para os povos de Guine e Cabo Verde. O P.A.I.G.C. libertou 2/3 do território nacional e construiu uma nova vida de progresso nas regiões libertadas no interesse das massas, outrora dominadas pelo colonialismo português.’ (147)

[19:35-20:45]) Batuku was repressed and persecuted by colonial powers and the catholic 15

church for different reasons, one for its sexual and erotic aspect and the other for the space it created; a space that enabled enslaved and freed Africans to cultivate their own ideas of liberation through performance. This law was a performance of power by the state, which served to impede the native people the right to celebrate their cultural heritage and form an identity that reflected who they were as a nation. Cabral notes that, ‘the value of culture as an element of resistance to foreign domination lies in the fact that culture is the vigorous manifestation, on the ideological or idealist level, of the material and historical reality of the society that is dominated or to be dominated.’(1979: 141) By cultivating the cultural practice of Batuku among others, the Badius where able to resist the cultural assimilation imposed by the Portuguese crown. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o states that, ‘the war between art and the state is really a struggle between the power of performance in the arts and the performance of power by the state — in short, enactments of power.’ (1998: 38) In the case of Batuku, the state performs its power by producing laws that act to repress the power of the performance. The power of Batuku is ultimately in the unification of the people, generating a collective feeling of community and belonging, through the narratives and histories in the songs, the rhythm of the music and the dancing bodies that are participating. Brian Sutton-Smith suggests that, ‘considerations of play and power come under various names, such as warfare, hegemony, conflict, competition, glory, manliness, contest and resistance’ (Schecher, 2013: 94) The notion of power and play that can be associated with Batuku is that of resistance, Batuku

The terms in inverted commas highlight the negative categorisation of Batuku as a cultural practice. Instead of

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deeming Batuku primitive and indecent (representing it in a derogative manner), that in turn, reiterates the colonial stereotype that according to Homi Bhabha, ‘ is a simplification because it is an arrested, fixated form of representation that, in denying the play of difference (which the negation of the Other permits), constitutes a problem for the representation of the subject in significations of psychic and social relations.’ (Bhabha, 2004: 107) There has to be an acknowledgement that Batuku has occupied this space in the imagination of colonisers for many centuries, it has been simplified as a vulgar and sexual dance. However, while analysing Batuku in all its aspects this thesis is aiming to showcase the complexity of Batuku and the knowledge that resides in the practice. Batuku should not be categorised as primitivistic due to its simplicity. ‘Difference does not prove superiority.’ (Schechner, 2013: 81) Being “primative” in this case highlights its adaptability, just because it is different from the practices of Europeans, specifically the customs of

resisted slavery and Portuguese colonialism; it became a practice that created space for playfulness and authentic power for Cape Verdean women.

Always in a Circular Motion

Batuku is traditionally practiced and performed by women and it takes the form of a participatory performance which is presented in a ‘semi-circle (or circle), where at least a dozen women percussionists, singers and dancers surrounded by an audience who claps along, adding to the polyrhythmic percussion patterns, while contributing with excitation elements in form of

hollering. (Arenas, 2011: 81) Here, I highlight the importance of the semi or full circular structure 16

in which Batuku is performed and practiced. The notion of the circle is intrinsic to many African derived cultural and spiritual practices, according to Yvonne Daniel,‘two-dimensional concentric circles can indicate the interrelationship among three realms of existence.’ (2005: 81) The three realms being mentioned are constituted of people, the ancestral realm and finally the cosmological sphere; Batuku incorporates both the primary and secondary realms, that of the people and the ancestral dimension. This is done through the continuous embodiment of communal memories and narratives, which serves as a ritual that enable remembering and the cultivation of ancestral lived experiences. An example of this would be the Tabanka festival that takes place in June and it commemorates the freedom of the slaves. All the aspects of Batuku come together to form a practice that heals women from their everyday struggles, be that, a fight with their husbands,

difficulties in trading their crops, deceptions in their relationships, and critiquing social events. This is achieved in a tight knit community of women that bond while telling and retelling their own stories as well as the stories of their ancestors.

Traditionally Batuku is practiced and performed by women but, in the contemporary practice of Batuku, there are

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Everyday Practices

The performance of Batuku can be interpreted as ‘ritualized behavior conditioned and/or permeated by play.’ (Schechner, 2013: 52) These ritualised behaviours such as the practice of the txabeta or the torno transmit collective memories which are ‘encrypted’ in the actions themselves. The ritualised aspect of Batuku lies in the everyday exercising of it. Batuku is an inseparable practice that

surrounds the everyday lived/ing experiences, be that, in the past, present and future. It is a secular ritual that, ‘is danced at the same time that other activities are going on—the music playing and people eating, drinking, or going for a swim. It serves as a constant backdrop.’ (Carter, Aulette, 2009:124) The practice takes place in the streets, in market places, during baptisms and wedding, in private gardens, in national and international festivals, cultural events, in peoples homes and in the middle of the mountains. In practising and performing Batuku, batukaderas create a space where they feel themselves freed from the harsh realities of their everyday experiences.

Figure 5: Women working in the Market, The Colourful Market (2017), painting by Luis Levy

Batukadera Nela says, ‘it's not that we are not happy, there are days that we don’t sell anything, for us not to be sat here miserable/annoyed, we have fun with each other, we entertain one another. We play our Batuku to entertain ourselves.’ (Paes, 2004: [33:51-34:10]) Batuku is at times 17

improvised, made up on the spot and this is consistent in all its aspects including the txabeta.

Improvisation is an intrinsic part of the practice, even though it is bound to everyday rituals, Batuku is also spontaneous in terms of performance and in the way a song is constructed, there is an

element of play. Nacia Gomi’s approach to formulate a finason embodies the element of play, because she begins by sounding out the tune and then improvises her speech while the Batukaderas continue with the txabeta. Nacia Gomi was a woman of Batuku (real name Maria Inacia Gomes Correia), from the island of São Tiago, Vila de Pedra Badejo in the municipality of Santa Cruz, was born on July 18, 1924. Nha Nacia Gomi, as she was best known, was one of the voices of Cape Verdean cultural resistance. Considered the 'queen of the finaçon', also well known as a storyteller. Much of her music was improvised at the time she sung them. She began singing at the age of twelve, entertaining weddings and baptisms throughout the island of São Tiago. She has

participated in several projects that have resulted in studies, theses, reports and records that will eternalise the memories of this humble lady who never wrote. The singer recorded three albums and participated in many more as a guest. In 2005 she released two albums 'Finkadu na Raiz' with drummer Ntóni Dênti d’ Oro, and 'Ku ses Mocinhos’. She died on the night of 3rd February 2011. The songs she devised were playful in the sense that, lyrically they are fragmented in content and delivery. Nacia Gomi’s finason texts/songs are very much improvised and tend to incorporate many different themes. For example, just to name a few, she spoke of religion, salvation, migration, travelling, old age, suffering and death. All of these themes can be included in one improvised set, her improvisations are unmediated and continuous. They feel at times to be like a continuous story

Translated by me, interview from Batuque: A Alma de Um Povo Documentary. In this extract of the interview the

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Batukaderas from the Group Raiz di Tambarina (1975) demonstrate the spontaneity of Batuku as they improvise the txabeta with plastic buckets, clapping hands.

that embodies every aspect of her life, from her catholic faith, to lived experiences of her younger self, to advising to the younger generation. As a spectator and listener, her voices feeling and sounds like a cry, that is an embodiment of her lived experience. As I watch her perform the song ‘Nacia

Gomi Rapariga’ (2000) looking at her bodily expressions, I realise that her livelihood is present in

her delivery. It is evident by the lisp in her voice, the missing teeth, the words that flow out 18

without minimal articulation, yet the power of these words still remain in the form of a cry; they are intense and well punctuated. Gomi embodies her lyrics here, we see a visual incorporation of the lyrics, as she tells a story about youthfulness, her experience in the olden days in comparison to the youth of now and how times have changed. According to Richard Schechner, ‘Play can take place anywhere at any time engaging any number of players who may abide by or unexpectedly change the rules.’ (Schechner, 2013: 92) This spontaneity is present in Batuku as it is a practice that is not restricted by its materiality but rather its rhythmical structure. The material aspect of Bauku is makeshift, since the taxbeta can be made from numerous different materials, anything that can amplify the pounding of the hands. The element of play that is present in the practice, is the kind of play that is unmediated by external factors, it is not a product of the state but rather of the people. The playfulness allows for the embodiment of feeling, emotions, dreams, aspirations and utopias. The practice is conceived as being ritualised behaviour because it is part of the everyday lives of Cape Verdean women, the improvisational aspect of the practice permits for it to be performed in any kind of environment, since all of its aspects can be improvised. The torno can be danced with scarf around the waist, the txabeta may only consist of clapping hands and the finason can be reduced to a cry call that is then echoed. Play and improvisation are indeed intrinsic to the practice of Batuku.

This is not the date the song was released because that is unknown because Nacia Gomi had been singing for decades

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and most of her material is improvised, the date refers to the year the documentary Dez Grãozinhos de Terra (also known as Dix Petits Grains de Terre) was released. And the recording on Youtube is an extract from the docutemtary from which the

Batuku as Embodied Memory and Knowledge

The field of performance enables the exploration of Batuku as an embodied practice and production of knowledge. According to Marié-Heleen Coetzee, ‘The domain of performance has been at the forefront of embracing and engaging with the concept of the bodily for knowledge creation and application. Whether through training or studying the body in performance, for performance or by positioning the body as performance, performance is ‘an art of body and an art grounded in

body.’ (2018: 2) Batuku is an ephemeral performance, the liveliness of the performances remain in the moment they are experienced and delivered. Furthermore, Batuku embodies the notion of the repertoire, according to Diana Taylor, ‘the repertoire, on the other hand, enacts embodied memory: performances, gestures, orality, movement, dance, singing—in short, all those acts usually thought of as ephemeral, non-reproducible knowledge.’ (Taylor, 2003: 20) The concept of embodied

memory is very important when discussing the practice of Batuku, because the repertoire consists of disciplines that depend on the physical body and its presence. Alongside the repertoire Batuku can be seen as the archival memory, for the Badius to begin with and later for the rest of the Cape Verdean society. Taylor connotes, ‘ ‘‘Archival’’ memory exists as documents, maps, literary texts, letters, archaeological remains, bones, videos, films, CDs, all those items supposedly resistant to change.’(Taylor, 2003: 19) Initially, this archival memory existed only in the literary texts such as the finason in written form whereas, the rest of the archival memory is a recent addition and this is due to the progress of technological materials, such as, cameras and voice recorders. Batuku has been labeled the soul of the Cape Verdean people, it is a practice that comes from within them, in the Finason, through the txabeta or the torno. Batuku can be seen as an interdisciplinary practice, since it consists of many different disciplines, such as, dance, music, and performance. As well as incorporating others such as philosophy, mathematics, religion, history, and psychology. The question that rises here is one of knowledge production and dissemination, what knowledge is

transmitted through the practice and performance of Batuku. According to Yvonne Daniel, ‘Embodied knowledge — that is, knowledge found within the body, within the dancing body and drumming body — is rich and viable and should be referenced among other kinds of

knowledge.’ (2005: 4) In the performance of Batuku, the body, the dancing body, and the drumming body are intrinsic for the cultivation of the practice. The physical presence of the body informs the practice, by ‘transmitting communal memories, histories, and values from one group/generation to the next. Embodied and performed acts generate, record, and transmit knowledge.’ (Taylor, 2003: 21) Presented in the communal memories is the lived experience of past generations and this lived experience becomes the wisdom of the elders, which in turn, is filtered into knowledge of self for the community. Through time and space the lived experience of the ancestors transmits knowledge about surviving harsh living conditions and acts as a guide for continuous progression. Batuku is the legacy left by the African ancestors that endured slavery and colonialism. While exploring the practice of Batuku internally, there was a realisation that as a culture and artistic practice Batuku generated space for collective healing as well as community building. This is done through the improvisation of the finason which generates a narrative that is collectively constructed, that is subsequently performed alongside percussion and dancing.