Takamba is a music and dance native to the Songhai and

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

peoples of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. It is both a musical composition and a dance. The musicians play a traditional instrument known as the Kurbu or Tehardent and a traditional African

Calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

. The Takamba dance includes graceful and rhythmic movements performed both seated and standing where the shoulders and arms sway with the flow of the music.

Origin

Takamba music and dance originated from the

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African empires in history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its lar ...

. Before being known as Takamba, it was performed by the nomadic

griots A griot (; ; Manding: or (in N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicating stories and history orally, w ...

and blacksmiths to celebrate the end of good harvest, cheer warriors back from the battle and to praise noble families. The griot in a sitting position, would play the ngoni or commonly known by the Tuareg as "tehardent". The word ‘Takamba’ has its etymology from the

Songhai language The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, ...

which literally means "take the hand".

References

{{reflist Culture of Mali Culture of Niger Dance in Africa Songhai Empire Tuareg culture