Tufo is a traditional

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

in Northern

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. The dance is performed by groups of women and is found in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, the provinces of Cabo Delgado and

Nampula Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique. With a population of 743,125 (2017 census), it is the third-largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Matola. The city is located in the interior of Nampula Province, appro ...

and the

Island of Mozambique The Island of Mozambique () lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its rich history and sandy b ...

. Of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

origin, the dance is performed to celebrate

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic festivals and holidays. The dance is traditionally performed by dancers moving just the top halves of their bodies and accompanied by songs and

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

-like drums.

History

The origins of tufo are unclear, although on the Island of Mozambique, legend has it that the dance began at the time when the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

migrated to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. He was welcomed by his followers with songs and dances praising

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, accompanied by tambourines. Since Muhammad approved of these dances, they continued to be performed at religious festivals. Tufo probably arrived in Mozambique in the 1930s, brought by a tradesman from

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani ('Kilwa Island') is an island, national historic site, and Hamlet (place), hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region, Lindi in southern Ta ...

called Yussuf. The name probably derives from an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

name for the tambourines used in the dance, ''ad-duff''. This word became ''adufe'' or ''adufo'' in Portuguese, and then ''tufo''. The dance has also been heavily influenced by the

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

Makhuwa culture. Despite its Muslim origins, tufo has spread beyond the communities and context of Islam. Although still performed at religious feasts, tufo songs may also contain social or political themes.

Performance

Historically tufo was performed by both male and female dancers but now men usually only dance on rare occasions. Tufo dance groups comprise 15–20 women and are accompanied by four men or women on flat tambourine-like drums. All of the dancers sing although there are usually lead singers. Traditionally, tufo dancers danced while kneeling down, rhythmically moving the top halves of their bodies. More recently tufo choreography has evolved such dancers may stand and move their whole bodies about. Tufo songs are transmitted orally and may be composed by one of the dancer's or by the group's poet. They are usually in the Emakhuwa language but may also be in Arabic or Portuguese. The dancers must wear matching scarves and capulanas, which are a kind of

sarong A sarong or a sarung (, ) is a large tube or length of textile, fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often ...

made from brightly coloured printed cloth. Each dance requires a new capulana to be worn.

References

{{reflist African dances Culture of Mozambique Group dances