It is amazing how many dance ensembles there are on the thousand hills of the small tropical country of Burundi: Ensembles that – albeit with interruptions – have been cultivating and continuing the traditions of their ancestors for decades; ensembles whose mostly male acrobats tie in with the traditions from the times of the kingdom; and numerous female ensembles that are expressly dedicated to reconciliation and maintaining peace after civil war and political crises.

Many ensembles are accompanied by a choir and instrumentalists who play a wide variety of musical instruments, including the umuduri musical bow, the ikembe lamellophone, the inanga trough zither, drums, rattles, horns and whistles.

For the documentation of Burundian traditional dances, three one-month field studies were carried out in 2023 and 2024. The team consists of the management and Burundian researchers and sound and image technicians and has so far worked in the 5 regions KUMOSO, BURAGANE, BWERU, KIRIMIRO and BUYOGOMA. The project will conclude with the publication of selected dances on two DVDs and a book.

Funded by the CULTURAL DEPARTMENT of the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.