Traditional music
What could be more emblematic of Mozambique than the timbila ? This set of wooden xylophones is a Chopi tradition, a people of around 800,000 living in the province of Inhambane (nicknamed "Chopiland"). Made up of five to thirty instruments of varying sizes, the timbila are played together during important community events, such as weddings, and are built around intense rhythms. True ceremonies, timbila performances begin with the m'zeno, a solemn chant sung by the dancers - dressed as warriors - to the accompaniment of muted musicians. Gradually disappearing during the civil war, this type of orchestra was declared an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2005. Today, many villages have their own timbila ensemble, and concerts - the ngodo - are given regularly on stage. However, there are a number of dangers hanging over this tradition: instrument-making is a skill that is slowly dying out, and deforestation is making the wood needed to make them increasingly scarce.
Popular music
Let's return to an earlier question. If there's one sound more emblematic of Mozambique than the timbila, it's the marrabenta. In fact, since this music (and dance) is Mozambique's most widely exported cultural product, it has over time become a pillar of national identity. Originally from southern Mozambique, marrabenta took shape in the 1930s and 1940s, while the country was under Portuguese colonial influence. A blend of jerky, repetitive traditional African rhythms, Portuguese folk music and Western instrumentations, marrabenta is a frenetic music for the body, with a feverish groove that is irresistible to the pelvis and legs. Very urban, often sensual, this music is not devoid of content, and often deals with everyday life with humor or melancholy. To watch the evolution of the genre is to follow closely the movements of local history. For example, when civil war broke out, many Mozambican musicians fled to South Africa. When they returned years later, they played a marrabenta enriched with South African kwela and xangana. In another example, during the period of socialist Mozambique (between 1975 and 1990), Cuban influences can be felt in the marrabenta. Then, at the end of the civil war in 1992, it was mainly American rock and pop that spread through the genre. To hear all these evolutions, it's interesting to listen to artists from different generations like Fany Pfumo, Dilon Djindji or Wazimbo (the pioneers) and Eyuphuro, Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Moçambique or Neyma, the "Beyoncé" of the discipline. Today, marrabenta is infused with global influences, from rhythm & blues to reggae and hip-hop. The group Mabulu is an excellent illustration of what this new wave of rap-infused marrabenta can offer. Pandza, a recent trend among young people, is a derivative of marrabenta.
But it would be a shame to confine Mozambique's popular music to a single genre. An open and curious country, its music scene is highly heterogeneous, and many successful groups draw their influences from all over the world. Such is the case of Kapa Dêch, the leading jazz-funk group of the 1990s. It's also the case with Ghorwane, afropop that Peter Gabriel was a fan of, José Mucavele, local guitar legend, or Chico Antonio, jazzy afrorock. Having played at all the major jazz and world music festivals, Antonio is in essence the country's great musician. To listen to live music in Mozambique... all you have to do is let your ears guide you! In Maputo, for example, music is everywhere. Otherwise, the Gil Vicente bar is always an excellent address, with one of the city's best atmospheres and bands programmed every weekend. For marrabenta, it's hard to beat the Marrabenta Festival, held every year in the town of Matola and featuring the crème de la crème of the genre.
Pandza, hip-hop and amapiano
A blend of marrabenta (it's never far away), dancehall, hip-hop and the sounds of neighboring South Africa, pandza has become Mozambique's most popular style in less than a decade, at least among its youth. Its scene is already very rich, with pioneers like N'Star, Ziqo and Dj Ardiles on one side, and rising stars on the other: M. Cizer Boss, Lizha James and Mr. Kuka. Mainly sung in Portuguese and Maputo's Shangana language, the lyrics deal with subjects very similar to those of hip-hop. And it's no coincidence that most of pandza 's producers are or have been rap producers. Introduced in the early 2000s, the genre has conquered Mozambique and the rest of the world, and its stars - Bander Artista, Dygo Boy and Laylizzy - more or less adhere to American codes. An interesting fact to note: at a time when the Internet has made borders more porous, the young Portuguese guard's electronic reinterpretation of Angolan kizomba or taraxxinha is conquering Mozambique. Quite a few new producers are making it, and this genre from another former Portuguese colony is being heard more and more throughout the country. Likewise, amapiano, a groovy beat house with African rhythms from the trendy clubs of South Africa, is spreading throughout Africa, especially southern Africa. Of course, naija hits from Nigeria (Wizkid, Burnaboy, Rema, etc.) can also be heard everywhere in bars and clubs.
The dance
Like music, dance is omnipresent in Mozambique and an integral part of daily life. As a good illustration, in the 1960s, when Frelimo was in the process of liberating the country, it accompanied its meetings with song and dance to make them more meaningful. Before that, during the colonial era, all aspects of traditional culture (rituals and ceremonies) were banned. Those who defied the law were liable to repression, sometimes armed. Given the immensitý of Mozambique, it was in the most remote regions of the territory that dance and music traditions were able to endure. With prohibition driving them underground, dances were practiced secretly and based on choreography mocking colonial foibles.
One of the country's most famous dances is mapico, the traditional Makonde dance. At the heart of initiation festivities, this rite often sees a dancer wearing the mapico mask ( lipico) and immersed in a state of trance to the rhythm of tam-tams. Today, mapico is still practiced despite a few changes. For example, weekends or public holidays are chosen to celebrate it. Also, some drums are made of plastic materials, and costumes traditionally made of rags are replaced by new clothes, Casio watches and sneakers. It's the inevitable adaptation to a new society. On the other hand, the mask retained its authentic character and the rhythms of the music remained traditional. After independence, the authorities became aware of the need to modernize dances, while at the same time highlighting the country's immense cultural heritage. The creation in 1983 of the Compagnie nationale de chant et de danse (CNCD) by choreographer Julio Matlombé was fully in keeping with this spirit, helping to foster the emergence of the first generation of choreographic artists. An extremely important entity for dance in the country, in its thirty years of existence the company has performed on numerous stages in Africa, Europe and North and South America. It's thanks to the CNCD's work that Mozambique is appearing on the map of contemporary dance. Some essential names to remember: Panaibra Gabriel Canta, a dancer and choreographer who pioneered contemporary dance in Mozambique, as well as Maria Helena Pinto - who initiated the country's first Choreographic Development Center in Matola - and the late Agostino Cuvilas. To see contemporary dance in Mozambique, you can either go to the Casa da Cultura in Maputo, where the National Song and Dance Company regularly performs, or to the Kinani dance festival. Usually held at the end of the year, the event is entirely dedicated to contemporary dance (and supported by the French Institute). For traditional dance, the Casa da Cultura (House of Culture) in Vilankulo regularly organizes it.
The theater
Originally a practice imported by the Portuguese, theater has flourished in Mozambique. Although in the 1930s it was the preserve of the colonists (and their children), it became more popular after independence and saw the formation of Mozambican troupes (such as the Groupe scénique des forces populaires de libération du Mozambique). In 1982, the Amateur Theatre Group of the Casa Velha Cultural Association was set up. Still operating on a regular basis today, this troupe is one of the oldest in the country, offering a theater based on social realism. Mia Couto, one of Mozambique's few female playwrights, often lends them her texts when they're not dipping into the foreign repertoire. If you'd like to see them at work, they often rehearse and perform at Maputo's Théâtre Avenida. For many years, this charming little theater was run by Swedish novelist and playwright Henning Mankell, who orphaned it in 2015. Today, the theater's director, Manuela Soeiro, a woman of the theater, divinely holds the reins. You can also attend performances in the Casa Velha, a small open-air amphitheatre. This cute building is home to both dance and theater.
