Mythology of ladja
In its songs, ladja often celebrates its own heroes: famous fighters. Men (and sometimes women) whose names and exploits are not remembered in history, but whose songs build the ladja mythology, so to speak. Think of theIliad, where Homer's songs immortalize the battles of Achilles, Hector, Ajax, Patroclus and others. In the same way, the ladja song publicizes the exploits of the great masters of this Martinican jes djérié (martial art): Mémé Makésa, Ira Belgad, Davila, Andréya, Henri Papillon, Léona-Planè, André (de) La Palmène, Lagraviè-Bay-Sab, and so many others... Not forgetting the high places of the discipline, the settings of their exploits: the Pont Abel (at the entrance to the town of Le François, now filled in), the Habitation Peter-Maillet and the La Palmène district, both in Saint-Esprit, La Poterie, Ravine-Pavée (in Trois-Ilets), Calebassier (in Lamentin), Anse-à-l'Âne (in Trois-Ilets), and so on.
It's worth noting that these heroes, in addition to the protective baths, also knew how to seek the protection of "local gods". In fact, although there was no voodoo, strictly speaking, in Martinique, there were evocations of local divinities that could be likened to the lwa (gods of Haiti's voodoo religion). Some ladja fighters asked for the protection of Saint Bismarck, Saint Bènwa and Saint Bwazar in their orations (prayers). While the last two remain rather enigmatic, we can put forward the hypothesis that Saint Bismarck was linked to the Southern Insurrection of 1870: the insurgents saw the Prussians, victors over the French, as heroes and allies, and some even imagined them to be Black (testimony of Menche de Loisne, governor at the time). Apart from ladja , Martinique also had Saint Expédit, who was also popular in Réunion, and Saint Boulvess (both invoked to send our enemies to hell or to make them sick, if their names are anything to go by).
The ladja, a warrior tradition of combat
In the jes djérié (fighting or warrior tradition), we distinguish between danmié, wolo and konba-baton. We'll start by talking about the art of danmié, then move on to the other forms of combat, wolo and konba-baton, with Georges Dru, a well-known practitioner in the world of traditional dance and combat:
Visit danmiéalso known as ladja, wonpwen or kokoyé, is by far the most popular and the most reorganized today. It's an art that uses every weapon in the body for combat. Strikes with the upper limbs, the lower limbs, wrestling, psychic and spiritual capacities, " Tout kò'w sé konba ", the whole body is in combat, allowing confrontation between two fighters of different weights, sizes, builds and styles. It is organized with music and dance as integral elements. Movement and displacement are in rhythm with the music. Actions of attack, defense and cunning are closely linked to the music. He makes systematic and widespread use of " ou wè'y ou pa wè'y" (cunning, camouflage of intent). It develops a particular ritual that mobilizes all the fighter's physical, psychic and spiritual resources, integrating his knowledge of his environment and entering into a relationship with Energy.
Wolo,the best-known form of water combat. It's a way of fighting that also takes place out of the water, in the sand and on land. It's also an aspect of ladja/danmié fighting, as there are certain wolo techniques that the danmié has integrated. Blows are delivered with the feet and other parts of the body. The whole body is used as a weapon, except for the arms, which are used for defense, to parry a blow, and as support on the surface or bottom of the water.
Konba baton, also known as bat baton, bat bwa-a, jankoulib, koujanlib, jankouloubé, ladja baton. It can be performed with or without music. It was one of the first forms of combat to be brought to all places where people were enslaved. Two people in a circle fight with one weapon, the stick. Carrying a stick by the enslaved was considered a weapon, and was forbidden by article 15 of the Code Noir during slavery: "Slaves are forbidden to carry any offensive weapons or large sticks, under penalty of whipping and confiscation of the weapons in favor of whoever finds them seized, with the exception of those sent hunting by their masters...". Until the interwar period, konba baton was a popular practice.
The bèlè
Traditional dances are passed down through the family. It's important to perpetuate this know-how, which must be preserved for posterity. With this in mind, a number of associations got involved in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among them, since 1986, the Mi Mes Manmay Matnik association (AM4) has been dedicated to the preservation and transmission of Danmié-kalennda-bèlè.
You can dance and sing bèlè, because bèlè is both. You can also dance and sing kalennda. However, for the well-to-do, bèlè- which at the height of assimilation was translated by the precious few as bel-air - and kalennda have never had the honor of the big leagues. Despised for a long time as a negro affair, a savage affair, this bèlè dance was confined to the use and contentment of cane workers who, on Saturday payday, could afford the luxury, in front of their huts or elsewhere, of making the inner journey, dancing and singing the tradition on the house or in kay bèlè. All week long, as they've always done, they toiled over the cane-object that will yield sugar, that will yield rum, for generations and generations of deportees committed to the task from birth. And the tales flowed, and the drum beat in the night that couldn't stand it, it houklait (howled). The Martinique of the Mornes and the tales: this is the authentic country in which the bèlè is played everywhere. Bèlè, which until the end of the 1960s was established in the regions of Sainte-Marie, Basse-Pointe and the south (Les Anses-d'Arlet, Les Trois-Ilets, Le Diamant), is alive today (particularly in its Samaritan form) throughout Martinique. It (and the music and dance associated with it) is an essential marker of Martinican identity. Three main centers are well known. Sainte-Marie, with its influence on neighboring communes: Le Marigot, Le Lorrain, Le Gros-Morne. There are four rhythms: bèlè proper or bidjin bèlè, gran bèlè, béliya and bèlè twa pa, also known as marin bèlè, bouwo or mazouka bèlè. In this region, bèlè is danced by eight and in quadrille formation (two interlocking squares).
The home of Basse-Pointe with the bèlè, bidjin bèlè, gran bèlè and béliya. In this region, bèlè is usually danced in a line, but the quadrille form and the circle/round(bidjin) are also known.
The other focus is the southern Caribbean (mainly Les Anses d'Arlet and Les Trois-Ilets, but also Le Diamant). Here, there are two rhythms: bèlè proper and gran bèlè. We dance with eight people, but we can also dance with two, four, six, ten or twelve. We dance in couples, in a circle or in a line; and gran bèlè, in certain circumstances, is danced in a scattered formation. No quadrille formation here.
To the best of our knowledge, bèlè does not appear to have existed throughout Martinique. Nevertheless, it is practiced from Sainte-Marie, Basse-Pointe, Le Saint-Esprit, via Les Trois-Ilets, Les Anses d'Arlet and Le Diamant, the latter three towns being renowned for their recognizable bèlè drumming. There are three drums: the tanbou-labas for the basic rhythm, the tanbou gwokou to mark the dancer's movements, and the armpit drum for accompaniment (a small drum placed under the arms), which has now disappeared and is usually replaced by a second tanbou-labas.
Bèlè in lisid mode, known as bèlè-li-sid , can be recognized by its slow, haunting rhythm, most often sung by women. The song is nostalgic, evoking in its lyrics the dramas that shaped the country's history, notably the "Insurrection du Sud".
An extract from Bèlè li Sid by G.-H. Léotin, translated from Creole and published by Éditions Dézafi, describes these intense moments:
"A Creole proverb asserts that "blood is thicker than water, that the heritage of ancestors is not diluted in the ocean". There's also a saying that something can be present in us without us always being aware of it (là sans là) says the Creole: well, we carry in our bodies, on our faces, the land of Africa within us: in our walk, our proud gait, our haughty bearing, our way of standing, like those upright women with a basket on a torch, that rolled-up cloth they put over their heads to carry a burden, like a crown, which made a poet say that they all deserved the title of princess. Africa is a way of twirling in the bèlè dance, of beating the drum in the ladja fight and many other customs and habits."
The kalennda
Apart from the bèlè dances, there are other dances, including the kalennda. Father Labat considered it lascivious and "dishonest". There are several dances that still bear the name kalennda. Others, which can be identified as such, no longer bear the name.
The actual kalennda. One that is danced individually, commonly called Tikanno, was mainly propagated by the Samaritans. It is distinguished from another, found today mainly in the South Caribbean, which is danced in couples and in unlimited numbers, and which differs by the strong imprint of the mayaka and chapé gestures. Another kalennda has been practiced in the Basse-Pointe region, but more needs to be known about it.
Lariviè léza " is a kalennda figure performed with sticks in the mornes of the North Caribbean. Lafcadio Hearn, who visited Martinique at the end of the 19thcentury , describes it in Esquisses martiniquaises. Witnesses describe it both as a practice of kneading mud, which was thrown onto wooden Tibonm houses as mortar (" Téraj kay "), and as a dance performed by men with sticks (formerly known as " kalennda ").
Of all these dances, kalennda, like danmié, seems to have existed in all regions of Martinique, in various forms and under different names.
Other dances evoking kalennda no longer bear the name: mabélo, béséba, wolo, dansé djab wouj . Not forgetting the other dances, those more strongly influenced by the European colonizers, which are also part of the Martinican tradition: bidjin, mazouka, vals kréyol, lawottay, and so on.
Then there are mes travay. These are mainly practices linked to working the land, and also to the construction of traditional houses. Linked to the koudmen, to the reorganization of work by the maroon Negroes and by the new freedmen after 1848 according to the principle of solidarity, they take various forms and names depending on the region: lafouytè, plasman, rédi bwa, ralé chodiè in the North Atlantic, fouyétè, leskap, madjoumbé in the South Caribbean, lasotè/britè/gaoulé/bouwajtè, téraj kay, lariviè léza, dansé kako, dansé mòtié in the North Caribbean.
Lavwa bef is also a work practice that does not involve koudmen betweensmall farmers, but travay ba bétjé: work for the farmer.
The high-waisted or high-waisted
Traditional dances include the bèlè, the kalennda, the mazurka, the biguine, the haute taille and the basse taille, called aléliwon in Creole, while the zouk is much more recent.
What is the haute-taille? It's a quadrille of European origin, a ballroom dance in vogue in the 17th century. According to the Quadrilles Antillais archives, "it is directly descended from the French contredanse as it was danced in the 18th century, and is a figure dance, danced in couples placed in two columns or in a square - four couples arranged on the sides of a square dance in twos, fours or eights, as the figure dictates. Classically, the dance alternates nine "entries" or "syncopations" (couplets) with a "refrain" (a figure specific to each contredanse). The nine entries are, in order: le rond, la main, les deux mains, le moulinet des dames, le moulinet des hommes, le rond des dames, le rond des hommes, l'allemande and, once again, le rond to finish.
The French contredanse is danced "en carré".
Marie-Frantz Tinot, former municipal cultural manager for the town of Le François, explains that "La haute-taille or taille-haute in Martinique is called quadrille in Guadeloupe. These are ballroom dances rooted in our respective heritages.
We have a mix of Scottish quadrille and Second Empire French quadrille, combining dance steps and staging in a meticulously studied choreography with delicately applied gestures. A commander leads the rhythm to the sound of his words and the drum.
The town of Le François has four main historic districts, where the practice was established after 1848 and has been perpetuated from generation to generation to the present day. These are the Perriolat, Morne Pitault, Bonny-Chopotte and Bois-Soldat districts, recognized as the bastions of haute-taille.
It's thanks to the work of neighborhood groups and Martinican associations that this part of Martinique's heritage has been preserved intact.
"Adistinction is made between: le pantalon (eight bars), l'été (twenty-four bars), la poule (thirty-two bars), la pastourelle (fifty-six or sixty-four bars).
The contredanses are of English origin, but some historians attribute an earlier French origin to them" (doc. Quadrilles Antillais archives). The contredanse, known as Haute-taille in Martinique, was adopted by middle-class settlers, then by the rural population, then by slaves who, in the evenings, went to listen to and watch the dances of their masters, who "obeyed the orders of the commander".
" Man pa ka dansé wottay pou moun pa koumandé mwen " ("I don't dance the haute-taille so I don't have to take orders"), some recalcitrant dancers repeat.
Figures of the haute-taille. In Martinique, the figures of the haute-taille are as follows: first figure, en avant with chain; second figure, en avant without chain; third figure, demi ronde; fourth figure, l'été. The chain is a dance movement from a starting position to a finishing position. Le croisé les huit: there are four couples, each of whom performs a croisé. The croisé is a movement performed between a rider and a lady.
According to David Khatile, an anthropologist specializing in dance, music and the Creole language, haute-taille includes the following figures:
Le rond (or grand rond): the eight dancers hold hands and the circle turns to form eight bars in a clockwise direction (in lateral chassés, assembling on the last beat) and "diverts" eight bars in the opposite direction.
The allemande: with partners side by side, shoulders straight, they join hands, arms crossed behind their backs (the man, left arm behind his back, takes the lady's right hand; the lady does the opposite). In this way, they make a clockwise half-turn in two measures.
The circle : repeat the first entry.
En avant et en arrière or avancer et reculer : the dancer takes one step forward (two bars) and one step back (two bars).
The allemande at the four corners.
Chasser and déchasser (or chasser dessus and dessous): partners, side by side at the start, change places laterally in two bars (in pas chassés). The lady hunts on the left, in front of the man who hunts on the right. The next two bars bring the partners back to their original positions, with the man this time passing in front of the lady. A rigaudon step is often added at the end of each movement.
Chasser en long and chasser de côté: partners of odd-numbered couples stand with their backs to each other and chase with the counter-partner, then return to their original places. Even-numbered couples then perform the same trick between them.
Cat's tail: performed by facing couples holding hands. The two couples move around each other in a counter-clockwise direction, until they end up in opposite places. The figure occupies eight bars and is danced in gavotte step (two-beat dance) or half-time. It ends with a rigaudon or rigodon (a lively two-beat dance, also indicative of the tune to which it was performed). The other two couples do the same. After a full reprise, each couple returns to their original places.
The instruments. René Agot, himself an experienced accordionist, explains that "a variety of instruments are played, including the accordion, the chacha (reminiscent of maracas), the drum and sometimes the siyak. The siyak is the Creole name for a percussion instrument consisting of a scraper. It is similar to the güiro common in Cuba and Puerto Rico. This instrument, widely used in Afro-Caribbean music, may have originated in the Bantu culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but some historians have noted the presence of similar instruments in the music of the indigenous Kalinagos people, before their disappearance.
Editions of the François festival. The festival has helped to maintain the practice of haute-taille in Martinique and, by extension, to discover other forms of quadrille found throughout the world. It takes place in Le François, began in 2003 and takes place every two years.
Many countries, and not the least, have been invited to the various editions. Through the Festival International de Haute-Taille et des Quadrilles du Monde, the town of Le François wanted to show its gratitude to all the Martiniquans who have contributed to the development, practice and transmission of this heritage. It thus encourages the vitality of a cultural practice that reflects the nobility of a tradition that is claimed and assumed.
It's worth pointing out that at each edition of the festival, a colloquium with anthropologists and ethnomusicologists tackles aspects of the history of the contredanse and quadrille genres, shedding light on the need to safeguard and transmit this culture.
As a result, a large number of Martiniquans have reappropriated this rhythm. And more than twenty dance and music associations have sprung up in the region, compared with just two when the festival was launched in 2003. Today, haute-taille groups perform all over the island, and haute-taille balls are flourishing once again.
The practice of haute-taille and quadrilles du monde corresponds to a form of affirmation of the cultural specificity of our society. After the abolition of slavery, new forms of social organization emerged.
The practice of haute-taille bears witness to an aspect of communal living in a servile situation, translating the desire of slaves not to lose their soul any further, as they use an imported cultural element, gradually transforming it in the light of deep roots never denied. Black slaves positioned the new contredanses and quadrilles créoles as vectors for their own identity-building.
Writer Roger Parsemain, a native of Le François, also cites the town of Rivière-Pilote and precisely the Saint-Vincent district, where the practice of haute-taille was also very lively.
In the Caribbean, the quadrille includes contributions from both European and African origins.
