Kasékò is a

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

from

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. It also designates the

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s as well as the

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

of this musical genre. This is a fusion of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

n styles. Like

gwo ka Gwo ka is a French creole term for big drum. Alongside ''Gwotanbou'', simply ''Ka'' or ''Banboula'' (archaic), it refers to both a family of hand drums and the music played with them, which is a major part of Guadeloupean folk music. Moreove ...

and

bélé A bélé is a folk dance and music from Martinique, St. Lucia, Dominica, Haiti, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Trinidad and Tobago. It may be the oldest Creole dance of the creole French West Indian Islands, and it strongly reflects influences from ...

, Kasékò from French Guiana is also a rhythm and a dance and is played with 3 drums and a Ti-bwa.

Etymology

The

Guianan Creole French Guianese Creole (Kriyòl; also called variously Guianan Creole, Guianese Creole in English and Créole guyanais or Guyanais in French) is a French-based creole language spoken in French Guiana, and to a lesser degree, in Suriname and ...

term ''Kasékò'' derives from the French expression ''casser le corps'' (''break the body'') which was used during

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in French Guiana to indicate a swift dance.

History

Origin

Kasékò is an autogenic music based on the traditional dances of African slaves and mixed with European and Amerindian cultural contributions.

Instruments

The Kasékò is played with four instruments : * Tibwa or ti-bwa ; * Three "tanbou" (drum) : ** Tanbou foulé or foulé kasékò, ** Tanbou koupé or dékoupé, ** Tanbou plonbé or foulé fon.

References

External links

*http://kaseko.fr/Index.htm French Guianan music

Kasékò Kasékò is a musical genre from French Guiana. It also designates the drums as well as the dance of this musical genre. This is a fusion of African, European and American styles. Like gwo ka and bélé, Kasékò from French Guiana is also a ...

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