|
|
| These are sung between performances of the ritual song of domba. Their tempo is usually fast, but the girls maintain the domba chain and move round the courtyard with long, brisk steps in time to the rhythm. When there are many girls dancing, it is hard for those at the back to keep together, and so they often split the chain into several groups, which weave in and out of each other.
Toward the end of domba, some masters like to strike a note of nostalgia for the passing of youth by singing songs of tshigombela, which the novices must have danced for six or more consecutive seasons, and now dance for the last time. I give here only those recreational songs that are particularly composed for or associated with domba.
|