What are the characteristics of Kumina dance?
The three most important elements in a Kumina session are dancing, singing and drumming. The drums are believed to be the most important because of the control they have over the spirits.
How is Kumina performed?
One of the distinct features of Kumina is the prominence of dance and ritual as a form of religious and cultural expression. Dance and rituals are used to invoke communication with the ancestral spirits. The rituals involve singing, dancing, music and sacrificial offerings.
Which parish is Kumina mostly practiced?
Kumina is a religion centered in Jamaica’s southeastern parish, St. Thomas. Its presence was first noted only in the 1950s, but it was likely formulated by West Central African indentured laborers introduced by the British colonial government and British plantation owners between 1845 and 1865.
What does the word Kumina mean?
noun. A Jamaican religious ceremony involving music, dancing, and supposed possession by spirits. ‘African-Caribbean religious practices such as revivalism, Kumina, and Rastafarianism have especially significant African influences. ‘
What is the purpose of Kumina?
The practices of Kumina are primarily linked to healing. Healing ceremonies utilise singing, dancing, drumming, animal sacrifice, and spirit possession, with the intent of summoning spirits to heal the sick individual.
How did the slaves start dancing quadrille?
When the enslaved African were forbidden to engage in their cultural expressions in music, singing and dancing, I surmise they were initially forlorn. The colonialists and their guests were observed dancing the quadrille on special occasions in Great houses. …
What is Jamaican dance called?
Daggering
Daggering is a form of dance originating from Jamaica. The dance incorporates the male dancer ramming his crotch area into the female dancer’s buttocks, and other forms of frantic movement. Daggering is not a traditional dance; it is of recent origin, associated with the 2006 wave of dancehall music.
What is the primary goal of kumina members?
Which drum is used in Kumina?
kbandu
Chief instruments used in Kumina include the kbandu, a drum wrapped with the skin of a male goat, and the cast, or lead drum, wrapped in the skin of a female goat. The distinction is important, as the skins give the drums their distinctive sound, which are important in the ceremonies.
What is Jamaican dance?
Bruckins, burru, dinki-minni, ettu, gerreh, gumbay, jonkunnu, kumina, maypole, myal, quadrille, tambu and zella. Dance is such a wonderful artistic expression, influenced by history and culture. Kumina is more than a dance, it is a religion that many Jamaicans still practice. …
How many dancers are used in quadrille?
four
Imported by English aristocrats in 1815 from elite Parisian ballrooms, it consisted of four, or sometimes five, contredanses; like the contredanse (q.v.), the quadrille depended more on the cooperative execution of intertwining figures, or floor patterns, than on intricate stepwork.
Which culture did the quadrille dance influence?
the Dominican Republic
As Manuel (2012) discusses above, the Quadrille is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, and the Dominican Oversees cultural group DONA, (Dominican Nationals Oversees Association), has a very active dance programme and the group performs all over London and the South East.
What are the beliefs and practices of Kumina?
Beliefs and practices. The practices of Kumina are primarily linked to healing. Healing ceremonies utilise singing, dancing, drumming, animal sacrifice, and spirit possession, with the intent of summoning spirits to heal the sick individual. These elements are also found in Myalism and Zion Revivalism.
What kind of art form is Kumina drumming?
Kumina is a ritualistic medium through which our African ancestors are celebrated and appeased. It’s an art form combining dancing, singing and drumming, and has distinctive movements and cadences that make it easily recognisable. The hypnotic sounds of Kumina drums is not easy to imitate, and very hard to duplicate.
What are the names of the Kumina communities?
Organization of Kumina communities follows the general local character of African religions in Jamaica. Kumina communities are small family based communities or nations. Some nations include Mondongo, Moyenge, Machunde, Kongo, Igbo, and Yoruba.
Who is the creator of the Kumina ceremony?
This is the creator among many Kongo subgroups of West Central Africa. His element is thunder. Kumina ceremonies take the form of dancing in a counterclockwise circle around drummers seated on two drums: the bandu or kibandu, and the playin’ kyas (cask).
