Bèlè (dance)

Bélé
Stylistic origins	West Africa
Cultural origins	Late 17th century, Martinique and Dominica
Typical instruments	Tanbou bélé (also called tambour bélé or bélé drum), chakchak (maracas), the tingting (triangle), and tibwa (little wood) as in Martinique.
Fusion genres
Biguine, chouval bwa, zouk, bouyon
Other topics
Music of Martinique - Music of Dominica - Music of Saint Lucia

Music of Martinique
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Bélé Biguine Chouval bwa Hip hop Jump up Kadans Mini-jazz Quadrille Zouk
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	La Marseillaise
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba and the Dutch Antilles Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana Grenada Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Music of Dominica
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Bélé Bouyon Bouyon soca Cadence-lypso Chanté mas Jing ping Kadans Mini-jazz Quadrille Zouk
Media and performance
Music festivals	Carnival World Creole Music Festival
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominican Republic French Guiana Grenada Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

A bélé is a folk dance and music from Martinique, Dominica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. It may be the oldest Creole dance from Dominica, and it strongly reflects influences from African fertility dances. It is performed most commonly during full moon evenings, or sometimes during funeral wakes (Antillean Creole: lavèyé). The dance is also popular in Saint Lucia. In Trinidad, it is thought to have been performed by women at social events in the planters' great houses, and the dress and dance style copied by the slaves who worked in or around these houses [1].

The term bélé also refers to a kind of drum found on Dominica, Martinique and Saint Lucia.

The bélé dance formed from a combination of traditional African moves and a Caribbean traits due to the changed landscape, musical instruments, and tumultuous lifestyle.

In Africa, the bélé dance had origins in festivals associated with mating and fertility. A male and female (in Creole, the "Cavalier" and the "Dam") show off their dance skills to the other dancer, hinting at their sexuality in chants led by a "chantuelle" meaning singer and the refrain or "lavway" given by a chorus of spectators. The cavalier and dam take turns dancing. The cavalier first demonstrates his prowess, then the dam reacts. The cavalier again courts with the dam, and the both dance in the wildest part of the bélé.

In the West Indies, the dance incorporated into work and periods of festivity and lamenting. Because the bélé dance ranged through so many diverse events and life-events, the dance and music continued to evolve over time from slavery into freedom. The French named the dance "Belaire," or good air, which shortened to bélé.

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Wikipedia