Gule Wamkulu - 'Big Dance'

Edgar, who is Pat’s scriptwriter came with his friend James, a musician, to tell us about the history of Malawi and explain the Gule Wamkulu (goo-lee wham-koo-loo). A Gule Wamkulu is a traditional tribal dance that involves dancers taking on the persona of spirit while wearing a mask.

 

Edgar and James

A Gule Wamkulu dance has three functions:

Education

Therapy

Entertainment

The director of the dancers will consult with the local community to address issues that are rife at that particular time. Each dance can take up to 40 days to prepare and is used to educate people about their ways, what they are doing wrong and things that need to be changed.

In Malawi, when a man marries a woman, he will move to her village and be “owned” by her family. This can often result in bad treatment, so it is believed that the dance may have originated as a release or therapy for men from the hardship that they suffered.

Gule Wamkulu often take place on special occasions or at prestigious events. They are incredible to watch and we were lucky enough to see one during our time in Malawi last year.

The dance also involves music and singing. It begins when the drumming begins. Hoards of onlookers came running to the middle of the village and within minutes the whole area was full!

Three different groups of characters involved in the dance:

-       Animals

-       Traits & Characteristics

-       Ethnic/ Professional Groups

Animals portrayed during the dances include hare, elephant and lions. The hare - kalulu, is a trickster. It is the first to perform and neutralises any magic powers that are active within the area. The elephant rarely performs and is only seen on very important occasions such as the death of a chief.

The Crocodile

Traits and characteristics depicted during the dances include Chadzunda and Nadola. Chadzunda is somebody that doesn’t listen. This attempts to encourage people to be more attentive. Nadola is a character that picks up anything that does not belong to him, and is used in an attempt to condemn stealing.

Ethnic and professional characters are often used to ridicule particular groups. One such character is mzungu, meaning “white man”. It is a word we’ve heard many times during our time in Malawi but is used in an inquisitive way rather than offensive. 

Mzungu – White Man

Police Man