Last month I felt I needed a bit of a boost so I asked some friends if they fancied going to the New Forest for a few days camping. I had seen a singing weekend advertised in the Baka Beyond newsletter and thought it was exactly what I needed… but it went way above and beyond all our expectations.
The weekend would be spent learning the songs of the Baka pygmies from South East Cameroon and their neighbours, the Mbendjele pygmies from the Congo. In the darkness of the new moon a celebration would be held to sing the forest awake known as Malobe. This would be led by Jerome* and Ingrid Lewis, who has spent three years living with Mbendjele and had been initiated into the ceremony and given permission to hold it here in England.
Our hosts, Su and Martin of Baka Beyond, have been visiting the Baka for over 20 years where they were initiated into their music and asked to take it beyond the forest. Throughout the weekend, Jerome, Ingrid, Sue and Martin all shared fascinating insights into aspects of the lives of these two tribes, their traditions, music and struggles of every day life.
The singing, percussion and guitar workshops were all great fun and by Saturday night we were all eagerly awaiting the Malobe that night although a little uncertain what to expect.
After a shared meal, we spent the evening singing round the fire and then walked into the forest. We were led to a clearing where we laid down rugs and blankets, sat down and huddled close together in the dark. It was an important part of the ceremony that it should be completely dark and everyone should be touching their neighbours so we snuggled up even closer together slightly uncertain of who was who!
..and then we sang.
It’s hard to explain the magic of that night as the lead singers controlled the group, building the intensity and emotions – stopping – building up again. Only to stop and then build it up again.
…and then the forest awoke (but I’ll say no more on that, as we were asked not to).
On Sunday… more singing, then lunch, followed by a bit more singing. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, every one of us singing all the way home with memories of a very special weekend.
Links to Baka songs on you tube
Baka Women singing Yelli
Baka in the Forest – yelli, forest harp and water drums
*Jerome Lewis
Lecturer in Social Anthropology at UCL
Director of Cultures of Sustainability, UCL Environment Institute
Undergraduate Admissions Tutor, Department of Anthropology
Web and Publicity Committee chair, Department of Anthropology
PhD, Anthropology
London School of Economics and Political Science 2002
50.875875
-1.632772
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
