Stunning and culturally rich performance from the Segatastic Dancers at the Cultural Style Week London Expo

Segatastic Dancers at Cultural Week Festival Photo Credit: Paul Muhammad

The Segatastic Dancers  joined the Cultural Style Week London Expo on Saturday 18th May at the Mall, Wood Green, London for a special guest performance during the 'My Cultural Style' children's fashion show, which was hosted by the beautifull TV & BBC Radio Presenter Nayha Ahmad.

As the four glamorous Segatastic Dancers celebrated their Mauritian heritage through dance, their performance brought sunshine, joy and warmth to a culturally diverse crowd all present to celebrate their cultural heritage in style and through fashion, with many countries represented such as Kazakhstan, Japan, Dominica, Nigeria and many more.

Click below for more info on Cultural Style Week taking place globally from 21st to 27th May 2024 and make sure to wear your traditional attires throughout the coming week.

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Cultural Style Week is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate cultural heritage through fashion, hair and beauty.

https://www.culturalstyleweek.com

If you haven't yet heard of the Segatastic Dancers, they are a hugely versatile London troupe specialising in many dance styles from Bhangra to Brazillian Samba or again Soca ; but most importantly, due to its rarity, Sega.

Sega is the heartbeat of the beautiful island of Mauritius. It is one of its most sacred heritage and yet very few of us know what it is.

Sega or ‘tchega’ has its origins in East Africa and it appeared in the island of Mauritius around the seventeenth century, through the enslaved Africans taken there for forced labour in the plantations. Sega was not only a spellbinding dance but also a way for the enslaved Africans to express their pain. This sacred dance rhythm sustained their soul through slavery and united the people in joy and harmony into a magical dance-trance (the Babani). The songs were made in creole, which is a mix of languages, a symbol of sharing and bringing people together.

The Sega traditional instruments are:
- The ravanne: the symbolic percussion of Sega is made out of goat skin stretched over awooden circle (similar to a large tambourine)
- The maravanne: a kind of rectangular music box made with aligned sugar cane and filled with small stones, seeds or beads.
- The Triangle: a metal triangle played by the musician with a metal rod
- The makalapo: a mono-chord instrument with a sound box that is made using a dried gourd. The box used to be buried in the earth as it was said to allow the musician to communicate with the ancestors and to make them dance.

Through the last century, Sega survived thanks to talented local artists such as Ti Frere (considered as the Sega King of Mauritius), Fanfan, Menwar or Kaya (inventor of a Seggae a mixture of Sega and Reggae).

Drop a comment if you've ever danced Sega before and Happy Cultural Style Week to you all.

Our Cultural Mediator Caro Sika is wishing you all a Happy Cultural Style Week 2024!