Feature: Local Ugandan royal dance Bigwala battles modernity to survive

Soothing melodies from gourd trumpets, drums and local violins coupled with singing engulfed Idudi Primary School in Iganga district, eastern Uganda.

The young and old gathered at the school to watch their local band practice how to play and dance to the Bigwala music.

The villagers joined in the dance as the troupe clad in its orange uniform swayed their waists and raising their hands in rhythm to the music. Old women were ululating as the troupe, mainly composed of youths who gave it all as the dance climaxed.

Bigwala describes a set of five or more monotone gourd trumpets blown in hocket to produce a melody, accompanied by a specific dance.

A typical performance begins with one trumpet; other trumpets then join in followed by drummers, singers and dancers. The singers and dancers move in a circular formation around the five drummers.

Bigwala music and dance is a cultural practice of the Basoga people in eastern Uganda. It is performed during royal celebrations such as coronations and funerals and, in recent decades, on social occasions.

"This music is important because it represents the identity of the Basoga people when there is a royal event. When they are enthroning the king of Busoga, it is the Bigwala music that is played," James Isabirye, a music don at Kyambogo University, one of the top universities in the country told Xinhua in an interview.

"When a Busoga king dies, before he is buried, the Bigwala people have to be there to play while every mourner is asked to stay far away from the body," Isabirye added.

The dance that dates back to the 18th century, according to the legendary stories here, was a unifying factor among the Basoga. During the performances one could win himself or herself a partner to marry.

"Whenever we played Bigwala at a wedding or funeral, there was a lot of excitement, many villagers came to enjoy the music. Some of us even got our life partners (wives) out of playing this music," James Lugolole, a master player told Xinhua.

The dance however is one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that faces extinction if there is no concerted effort to save it, according to the UN cultural agency, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The agency in 2012 inscribed the Bigwala on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

The abolition of cultural institutions in Uganda in the 1960s by the government then was one of the biggest blows to the Bigwala dance.

A series of wars that the country went through after then, interrupted the cultural set up of most communities.

Youths then embraced pop culture referring to the indigenous cultures as archaic. Like many cultures in Uganda that were facing erosion, the Bigwala was not spared.

When cultural institutions were restored by government in 1995, several kingdoms and chiefdoms scrambled to restore their fading cultural norms. In Busoga kingdom, Bigwala was one of those critical norms to be restored.

Isabirye argues that government needs to promote cultural tourism as one of the ways ensuring that the existing practices are not eroded. Endit