Kanmtole

‘Annou al dans kanmtole’. This is an invitation to go and dance ‘kanmtole’.

Before the advent of disco music and electrical music instruments the only two types of organised indoor dancing that were featured in Seychelles were the kanmtole and the kabare. In this post, we will discuss the possible origin of the kamtole, its structure as well as where it was held.

Some historical trivia

In the mid-19th century, the European ballroom dances including the waltz, schottische, polka, mazurka, berlin, ecossaise, pas de quatre, the quadrilles and contredanses were brought into Réunion Island by the French ‘bourgeoisie’. The ‘bourgeoisie’ was mainly composed of soldiers from different layers of the Parisian and provincial population as well as sailors and missionaries. These dances initially appeared in noble balls on the island. They gradually became creolised and then started to appear in rural folk dances.

The creolisation process

One challenge the settlers initially faced was that there were not many musicians in Réunion Island, then known as  Île Bourbon, who could play this style of music. They had to find other options. They therefore resorted to the slaves, specially the young Malagasy slaves who had a tendency to assimilate foreign musical forms better than the slaves from other regions. They were found to be more responsive to melody and song than to highly rhythmical music. They were also more capable of assimilating and adopting European musical forms, in which the melody is also an essential element.

Some of these young slaves were turned into house slaves so that they would be present at organised balls and would mingle with guests of their French masters. They consequently got to learn  their songs, rhythms and dances through the repetition of songs that they heard.  Some became talented fiddlers and they made themselves a pleasure to hear. They were in great demand at all the balls of high society.

This phenomenon, whereby the young slaves were being introduced to European music and dances, triggered the start of the creolisation process of the music they started to play and the songs that they were learning. The musicians started to introduce new musical elements from their country of origin. They also  started to add the sega  rhythm to the dances as well as some creole words to the songs. This fusion and reinterpretation of the dances started to give rise to a new form of music and dance.

The introduction of the ‘kanmtole’ to the Seychelles

When the French from Réunion island started to settle in Seychelles, in the early 1800s, they brought with them these ‘partly creolised’ ensemble of court and salon music and dances. As the years went by, full consolidation took place. Essentially, the musicians gradually rearranged the dances into meaningful sequences and , as in the case of the contredance,  preserving the creolized quadrille’s fundamental principle and calls. Ultimately, the body of dances were fully creolised and became known as Kanmtole and became uniquely Seychellois.

The Kanmtole Defined.

Kanmtole, can be defined as a Seychellois creole term used to describe the creolised version of the European ballroom dances that were introduced to the Seychelles from Réunion Island. These dances included the waltz, schottische, polka, mazurka, berlin, ecossaise, pas de quatre, and contredanse.  

Although the Quadrilles formed part of the initial collection, it never took hold. The possible reasons for this are because of its limit of four couples only dancing at any one time ( at least initially), its complexity, as well as because it was also found to be too boring and uninviting. Quadrilles are a class of set dances distinguished by having four couples in a square set. Each couple faced in and formed one side of a square, where as in the contredance, the couples form two long lines facing each other.

The structure of the Kanmtole

In Seychelles, Kanmtole is commonly split under three categories, namely the kontredans, ladans senp and the sega:

The Contredances- Kontredans

This first category, the contredances or kontredans, consists of music and dances that are led vocally by a Komander (Fr. commandeur) or caller. Some of the contradance dances include: Annavan De (Fr. en avant deux), Annavan Trwa (Fr. en avant trois, Annavan Kat (Fr. en avant quatre), Men Gos Men Drwat (Fr. main gauche main droite), Galo (Fr. Le galot), Dozado (Fr. Dos à Dos), Final and laboulanzer (Fr. La boulangère). I will attempt to go more in depth into the individual dances of the contredance in future posts.

Ladans senp

Ladans senp, literally meaning simple dances, were dances that were predominantly accompanied by instrumental music and usually followed a predetermined order. They include the waltz –vals; the scottish –kotis-, including single, double or sliding scottish-kotis senp, kotis doub or kotis en glisan-; the polka; the mazurka –mazok-, the Ecossaise –kosez-; pas de quatre –padkat; lancier-lansye; carillion-karyon and ‘Jazz‘. All these dances are performed as a couple, kavalye ek danm.

Unfortunately the lansye (Fr. Lanciers) and the karyon have both disappeared from the kanmtole repertoire.  ‘Les Lanciers’ was a square dance, a variant of the Quadrille, a set of dance performed by four couples.

Sega

Sega originated among the slave population of Mauritius and Réunion before spreading to the Seychelles and the other islands of the Indian Ocean. It evolved from the sega otantik that was Europeanised or creolised by the influence of the music and dances of the French settlers. This fusion of these two ‘genres’ gave birth to the modern sega.

The possible origins of the word Kanmtole

The exact origin of the word kanmtole is to-date still unknown. I have three hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1- Mr Guy Ah-yave

Some people attribute the name to a Mr Guy Ah-Yave. He had a group of friends and enjoyed going to the kanmtole dances and would always use the phrase ‘ al kanmtole dan bwa’ and by this he meant to dance in the forest.  

Hypothesis 2- Candomblé

Or could it be that it derives from the word ‘Candomblé’, which is an Afro-Brazilian religion developed among Afro-Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries? It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu, and the Roman Catholic teachings of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area. Music and dance are fundamental elements of ‘Candomblé’. The drumming will often take place all night.

Is it possible that the word ‘‘candomblé’ could have been introduced to the Indian Ocean by the Portuguese traders and became ‘kanmtole’ because of its link to music, more specifically to drumming? I would be great if any ethnomusicologist can shed some light here.

Hypothesis 3 –Kemshóole

Could it be also that the Kanmtole derives from ‘kemshóole’ which is one of the ten steps of the Scotch Reel? ‘Kemshóole’ is also referred to as the ‘Forward Step’ which is done by advancing the right foot forward, the left following it behind.

The Scotch Reel was a group dance that was performed in small groups of three to eight dancers and was popular in Britain. It is a variety of Country Dance in which the dancers perform travelling figures alternating with “setting” steps danced in one place. When dancing a Reel, typically there should be sets of two or more couples.  Is it possible that this dance step found its way to the Seychelles as part of the contredance and somehow became the collective name of the dances instead of only one of the step of a dance?

Where was the Kanmtole held?

Initilally the kamtole was a dance ball organised, first by and among the plantations owners or ‘Grands Blancs’ and the pioneer families in the early days of settlement. They started in private homes  and then gradually spread village halls.

There were two types of kanmtole dances that were organised in the homes and village halls. These were the bal asosie (fr. bal associé) where everybody contributed financially or brought food and beverages including toddy or kalou, jungle juice or lapire and fermented cane juice or baka. The other type of dance was the bal bobes (Fr. bal bobèche) which was a ball where the hall was lit with a oil lamps locally known as lamp bobes. These lamps gradually gave way to the hurricane lamps or  fannal  and Coleman pressure lamps or kolmann because  they produced brighter light.

The Kanmtole was a formal occasion.

The kanmtole dance was quite formal.  It was an occasion when the islanders got the opportunity to meet each other in a social atmosphere. One would always danced in one’s best clothing. Sunday’ dress for women, and a somber outfit of white shirt and tie for men, who also kept a handkerchief in their hand throughout the dance. This custom of holding a handkerchief has now disappeared in Seychelles but is still occasionally found in the custom of the island of  Rodrigues.

The Kanmtole Band

The kanmtole party or dance requires a band or en lorkes (Fr. orchestre). The band initially comprised of two fiddles or vyolon, a mandolin or mandolin, a triangle or triyang, a bass drum or groskes. Also needed is a caller- komander-(Fr. commandeur) who knows how to call the steps for all the contredances.

In earlier years of the kanmtole , the fiddle was the predominant instrument. Usually two fiddles were common, one playing the melody while the other provided the back-up part. The groskes which was initially made of tree trunks and goat skin then gave way to the bass drum and the addition of cymbals.

The Seychellois quickly enriched this formation by adding instruments like the accordion or lakordeon  and the banjo or benndyo. Gradually, the accordion emerged to share the limelight and gave the vocal melody greater energy by repeating most notes.

After World War II, when Seychellois soldiers returned home they introduced new instruments including drums and acoustic guitar. These became an integral part of the kanmtole. The acoustic guitar added extra rhythm and complemented that produced the triangle.

With the arrival of electric instruments (bass, keyboard and guitar, mainly) from the end of the 1960s, the younger generations turned more to balls organized in halls with amplified sound, to the detriment of practices in family and friends. This started the decline of   the kanmtole dances.

Some popular bands

Some of the most popular kanmtole bands that we have had included:  Ravageur de Canton, Sidonie and the Nightingales, Forest Child, XYZ, Tikok ek son group, Anse Boileau Kanmtole Band, La Liberté, Rosario Band and André and the Hill-Billies. I am sure there are a few more that I am not aware of.

The future of Kanmtole

Unfortunately, kanmtole is now practiced only during organized events, in the form of public performances or performances on stage and in restaurants and hotels. However, since the 1980s, these dances have been taught in districts and sometimes in schools. You can observe, below, a small demonstration of La boulangère– laboulanzer– and a shortened version of a Contredance by school children.

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Sources

I would like to thank the following organisations for kindly allowing me to feature the photos and videos in this post:

• Wikipedia
• Seychelles Nation
• Department of culture Seychelles
• National Heritage Research and Protection Section Seychelles
• Seychelles News Agency

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