Song and Dance, Ibo-Style

Walking the dusty streets of Ibo island it felt like I’d fallen back a century. If it wasn’t for the polyester t-shirts worn by most of the kids I imagine the place doesn’t look much different today than when the Portuguese were still here and the selling of slaves from its beaches was a not-so-distant memory. One thing that has survived intact is an unusual-if-beautiful music, a blend of throaty singing and traditional drumming. At moments it appeared as if the women singers were in a trance, or hypnotized, their movements simultaneously jerky and yet somehow elegant.