Tandela: a fusion of music and the senses. The body responds to music like an instrument to its player. On Saturday night at the Plaza, the 12 artists of Tandela seemed to be playing with the audience in the same way as they play their instruments ? with utter pleasure and ease. A few people could not resist and even broke into a spontaneous dance! Tandela (from the Creole phrase tande la? meaning, ?do you hear??) is a group of Mauritian artists ?brought together by Belgian producer Tom de Graeve. It plays a mix of sega, sagaï and sega-jazz.

The stage was vibrating with the energy that emanated from the artists: Steeve Deville?s dexterity on the guitar, Philippe Thomas?s mellow trumpet and Caroline Auckbarallee?s intensely rich voice, just to mention a few. Menwar, the central figure of the group, was in his usual trance on stage. Jumping from the seat where he was playing his instruments to the microphone, he sang some of his songs in his raspy voice, barely able to keep still. Eyes gleaming, constantly smiling, he was evidently having fun prancing about and teasing the audience with his incessant ?Tande la??

Well-known dancer, Jean-Renat Anamah, and his friends were all unanimous about Tandela: ?Excellent! This was something that had to happen one day because of the rich musical cohabitation existing here. We would love to see this happen more often, although it?s a pity that it had to be through the initiative of a foreigner.? Others were slightly less impressed, finding that the ?fusion? aspect was bent too much towards the ?world? style. Saturday?s concert was the last one before Tandela goes on a European tour, starting with the festival Couleur Café in Belgium.