A hand reaches out to pull you onto the dance floor and, before you know it, you’re in the middle of the spotlight. Now if you’re not much of a “clubber” and you’re still trying to sort out the difference between Reggae, Ragga and Ragou, you’ll probably break into a cold sweat, but don’t worry. Your Saturday Night Fever moves and your Miami Vice suit can stay in the closet. You won’t need them to dance the sega, the ever popular Mauritian folkloric dance developed by the early slaves on the island over 225 years ago. As Philippe Lenoir said in “Mauritius Former Isle de France (1979) “it is a dance and a song whose words express a mood, describe a situation or celebrate an event”.

Take, for example, a recent sega called “Bourik mo tonton” by Claude Lafoudre, which when translated means “My uncle’s donkey”. It tells the story of a native inhabitant removed from the Chagos archipelago after a deal made between Mauritius and Britain. A boat came to pick up the songwriter’s uncle and, as they assembled at the shore with all their earthly belongings, the uncle’s donkey came to the shore as well, believing he would be making the trip to Mauritius. Unfortunately the uncle had to leave the animal behind.

Most classic segas are recognizable by their basic three-beat rhythms kept in time with a triangle and the ravanne (a goatskin tambourine). Of course, today’s techno has expanded how the sega sounds but the basics stay the same. The great thing about dancing the sega is that a little is a lot. In order to dance the séga, listen to the song for a minute before you start.

Start the sega by choosing one direction and taking tiny side steps towards it. Move your hips in the same direction that you take your steps and keep going. Please stay on the dance floor though, there probably won’t be too much going on in the parking lot.

Once you feel you have a nice rhythm going with the music, you can start swaying your arms to the beat and if you really think you’ve gotten the hang of it, shout “A la lee la” (emphasis on the lee). No, this is not a call for help to your chiropractor, it simply means you’re feeling good.

And that is basically it. A side-step with a little hip and arm swaying thrown in. If you’d like to dance with a partner, consider this observation made by Alain Desmarais, a student of Mauritian folklore. “When a couple dances together, the man at first faces the woman but then circles around her and at times moves away to give the impression that he has lost her. The couple then come closer and brush past each other but without ever touching.” Of course, this is just a guideline. A flouncy tropical skirt, a few flowers in your hair, bare feet and great knees for the limbo type variations that you can do are a plus. But we’ll cover that in sega 201.

If you would like to take home some authentic sega music, try some of the following favourites: “Separation” by Cassiya, “Anita” by Ti Frere, “Madame Eugene” by Serge Lebrasse, “Seggae Man” by Kaya . Of course, this is just a shortlist and doesn’t do justice to the many more segas that there are to choose from!

<B>Angela KEESSOONDYAL</B>