Poetry in Motion: 100 Years of Zanzibar's Ikhwan Safaa Musical Club

Ikhwan Safaa Musical Club, Zanzibar’s oldest taarab orchestra and social club, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005, distinguishing it as one of the oldest orchestras in the world today. Nadi Ikhwan Safaa performs a genre of Swahili poetry sung to instrumental accompaniment known as taarab. Taarab traces its roots to musical and poetic traditions of Africa, Arabia, and South Asia, thus is a true expression of the ethos of Zanzibar’s and the East African coast’s Swahili culture. The film traces the evolution of the club through interviews, old video footage, portraits of some of the leading figures in the club’s history like the orchestra’s bandleader in the 1950s Abdalla Buaisha or the club’s first female singer Nihifadhi Abdallah. It also features footage from the club’s 2005 anniversary concert with singers Maulidi Mohamed “Machaprala”, Rukia Ramadhani and Mohamed Ilyas. The DVD is available from Buda Musique at: http://www.budamusique.com/product.php?id_product=689

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