Mauritius: Tribute to Ti Frère. Séga, Music of Exile

The voice of Ti Frère rises up, alone in the silence. A voice with an edge and a hiss, grinning and derisive, shouting, rasping and groaning, it threatens and then becomes very sweet and tender, and with it now come all the manifold voices of the Mauritian people: matrons and young girls begin to sway their hips, a magic wave running through their bodies, as their feet beat time and as the fire on the beach is smelt in the warmth of a night thronged with insects and spirits (…). Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio.

Wherever she came into contact with the outside world, Africa's influence was profound. Slaves left empty-handed with nothing but their memories, voices, bodies, and therefore their songs, rhythms and dances. And these traces grew, despite their new masters' prohibitions, into the unique musical expression of many a people throughout the world. This was how the séga, the music of exile, evolved into the traditional song and dance of the people of Mauritius and Rodrigues, and of other Indian Ocean islands too, like the Seychelles and Réunion.