Another dose of Rwandan culture

The Intore Dancers

I’ve heard a lot about this famed troupe and so decided to educate myself on their significance in the Rwandan culture. Apparently, these brightly clad dancers became popular during the 1958 World Expo in Brussels. It is considered a traditional form of Rwandan ballet dating back to ancient tribal warrior dances.

The Intore dancers were initially part of the established Rwanda Army, being skilled in both fighting techniques and dance. (Let me pause here and say that if my Army husband, brother and father were instructed in the fundamentals of rhythm, the world would indeed be a safer place!) In particular, the Intores were renowned for their high jumps, rising 2-40 meters from the ground in a single bound.

The Intore troupe is one of the three fundamentals of the Rwanda ballet. The other two being Ingoma (drummers) and songs. The ballet costume for the Intore men is grass wigs to create a ‘mane’ effect, spears, and bells on each foot to provide the beat of the performance. Women dancers wear traditional shawls wrapped across their bodies in sari fashion.

The dancers act out narratives using flapping bird and swimming fish movements, battle cries, leaps, stomps, spins, hand gestures and facial expressions. Together, these create the fictional world—the setting, characters and plot—without any playbill necessary. The troupe’s graceful movements and complex choreography has been commended and celebrated for its ability to address cultural issues such as power, masculinity, femininity, aggressiveness and the strife between the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa tribes. These concepts are depicted in a kind of staged artistic rivalry, concluding with hugs between performers as a symbol of friendship, forgiveness and love between countrymen. Their performances tell fictional and non-fictional stories of their people with the hopes of passing on lessons for a more prosperous and peaceful future.

Being a bookworm, former dancer, and lover of a good story, I’m especially excited to be introduced to this notable form of Rwandan art and culture. Perhaps we’ll even coerce some of our fellow members to join along. You can bet on me to put on my twinkle toes and get down with the locals.

Yours truly, Sarah