The Art of Al Madima

It is one of the sailors' arts of entertainment, whether on board ship or on the shore, where they display their skill in play according to the inherited norms, traditions and order of its performance. In this genre the sailors form a circle led by the players of the masandu drum, as well as the kasir and rahmani drums and the player of the tin (batu). The leader (aqid) raises his voice in song in a language mixing Swahili and Arabic, and the body of sailors respond to him, clapping in multiple, interlocking rhythmic forms. The play begins when one of the sailors whom the leader permits — by a gesture — steps out of the row to perform a series of agile leaps, after which he returns to his place in the row, having pointed to another sailor to try to outdo his predecessor in the dance movement, and so on until the game ends. Performing the dance movement — in Al Madima — requires great skill in keeping balance, given the difficulty of that on the wood of the deck or on the sand of the shore into which the sailors' feet sink as they leap. The rhythm of (Al Madima) is of three phrases set by the rahmani drum, while it is embellished by sharp phrases from the kasir drum and deep strokes that flip the accent, coming from the masandu drum of African origin. The sailors show artistry in varying the forms of clapping, especially when they split into two teams, each clapping at a timing opposite to that of the other side, so that the claps interlock in a way that rouses the participants, who express that with long shouts of joy.