Montea
Encyclopedia
Montea, also known as Moutya, is a traditional dance
similar to the Sega
, but with often more pronounced suggestive movements. Female and male dancers move in rhythm to the beat of the often single drum
made of dried goatskin
and lightly heated up by a bonfire
prior to the start of the Dance (and regular during the evening). Dancing starts off slowly in time to the beat of the drums, but speeds up and becomes more erotic as the beating becomes faster and faster and faster.
The beat and dance are always accompanied by singing which usually recounts the hardships and joys of everyday life. Until the late 1970s, the Moutya was considered more of a risqué dance and generally shunned.
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
similar to the Sega
Sega music
Sega music or Séga is the major music of the Mascarene Islands: Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues as well as of the Seychelles. Sega is similar to the Réunionnais music genre maloya. Another form of dance similar to the sega is the Seychellois moutya. Sega music originated among the slave...
, but with often more pronounced suggestive movements. Female and male dancers move in rhythm to the beat of the often single drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
made of dried goatskin
Goatskin (material)
Goatskin is the skin of a goat.Non tanned goatskin is used for parchment or for drumheads or sounding boards of some musical instruments, e.g., mišnice in medieval Europe, bodhrán in Ireland, esraj in India and for instrumental drum skin named bedug in Indonesia.Tanned leather from goatskin is...
and lightly heated up by a bonfire
Bonfire
A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...
prior to the start of the Dance (and regular during the evening). Dancing starts off slowly in time to the beat of the drums, but speeds up and becomes more erotic as the beating becomes faster and faster and faster.
The beat and dance are always accompanied by singing which usually recounts the hardships and joys of everyday life. Until the late 1970s, the Moutya was considered more of a risqué dance and generally shunned.