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Experience

A Sega Evening

A goatskin drum warmed over a fire, a rattle full of seeds, and the music Creole Mauritius made out of the worst part of its history, danced barefoot, on sand, until late.

At a glanceOn land
How longAn eveningAn evening, usually after dinner
How hardLightSitting, then standing, then dancing if you let it happen
SeasonYear-roundBeach evenings are warm year-round

The drum comes first. A ravanne is a wide frame with a goatskin head, and before it can be played it has to be tuned over heat. You will see someone holding it to a fire, turning it, tapping it, listening. When it is right it is deep and dry and carries a long way down a beach.

Then the maravanne starts, a flat box rattle full of seeds, and a triangle over the top of it, and a voice in Kreol. The rhythm is not complicated and it does not need to be. It builds by getting faster, gradually, over a long time, until the last few minutes are twice the speed of the first and everybody is on their feet.

Sega came out of slavery. Enslaved people on the plantations made it in the evenings with what they had: skin, wood, seeds, their own language. It survived the plantations, absorbed everything the island’s later communities brought, and became the music the whole country claims. Sega tipik is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. The songs are often funny and often not, and Mauritians do not present the history as a footnote to the entertainment.

The dance stays low. The feet barely leave the ground, and the story is that the sand and the shackles set the step. The movement is in the hips, and it is danced facing a partner without touching them. Somebody will pull you up. You will be poor at it and that is fine; the drum sets the pace and nobody in the room is going to argue with it.

Most hotels run a sega night, and the good ones hire real musicians rather than a sound system. But if you can, find the other kind: a beach at the weekend, a public holiday, a village hall, where the crowd sings the choruses and it goes on well past the point a stage show would have ended. It costs nothing and it will be the evening you describe when you get home from Mauritius.

Good to know

  • Which nights a hotel or venue runs sega changes week to week. We check what is on for your dates.
  • The unstaged version happens at weekends and around public holidays. Ask locally when you arrive, because it moves.
  • Bare feet on sand is the correct footwear. Nobody dances this in shoes.
  • Ask before filming musicians and dancers, particularly outside a hotel. They are working, and often they are pleased to be asked.
  • Buy the music if you like it. Local sega is easy to find on the island and impossible to remember the names of later.

Which nights hotels and venues run sega, whether a troupe is performing on your dates, and any charges for it are set by the venue and change week to week. We confirm what applies to your dates in writing before you pay anything.

The drum sets the pace and nobody in the room is going to argue with it.

Where to do it

Where we arrange a sega evening

Start from the destination, and we will build the days around this.

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Questions we are actually asked

What is sega?
The traditional music and dance of Creole Mauritius, played on the ravanne, a wide goatskin frame drum, with a maravanne rattle and a triangle, and sung in Kreol. Sega tipik, the traditional form, is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
Where does it come from?
From enslaved people on the island, who made it in the evenings out of what they had. That origin is not incidental to the music and Mauritians do not treat it as a footnote: the songs carry it. Knowing that before you watch changes what you are watching.
Is the hotel version the real thing?
It is a shortened, staged version, and some are done well and some are not. The players are usually local musicians either way. A beach evening, a village hall or a public holiday will give you the unstaged one, and we can point you at what is on while you are there.
Will we have to dance?
Somebody will try. The dance is hip-led and lower than European dancing, the feet barely leave the ground, and nobody is grading you. Declining politely is entirely acceptable too.
Does it cost anything?
At a hotel it is usually part of the evening's entertainment. Elsewhere it depends on the venue and the night. Where a charge applies the venue sets it, and we confirm what is on and what it costs in writing when we plan your week.

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