From ritual to performance in Tanzania
Documentary

Birgitte Bauer-Nilsen’s PhD is based on the "artistic research" she made while choreographing and developing the dance performance The Butterfly.

This documentary is more specifically about the dance Sindimba, which forms the courting dance in The Butterfly.

The documentary is divided into the following sections:

·       A general introduction to when and how Sindimba traditionally is used as a ritual dance in Tanzania

·       The performative learning and creating of Sindimba as ritual dance

·       The performative learning and creating of Sindimba as performance dance in Bagamoyo

·       The social and political importance of Sindimba In Tanzania

The recordings are preferably made y one of the group members whom Birgitte travelled with to Mtwara. She expected that the informants would be more open to a native and that he would have extensive experience with camera work, but it turned out to be disingenuous.

A basic routine like remembering to charge the camera could fail, and several of the recordings were therefore useless. The primitive camera work results in the fact that some of the dance movements can only be seen dimly in the edge of the frame.