Ngoma Buntibe & The Zimbabwean Marimba of Alport Mhlanga
by Ron Hallis

Canadian film-maker Ron Hallis, whose credits include "Music of the Spirits: The Mbira Music of Stella Nekati-Chiweshe and the double-feature "Chopi Music of Mozambique and Banguza Timbila", has released a new videotape containing two short subjects:


"Ngoma Buntibe: Music of the Valley Tonga" (6 minutes). Ngoma Buntibe is the ceremonial music and dance of the Tonga people of northern Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. This performance was recorded in the district of Binga near Lake Kariba in the Zambezi valley. Ngoma Buntibe is performed on formal occasions and at funerals when the dancers follow the paths the deceased used to walk. The horns are from kudu and antelope, the drum membranes from elephant hide. The Tonga are subsistence farmers, fishers, artisans and itinerant mine workers. They were forced from their ancestral lands by the creation of the Kariba hydroelectric project in the 1950s.

Music:
- Ngoma Buntibe

Instruments: drums, antelope & kudu horns, vocals.


"The Zimbabwean Marimba of Alport Mhlanga" (16 minutes). Recorded in 1984 at the legendary Kwanongoma College of Music in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe featuring performances by the student marimba ensemble and an interview with teacher/composer Alport Mhlanga on the development of the modern marimba at Kwanongoma and its historical roots.

Music:
- Ranchera/Sangoma
- Kwira Mungoro (Get into the cart)
- 978
- Odoli (Puppets)

Instruments: hosho, marimbas.


This double-feature videotape is available from Dandemutande for US$30 plus shipping. For more information, visit http://www.dandemutande.org and navigate to Catalog, Films, and Hallis.