Music of MauritiusNo visitor of the island should miss a sega dance event. There is nobody who can elude from the sweeping rhythm of Mauritius’ national dance. Sega has its roots in Africa and came to Mauritius during the 18th century as the dance of the slaves. They came together after work to sing about love, sorrow and everything life had in store for them. Women dance the typical sega dance with circling hips and joyous turning. They are accompanied by musicians with the three typical sega instruments: ravane, maravane and triangle. The ravane is a tambourine which is stringed with goat leather and which has to be heated up on a fire to produce the typical sound. The maravane is a box filled with seeds or dried beans, which produce a loud rattle. Many hotels present sega evenings every week. Here you can try yourself how to move to this stirring rhythm.
The youth of Mauritius love the seggae, a new style of music, a fusion of traditional sega and Jamaican reggae. The most popular seggae artist is Kaya, who died in 1999.
Due to the Indian population majority in Mauritius, Indian film music also plays a great role on the island. You will hear it in the supermarkets, on the radio or while driving in a taxi over the island.
