IDNO

P.49870.DRI

Description

"2. Lango dance" [Driberg's caption]

A group of Lango men and women performing the myel me bilo dance. The dancers stands with their legs together and arms bent forward at the elbow.
In the foreground are young children watching on.
Driberg writes the performers dance during the chorus of a song, and that girls will join in by following the musicians and singing (Driberg 1923, pp.126-127).
In the background are trees and the thatched roofs. [LS 25/07/23]

Place

E Africa; Uganda; ?Northern Region [Lango District]

Cultural Affliation

Lango

Named Person

Photographer

Driberg, Jack Herbert

Collector / Expedition

Date

circa 1912 - 1921

Collection Name

Driberg CollectionUnmounted Haddon Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.49848.ACH2. to P.49875.ACH2. were found in envelope now marked C210/1/. This was found in another envelope now marked C210/ which came from the wooden drawer 1.

Place: The Place field was previously recorded as being "Africa; East Africa; ?Uganda", but the Lango is a group from what was known as the sub-region of Lango District, Uganda. A photograph of the series, P.49860.ACH2, has now being identified as Driberg’s, who worked with the Lango of Uganda between 1912 - 1921. The Place field has been amended accordingly. [Source: Ethnologue 15th Edition, JD 19/6/2009]

Photographer: The handwriting on the reverse of the prints P.49848.ACH2. to P.49875.ACH2 is the same as on P.49860.ACH2, which has been identified as J.H.Driberg’s. The Photographer and Date fields have been amended accordingly. [JD 19/6/2009]

Bibliographical Reference: In Driberg, J.H. and Coryndon, R.T. 1923. 'The Lango a Nilotic tribe of Uganda' (London: Fisher Unwin) Driberg discusses various types of Lango dances in his chapter on the "Mode of Life" on page 126-127, noting that some women dance performers, or a "group of girls follows the musicians singing in a shrill treble, while the dancers join in as each chorus recurs, the cumulative effort being singularly agreeable."