Thursday, April 18, 2024
Melvis Dzisah
“Imported clips appear on our national television that are far more suggestive,” says art critic Bellarmin Tagaud. “Why ban Mapouka Serre? Is it because what is Ivoirian is not good for the eyes of Ivoirians or what?”
“If Mapouka Serre is banned, then all those useless Western soap operas should also be removed from our TV screens,” says Janet Yao, a teacher.
Mapouka is a popular rhythm from the Lagoon regions of coastal Cote d’Ivoire that is characterised by the gyration of the waist and torso. It is often performed when important personalities visit the area and, although it is a traditional dance among the coastal people, it only recently became popular among those outside the Lagoon area>
The dance became something of a craze at the end of last year when the local youth group, ‘La Generation Mot-a-Mot’, featured it on a state-owned National Television programme. Mapouka soon became the favourite clip of TV music fans across the country, who admired the beautiful body movements of the dancers. Young people even started imitating them. Then, all of a sudden, National Television banned it.
George Aboke, Deputy Director of National Television, described the dance as “indecent” and said it should not be allowed to “contaminate the moral fibre of the country’s youth.” He claimed the decision to ban the clip was provoked by calls from women’s rights groups in the country objecting to the dance.
Since then newspapers have been receiving tens of letters daily questioning the decision by the TV authorities.
“What is the difference between Mapouka Serre and Ndobolo, or Pachengue from the Congo?” wondered local musician Jacques Billy. “Is it because Mapouka is an Ivoirian traditional dance? We have seen Chala Muana from Congo dancing almost naked on our television but no one raised a protesting figure.”
Villagers in the Lagoon regions added their voice to the objections, describing the TV station’s move as discriminatory. They even charged that some other ethnic groups, envious of their dance, had plotted with National Television.
To prove to the world that there was nothing indecent about their dance, one of the villages, Nigui Saff, organised a festival during March and invited important personalities from Abidjan, including TV staff, to attend. Villagers gave them a non-stop three-hour display of the traditional Mapouka Serre and later invited them to comment on what they had seen.
“I am suprised by what I have seen because the dance of late has become the object of controversy in the media,” said Pierre Magne, managing director of the Cote d’Ivoire Tobacco Company (SITAB). “I would say it is a demonstration of our tradition and I think it has a future in Cote d’Ivoire and outside.”
Desire Ecare, a film actor, said he found the dance interesting. “It is not obscene. It is an entertaining dance to watch.” And for the Director of National Radio, Fernand Didia, there is nothing extraordinary about Mapouka Serre. “We have to promote our culture and a dance like Mapouka Serre could help us to do so,” he said.
The audience demanded that National TV show the villagers a demonstration of Mapouka Serre on the screen: all who watched, visitors and locals alike, agreed that the ban was unjustified.
However, the TV station has maintained the ban which, incidentally, has caused the sale of Generation Mot-a-Mot’s music to soar. According to a member of the group, Francois Djaha Akah, their cassettes are now in high demand and more and more people have been asking them to do concerts all over the country.
“Thank you national TV censors,” he said smiling.