Anne Goedhart

Kasékò is a Creole dance-music tradition from French Guiana whose name refers at once to the genre, the signature drums that drive it, and the social dance associated with it. Energized by polyrhythmic hand-and-stick patterns on barrel drums, kasékò fuses African percussion aesthetics with European social-dance forms (contredanse, polka, and quadrille) and Caribbean popular idioms such as biguine and calypso. Ensembles typically combine tanbou kasékò (lead drum), supporting drums, tibwa (stick patterns played on drum shells or wood), chacha/maracas, whistles, and, in modern groups, brass, guitar, bass and keyboards. Vocals are often in Guianese Creole with lively call-and-response refrains designed for communal participation and carnival street processions.