CAPE-VERDE • BATUCO FROM SANTIAGO ISLAND

Batuco (batuque) is the best preserved African heritage in Santiago Island, Cape-Verde. The songs and the dances express the hard condition of women. Each week, in the Santiago Island of Cape Verde, fishermen's wives meet up to sing and dance, accompanied rhythmically on small cushions made of rags. These songs evoke images from the daily life of these women, often deserted by their men, and shower the latter with their scorn and sarcasm. The accompanying leaflet contains a full translation of the texts, which will enable the listener to appreciate the raw and good-natured style of these marvellous poetesses.