Meri I

A young man leads his troupe of girl and boy dancers who all blow whistles. The dance largely consists of the shaking of shoulders and advancing towards ones partner, bending forward and placing the cheeks together while continuing to shake the shoulders. The dance is a fine spectacle but poor music. The second part of the dance is done with whistles only and without the drum. The Kamba, in common with a few other Bantu tribes appear to be able to tolerate deafining noises in their dance music such as this shrill cacophony of whistles played into each others ears. Mbeni and Kibebe dance song for boys and girls, with Kithembe conical drum, one bunch of Malepe hand bells