Practical Information - Madagascar - page 186

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
MUSIC Malagasy music is distinctive and justly famous. See box on Click Here . Finding
good local music is a hit and miss affair when travelling. Often your best bet is to look out
for posters advertising concerts, regularly put up near the gare routière .
CINEMA Films are dubbed into French; Bruce Lee is one of the most popular stars.
TELEVISION Posh hotels have CNN but some local stations show BBC World Service
news at 09.00. Most of the output on local channels comprises Malagasy music videos.
THE MUSIC OF MADAGASCAR
Derek Schuurman & Paddy Bush
Like everything else in Madagascar, the island's music portrays characteristics from
other parts of the world but the end result is uniquely Malagasy.
Justin Vali (Justin Rakotondrasoa) - a Merina from the hauts plateaux - is today
the country's best-known Malagasy musician outside of his country. Apart from Vali,
otherMalagasymusicianswhohaveenjoyedsuccessabroadincludeD'Gary,whohas
a huge following in Canada and USA; Regis Gizavo; Jojoby, the King of Salegy, who
is once again performing after a near-fatal car accident; the band Tarika, which was
highly rated in an international Time Magazine poll a few years ago; and Mahaleo,
the Malagasy version of the Beatles, who have been going strong since the 1970s and
whose songs contain profound lyrical content.
Many western instruments have found their way into Malagasy music. It is not un-
common to see accordions in particular, but also clarinets and certain brass instru-
ments, being played at the colourful hira gasy events. On the other hand, visit a vi-
brant nightclub and you'll very likely see contemporary musicians belting out thump-
ing dance tracks using modern electric and bass guitars and synthesisers.
The national instrument is the valiha , which belongs to the family of tube and box
zithers. This fascinating instrument goes back generations in Justin Vali's family, who
both make and play it. The original or 'ancestral' form of valiha is constructed from
certain rare species of bamboo, known as volo ('hair from the ground' - a wonder-
ful way to describe bamboo!). Valiha are of great spiritual significance and have been
played for centuries in ceremonies sacred to the razana (ancestors).
The valiha is thought to have arrived some 2,000 years ago from southeast Asia,
where various forms of the instrument are still to be found in the Borneo and Philip-