BENJA GASY
Last geological vestige of the great drift of the continents, baptized Gondwana, Madagascar likes to cultivate the mystery of its origins. The island, it is suggested, is a divine creation. Its surface marries the strange shape of a left foot (of which satellite islands would be the toes), like the ancient imprint of a facetious giant.
The National Folk Ensemble "Benja Gasy" carries the traditions of a country that sends us for the first time its most complete ballet. This troupe of dancers and musicians was founded by its current director, Mr. Benja GASY, in 1998, after extensive research on the cultures of the different regions of this island located in the Mozambique Channel off the coast of Africa.
It is the only Malagasy folk troupe that represents the music and dances of the six provinces of the country, with authentic musical instruments from each region, traditional hairstyles, costumes, dialects. Its objective is to demonstrate to the whole world the wealth and cultural varieties of Madagascar and to promote folklore in the country.
Indeed, the history of Madagascar is part of the great adventure of merchant exchanges that take place, from the 10th century, between the different states and kingdoms bordering the shores of the Western Indian Ocean, then considered as an internal sea. The island constitutes itself in several kingdoms, whose unification ends in the 18th century under the monarchy merina of ANDRIANAMPOINIMERINA. It then began diplomatic relations with the Western world, whose adventures led it to become a French colony from 1896 to 1960. Since its return to autonomy on 26 June 1960, Madagascar has opted for the model of Western parliamentary democracy and from the mid-20th century, its contemporary history follows the economic and political chronicles of the modern world.
The true richness of this folk ensemble are its dances, representative of all the provinces of the country, and its original musical instruments, with exotic names like "begah", a plucked-string instrument with sixty-one strings, the "valiha", a Malagasy national instrument, the 'marovany', the 'jejy' or even the 'lokanga bara', traditional violin from the south.
The National Folk Ensemble "Benja Gasy" represents the music and dances of the six provinces of Madagascar, which are very varied due to the diversity of origins of the country’s populations. Dances tell the beauty of landscapes and beaches, and express the very warm tropical atmosphere of this region. Some costumes and dances have Arabic influences.
Madagascar is the concentrate of a mixed civilization with Bantu, Arab and European cultures, whose foundation, as attested by numerous tales of navigators, dates back to the end of the first Christian decade. The National Folk Ensemble "Benja Gasy" is the landmark of this immense cultural melting pot.
