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Sudan Uses Dance to Heal Rifts of War
By MOHAMED OSMAN
Associated Press Writer

July 27, 2003, 1:32 PM EDT

WAU, Sudan -- In Sudan, a tribal dance is usually a private affair,
off-limits to outsiders. But in this southern region once riven by
tribal fighting, you're likely to see a laughing Dinka trying to learn
Jor steps, or Chad women gently coaxing a shy Fertit maiden to strut her
stuff. 

For the last three years, a weekly "peace dance" has been held in the
main square in Wau, 500 miles south of Khartoum, aimed at bringing the
area's 33 tribes together to get to know each other. 

Sponsored by UNICEF, aid workers and local leaders, it makes a joyful
break from 20 years of war and related famine that have left more than 2
million Sudanese dead. 

"You will find here Jor, Dinka, Balanda, Bongo, Chad, Kiraish and Arabs.
Any tribe, you have them here," said Luis Carlos, a 27-year-old Jor who
works occasionally as a vendor at the Wau market and rarely misses a
peace dance. "I think it helps bring us together as tribes. It is good
for us." 

Civil war broke out in 1983 when rebels seeking greater autonomy took up
arms against Sudan's predominantly Arab and Muslim government. 

In the Wau region of the largely animist and Christian south, tribesmen
allied themselves with rival rebel groups, and some estimates say more
people died in the southern clashes than in the whole north-south war. 

Anthony Obur Donyia, a Fertit leader and peace dance organizer, says the
tribes slowly came to see themselves as pawns in other people's wars. 

"When we realized that this is not our own making, we said we should
stop this among us, enough is enough. And we thought of something that
brings us together, something common, and this is dancing." 

There's the male-dominated dance of the Dinka in which participants
brandish fake spears and mimic a bull's horns with their hands. And
there's a gentler, more feminine Fertit dance in which women and men
imitate the strutting of courting pigeons. All are driven by the beat of
tambourines made of hide. 

Some tribes add bells or wind instruments fashioned from animal horns or
bamboo. 

The dancers gather every Sunday -- some in shorts or trousers, others in
tribal dress. Up to 1,000 people from a dozen tribes turn out on a good
day. If it rains, the event moves to another day. But no week goes by
without a peace dance. 

The setting itself is a reminder of the fighting. Many of the homes and
businesses surrounding the square have been destroyed by shelling. 

Each tribe gathers in its own circle as the evening begins. Then a young
man or woman visits another tribe's circle to dance and learn. The
dancing continues until sunset, after which some young people linger to
chat. The curfew has been extended four hours to 10 p.m. thanks to
easing tensions. 

"Now you can see we can dance together and learn from each other,"
Donyia said. "People continue to dance whatever happens, and there was
never a case of quarreling or fighting." 

Events, though, can darken the mood. When the latest session of peace
talks in Nairobi, Kenya, ended in stalemate, people on their way to the
dance gathered in small groups to mull over the bad news. 

No date for resuming peace talks has been set. But the dancing
continues. 
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press 

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