Lucian music fuses African rhythms with a solid appreciation for European traditions, like the music for the polka and the waltz, into a number of styles, like:
— Jwé:
The Saint Lucian genre of music called “Jwé” is a playful, sometimes raunchy folk musical style that appears at beach parties, dances, full moon gatherings and, of course, wakes. Musicians improvise baudy lyrics full of double ententres (in Lucian culture this is referred to as lang dévivé, “saying the opposite of what is meant”), and the audience participates by clapping, laughing and singing a long.
— Kwadril:
a highly choreographed Lucian Creole folk dance and accompanying music style based on the European quadrille. Lucians accompany the kwadril by playing, as says Wikipedia, the cuatro, a rattle, the chakchak, bones called zo, a violin, banjo, mandolin and guitar. In class we’ll dance the kwadril as part of our celebration of Jounen Kweyol. About the Lucian kwadril | Dance the kwadril
More information:
Wikipedia on the Music of Saint Lucia (scroll down to learn about the rivalry between the noisy, “English,” La Rose society and the disciplined, “French,” La Marguerite)
Visit AATW’s Caribbean Musical Genres page, or explore these musical genres from St. Lucia:
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Visit AATW’s Caribbean Musical Instruments page or explore these instruments from St. Lucia:
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