EKITAGURIRO DANCE

EKITAGURIRO DANCE 

This is a dance performed by the Banyankore. The Banyankore are from Ankole land, found in the Western part of Uganda. This originates from the Nkore or Ankole kingdom which is one of the oldest traditional dynasties in Uganda. 

Ekitaguriro is a dance performed by both men and women. They use it to tell stories, communicate vital cultural information, good harvests as well as a celebrate fundamental life changes like birth and marriage but mostly to show appreciation for their cows.

The men step from one leg to another imitating the back-and-forth movement the cows make when walking and the women spread their hands across and above their heads in the representation of the long-horned cattle and majestically sway from side to side in unison.

The dance is performed whilst wearing the Banyankore traditional dancewear known as ‘Bitambi’ or ‘lessu’ (wrapper) which is tied tightly around their waist and another lighter cloth around the shoulders complemented by several African-themed jewellery for the women. The men add shackle-like beads to their ensemble whose basic role is to draw attention to the foot movements and compliment the sounds of the Kitaguriro dance.