Classroom lesson · Music · 🇲🇺 Mauritius

Séga dance and the ravane drum

Mauritius's joyful music tradition, played on a goatskin drum

Mauritian dancers performing séga in colourful costumes, with a ravane drummer

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Séga is the traditional music and dance of Mauritius. Dancers move their hips in a flowing, swaying style close to the ground, while musicians play the ravane - a large drum made from a wooden frame covered in goatskin. The music is joyful, rhythmic and full of energy.

Tell me more

The ravane is the heart of séga music. It is held upright and beaten with the hands, and it produces a deep, warm sound. Before playing, the player warms the goatskin near a fire or under a lamp to tighten it and improve the tone. Other instruments join in: the maravanne (a shaker), the triangle and sometimes a guitar or accordion.

Séga dancing has a very distinctive style. Dancers bend their knees, sway from side to side, and move their feet in tiny, shuffling steps - the style is sometimes described as 'dancing close to the earth'. It is very different from dancing upright, and it takes practice to get right. On the beach at night, with a bonfire and a ravane, séga feels magical.

Séga is not just entertainment - it is a living part of Mauritian identity. It is taught in schools, performed at cultural festivals, and played at celebrations and family gatherings. Learning séga is one of the ways Mauritian children connect with their culture.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Many traditional dances are connected to the earth - low to the ground. Why might that be?
02How does the sound of a drum change the feeling in a room?
03What traditional dance or music comes from where you live? What does it feel like to do it?
04Why is it important to teach children traditional music, even when they also listen to modern music?

Try this

Classroom activity

Make simple shakers (rice or dried beans in a sealed container) and a 'drum' from a tub or tin. Create a class rhythm together: one group keeps a steady beat, another adds a shaking pattern on top. Try to keep the rhythm going for two full minutes. Then discuss: how does playing music together feel different from listening alone?

Séga dance and the ravane drum

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Discussion prompts

Classroom activity

Other things that make Mauritius special

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