- 2 days ago
The first martial art of Martinique, Danmyé—or Ladja—was born from the clash of two worlds. Enslaved people from Senegal, passing through Gorée Island, created a combat art inspired by the initiatory ceremony called “n'golo,” which symbolized the transition from adolescence to adulthood through wrestling. The primary source of inspiration was undoubtedly the làmb, or traditional Senegalese wrestling. These combats took place during patronal festivals or in organized bouts.
However, after Martinique became an official French department in 1947, municipal decrees banned the practice of Danmyé. The fights were real, with genuine blows, and often served as a pretext for settling disputes. During the 1960s, the rise of folkloric groups—most notably the Martinican ballet—revived this combat sport through choreographed bouts. In the 1970s, with the emergence of independence movements, the phenomenon gained momentum, becoming increasingly prominent.
Today, cultural associations work to preserve and update knowledge about this practice. Danmyé, or martial dance, developed exclusively in Martinique. It is performed to the rhythm of drums and ti-bwa within a circle formed by spectators. A singer encourages the fighters with chants in favor of the struggle. There are various venues in Martinique for “bèlè” evenings. Traditionally, the night begins with Danmyé bouts, followed by bèlè, creating a sense of communion that lasts through the night, ending at sunrise with the “ting-bang.”
However, after Martinique became an official French department in 1947, municipal decrees banned the practice of Danmyé. The fights were real, with genuine blows, and often served as a pretext for settling disputes. During the 1960s, the rise of folkloric groups—most notably the Martinican ballet—revived this combat sport through choreographed bouts. In the 1970s, with the emergence of independence movements, the phenomenon gained momentum, becoming increasingly prominent.
Today, cultural associations work to preserve and update knowledge about this practice. Danmyé, or martial dance, developed exclusively in Martinique. It is performed to the rhythm of drums and ti-bwa within a circle formed by spectators. A singer encourages the fighters with chants in favor of the struggle. There are various venues in Martinique for “bèlè” evenings. Traditionally, the night begins with Danmyé bouts, followed by bèlè, creating a sense of communion that lasts through the night, ending at sunrise with the “ting-bang.”
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00:00Thank you for listening.
05:57Here we are at the House of Belay, which was founded in Sainte-Marie in February 2003.
06:03Today we see many former performers who grew up here in the tradition of Belay.
06:08It was to bring people like them out of the shadows and give them the place they deserve
06:13the place of Belay was created.
06:14So this evening, the House of Belay is welcoming the Belay associations of Martinique for a little
06:28Belay time.
06:29And this Belay time is reserved for beginners.
06:33That means people who have been dancing a year or two, no more.
06:36This evening is just for them with drumming, with dancing, and with tibois.
06:41Belay is a dance in Martinique that comes from our slavery period.
06:46So, it's a legacy from Africa, with various European contributions.
06:51So, you have singers, the drum, tibois, dancers, and Daillet voices that we call choruses.
07:11These are songs that are very, very old.
07:16Because the masters of Belay are between 80 and 90 years of age.
07:20So, they're the trustees of this tradition.
07:23They're the oldest in Martinique, and they're all originally from Sainte-Marie.
07:28In Belay, the singing is in Creole, only in Creole.
07:32So, you have several different rhythms in Belay.
07:35You have seven rhythms.
07:37You have Belia.
07:39You have Grand Belay.
07:40You have Grand Belay.
07:41Pitche Belay.
07:42Biggin Belay.
07:43Chou Belay.
07:46You have Linkle dances.
07:48These are dances that are performed afterwards, that are performed in line.
07:52There's the Mabelo, the Kanigwe, the Benezwe, the Tingbang, and the Si Belay.
08:00You also have what we call Damye, which is a combat dance.
08:06Usually, Damye is performed in the early part of the evening.
08:10Then you have the Belay dances, and then the Linkle dances.
08:13So, depending on where you live or where you're living at the moment, you choose an association.
08:19We all have the same customs, where women wear a T-shirt, a skirt, a petticoat, and the scarf.
08:26We dance barefoot.
08:28Men wear loose clothing for ease of movement.
08:30And especially, we dance with our knees bent.
08:33We don't dance upright.
08:34We dance knees bent so our knees are protected.
08:36And that also comes from the field dances.
08:40The songs, as well as their purpose of giving a rhythm to work, were a means of recounting the island's history, as well as the communities and the neighbourhoods.
09:02Recounting with irony the differences between colonizers, and also the woes of a friend or of a foreman, and many other such things.
09:15The issue of Belay's origin raises a real controversy related to Martinique's turbulent past.
09:45The House of Belay's objectives are to honor the elders, trustees of an ancestral tradition, to put these elders into contact with the rest of the Martinique and foreign populations, and to immortalize this tradition, so that future generations can share in it.
10:15The House of Belay's objectives are to honor the elders, and to the people who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones
11:15Martinique produces mainly rum from sugarcane.
11:26This production has since 1996 been labelled AOC, Appellation d'origine Contrôlée Martinique.
11:34This label attests to its great quality, to the special method of production and to the
11:39ageing of Martinican cane rum.
11:45Production of AOC cane rum represents 21% of the agricultural added value for the Department
11:52of Martinique.
11:53The rum is mainly exported to mainland France.
11:57It has long been appreciated for its great aromatic depth, its roundness and its creaminess in
12:03the mouth.
12:17Here we're at the De Paz plantation, a domain operating since 1645, acquired by Martinique's
12:23first governor, Jacques Diel du Parquet.
12:27The farm, called at the time La Montagne, stretched from the coast to the foot of Mount Poullée.
12:32A quarter of a century later, the property had two sugar plants, a water mill, an ox-driven
12:39mill and 125 hectares of cane.
12:43During the Enlightenment, La Montagne changed hands several times before being purchased
12:48by the Père, settlers originally from Bordeaux, established at Basse-Pointe.
12:52One of the daughters married Joseph Pécoule, then a modest lawyer from Aix-en-Provence.
13:00The Pécoules remained in control of the operation for more than 100 years, from 1810 to 1917,
13:07giving their name to the property, that was then called at that time Pécoule, La Montagne.
13:11In 1922, Victor de Paz started to build the huge chateau based on the model and the ruins
13:20of the one he'd spent his childhood in, Château Périnelle.
13:25This enormous property was home to his 11 children, of whom the three eldest sons, Raoul, Henri,
13:30then André, would one by one take over the reins of their father's business, which they
13:35held till 1989.
13:36That year, the distillery and five hectares of land were bought by the French group Bardinet,
13:43today called La Martiniquaise.
13:59Awarded the gold medal at the Concours Général de Paris in 2008, then silver medal in 2009,
14:04de Paz's plantation old rum ages three years in the little oak barrels that give it a
14:10beautiful aromatic richness.
14:12The nose of this rum has a complex aromatic depth, a mixture of fine notes of vanilla,
14:18coconut, chocolate, prunes, candied fruits, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee, all brought
14:24out by the finesse and the depth of the wood.
14:27De Paz's plantation old rum is a rum with character.
14:34They say it makes you want to go back for more.
14:36The throat of this rum has a maple, a此our, a five-year-old, a young and a half-leader.
14:38The oafs are a daisy and the hempcricism.
14:38They say it makes you want to go back for more.
14:39The mouth of this rum is a maple, an hour-by-a-lay-any-a-lay-way, a young and-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an-an.
14:52Martinique is of volcanic origin. It is part of the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles.
15:12It has a mountainous relief in the north and in the west, marked by two mountains, Mount
15:16Poulet, a still active volcano that culminates at 1,397 meters, and by the Piton du Carbet that
15:23rise to 1,120 meters.
15:46The south of the island is, on the other hand, made up of limestone or volcanic hills between
15:58300 and 500 meters high.
16:03Because of these differences in altitude, the north is much more humid than the south of
16:07the island, which is very wooded.
16:37.
16:48.
16:55Martinique has a way of coupling everything and its opposite, sugar and rum, the rain
17:24and the sun, the trade winds and cyclones, volcanoes and rivers and many other things, like the
17:31heavenly vegetation that looks like a jungle, and only a few kilometres away this superb
17:37fine sand beach.
17:40It's almost as simple as turning your head from side to side to see one or the other.
17:54It's not in the wind, it's not in the wind, it's in the wind.
18:08It'spunk, it's common, our friend, our friends and our sister, our friend and our sister
24:12By that I mean, we do it according to the abilities of each person.
24:19What's so interesting in Damier is the relationship between the music and the combat.
24:26It's very strong.
24:29Which is to say that when you're doing Damier and you have the music playing behind you,
24:35it's something else.
24:38And it's really something very important.
24:41In the old days,
25:10dance was the art of moving.
25:13There used to be combat dances.
25:16And when you were dancing, you were a master in the art of dodging, of attacking and moving about.
25:22So dance is not just an embellishment.
25:25It's a gesture that's part of the combat and that serves the combat.
25:31It's a huge job.
25:34Because the elders here don't just give it to you casually.
25:40They give it to you with their hearts.
25:43In that way, they are respectable and honorable people.
25:50Because the elders who have given us this technique have never asked us for a penny.
25:57However, they have given it to us so that we can go on to perfect stick combat.
26:04They used to be very important stick rituals like there were in France.
26:10Duels really existed.
26:11People passed by.
26:12They had a problem with you.
26:14And out came the sticks.
26:16The stick has a history in the slave struggle.
26:19Slaves went to battle with sticks, rakes, cutlasses, tridents, forks, what have you.
26:25Whatever came to hand.
26:28Once, there was a master who taught his pupil to use the stick.
26:32Well, the pupil very quickly became as adept as the master.
26:37He had taught him the techniques, the game, the dance.
26:42And then one day, the pupil is standing in front of him saying,
26:47Master, I want to do combat with you.
26:51And he says, I'm the one who taught you this.
26:55How can you ask me?
26:57It's not proper.
26:59And the man says, Master, I'll never be satisfied with myself unless I can beat you one day.
27:08The master looks at him and says, OK, I'll meet you tomorrow morning at six o'clock in such and such a place.
27:14Come alone.
27:16The guy says, OK, he would come.
27:18The master arrives at five o'clock in the morning, if it isn't half past four, just so he's there before the guy.
27:26So when the fellow arrives, the master is waiting for him, stick in hand.
27:30The guy comes up to him and says, Master, I'm here.
27:33The master says, yes, but there's a problem.
27:36And the guy says, what problem, master? I don't see a problem.
27:40The master says, I told you to come alone.
27:43And he makes as if to look behind him.
27:45So the guy turns around because he knows he has come alone.
27:49And right then he's hit with a stick and disarmed.
27:53And the master says to him, I taught you a lot of things, but I hadn't taught you that one yet.
27:59Craftiness in the game.
28:02There you are.
28:03I think we all love life at a certain level, even if it becomes very difficult on this planet.
28:09But all of us, we all love life.
28:12The elders still had this respect for life.
28:16Practicing the stick is still practicing.
28:19It makes a man or a woman a little more sure of themselves.
28:23A stick can disarm a knife.
28:26It can disarm a cutlass.
28:28It can disarm a saber when it's done properly.
28:31It's an art because it teaches us so many things about life, about dance, about movement, about the art of combat.
28:39Above all, it is an art.
28:42Note that Danmier developed only in Martinique because it was one of the last acts of marronage
28:59that allowed the West Indian man to affirm his identity by fighting against European cultural domination.
29:05After each training session, stretching exercises are very important, so that the participants' muscles can get over their athletic emotion.
29:18And when they've finished, everybody applauds, congratulating each other on a successful session.
29:35Martinique is called the Island of Flowers, or Madinina, because you will discover an impressive variety of flowers there.
29:53Several hundreds, in fact.
29:56The Island of Flowers enjoys a tropical climate favorable to the development of West Indian flora.
30:02To mention just a few, the Anthurium, the Porcelain Rose, Caribbean Heliconia, the Bird of Paradise, the Queen of Malaysia, and there are many others, each one more beautiful than the next.
30:13Every Martinican flower name is a poem in itself.
30:17The banana is a recent product in the West Indies, born in around 1928.
30:38It has always been one of the staple foods for the population.
30:42The positive image it has, opposed to sugarcane, which is associated with slavery, has helped encourage the development of small plantations.
30:51Rapidly, the banana took over from sugarcane on the best farmlands.
30:55The blue film around the bananas is meant to protect the fruit from airplane sulfate emissions.
31:01It will soon be replaced by a white film, which promotes the ripening of the fruit.
31:16Banana crops cover 8,300 hectares in Martinique, that's 84% of useful farmlands, shared between 1,275 farms.
31:26The banana tree has always been a part of the Martinican landscape, but it wasn't until the 20th century that it took on such economic importance.
31:35Sugarcane represents to the people of Martinique the troubles of slavery in the past, an important contribution to the value produced on the island, and consequently an incarnation of the Martinican soul.
31:58Sugarcane was introduced to Martinique, like in the rest of the Antilles, in the 1640s, so as to establish a profitable crop that was able to supply Europe with sugar.
32:07Sugarcane is the second most important crop in Martinique after the banana, with 4,150 hectares, which is 13.7% of useful arable land.
32:28In 2009, Martinique produced over 220,000 tonnes of cane, of which 40% was used for the production of sugar in the Galillon factory.
32:42The rest was used for the production of cane rum.
32:45Markets are an integral part of Martinican life.
32:59A place of living and exchange for everyone, they are ideal for observing and getting acquainted with the local population,
33:05becoming familiar with the local fruits and vegetables, getting drunk on the smells, the flavours and the exotic colours of Martinique.
33:35The pit is a little arena in which cockfights take place, but it's also a structure surrounded with steps for the social exchange that gravitates to this strange and special world.
33:52Introduced by the Spanish, cockfighting has become a true Martinican passion.
33:59It manages to provide a living for many people in Martinique.
34:09The season begins in April and ends around December when the roosters are growing new feathers and the heat prevents the champions from fighting.
34:19The roosters are wild, domesticated and crossbred with roosters from India.
34:27Before the fighting season, the birds are prepared, trained like top athletes and fed with recipes that are kept quite secret.
34:40After the weigh-in, the first birds are brought into the centre of the arena to be prepared.
34:56The feathers have been trimmed.
35:00At ten to twelve months of age, the cock's comb is removed and its barbs are cut.
35:08The spurs are left intact, but when they fight, long extensions are added to the bird's own, glued on with preheated wax, giving the spur a rather impressive length.
35:26This makes it possible to fix, regulate and adjust its position.
35:33Placing them involves a whole procedure requiring some expertise.
35:38Placing them taki as the
36:05A fight can last from a few seconds to several minutes.
36:30Each match sees two opponents in the ring, usually of the same weight.
36:35On the board, in front of the numbers corresponding to the boxes the cocks are kept in, you sometimes
36:51see the letter B. This means that the animal is one-eyed, that it lost an eye in a fight
36:57or during training.
37:00The day of a fight, bets are placed in an atmosphere of clamorous excitement.
37:07Large sums of money are sometimes at stake.
37:11The base price for a bird without a good reputation can be from 150 to 200 euros.
37:18Taking part in a fight costs the cock breeder between 2,000 and 6,000 euros.
37:48To the next day, the next day is the first match.
41:04Practicing Lajja is a real art of living that today children can learn from a very young age.
41:12Because in the beginning, as it was too violent, it was a sport for adults only.
41:16Over time, it became more and more pedagogical.
41:23Children become really fulfilled practicing this martial art.
42:09Children have always been interested in Lajja.
42:23It was just that they weren't allowed to do it.
42:27But in fact, when you speak of an art of living, you have to remember that in our society, the way things are organized, a young person will come to Lajja naturally.
42:38Because we have all different types of games that used to be played in the country or in school playgrounds, like Zouel, the game Zouel.
42:47That's sort of similar to Cops and Robbers, or any game where the point is to not get caught, so you use all possible means.
42:56We work on dodging, on acrobatics.
42:58We work on observation, and games like that are already starting off points for training young people who will, eventually, end up doing Lajja.
43:10So, they'll watch their elders and see how they do it, but he or she already has a base to build on.
43:18That wasn't all organized, like today in schools where very specific exercises are given.
43:25We're going to adapt our way of teaching to the children.
43:28Before, it was much less organized, but it happened anyway.
43:31Then, at another level of practice, yes, there was training involved.
43:38Once you were initiated, there were majors who had two or three apprentices, who they trained, and to whom they gave different types of exercises or training.
43:48So, it was always in relation either to the work or to the stroke of a cane.
43:54Go to the river, potato head.
43:56Anyway, they knew exactly what to do to develop flexibility, to build up muscles.
44:01It's a far cry from the gym with a coach and weights, but they knew exactly what they were doing.
44:07So, the whole process of initiation begins in childhood, but children couldn't be part of Lajja.
44:12It was for adults, because it was quite violent.
44:14What are you doing?
44:16Because it's a lot.
44:18It's a lot.
44:19Why do you have one?
44:20What are you doing?
44:20You have one?
44:21Music.
44:21They're both the styles of combat, which means the Lajja.
44:26All right.
44:56I don't know how to do it.
45:56Let's go.
46:26First of all, I wouldn't even call Laja a sport.
46:39I mean, there's an undeniable sports aspect to it,
46:42but it's really an art of living which is common to all martial arts throughout the world.
46:48Be it at a level of samurais or that of kung fu practitioners,
46:52practitioners of kalari payat or anything else.
46:56There is always an art of living associated with the martial art,
47:00and it's never isolated.
47:03It goes with the environment, the way we hold ourselves upright every day.
47:08Laja is an art of total combat because it includes wrestling.
47:12It also includes the fists, the feet.
47:16You have punches using the knees, the elbows.
47:20You can bite.
47:22You can hold on to the private parts.
47:23And there's also a spiritual dimension, a knowledge of plants, of water, the seas' bays, rivers.
47:34It's something really very complete, but which is simply a reflection of most traditional African combat.
47:40The musical aspect is very important.
47:49We actually have the feeling that we're dancing.
47:52If we just did that, then it's dancing.
47:56Yes, it is.
47:56It's dancing.
47:57Except it's a dance that serves combat.
48:00So, you could call it a combat dance, but you could also simply call it a rhythmic combat.
48:09So then, it's a question of taking a position, it's a vision of things.
48:14However, the elders who practice will tell you that there is no useless movement, because all movement, even when it seems right, like this, or when it seems to be a dance movement, is always an attitude that makes you ready for combat and responds to a situation.
48:31The basis of Laja is our African culture.
48:38It's true that we have always suffered from what today is called cross-breeding.
48:42But deep down, fundamentally, it's the African culture that drives us.
48:47And we will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if many would like to make us forget what we are.
48:53We will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if many would like to make us forget what we are.
49:23We will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if many would like to make us forget what we are.
49:53We will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if many would like to make us forget what we are.
49:56We will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if many are.
50:02We will continue to fight for that to be recognized, even if we are."
50:07Oh, my God!
50:11Oh, my God!
50:27Oh, my God!
50:30It's beautiful.
51:06The Island of Flowers, or Martinique, is an invitation to dream.
51:28There are secret agonies that have, for a little more than three centuries, churned within
51:32its land, but it has faced up to them without complaint.
51:36Even if it does not forget.
51:38A voyage to this island might be a one-way only, because once you've arrived, it's not
51:43so sure you'll ever want to leave.
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