The tradition
Music and dance carry a lot of weight in Rwandan tradition — there are songs and dances for bravery, for cattle, for marriage, for mourning and for outright comedy. Older songs are often accompanied by the lulunga, a harp-like instrument with eight strings. Celebratory dance is backed by a drum orchestra, usually seven to nine players, producing overlapping cross-rhythms that build for minutes at a time.
Intore
The Intore dance troupe was founded centuries ago and once performed exclusively for the royal court at Nyanza. The male dancers perform the warrior repertoire in headdresses called imigara — the long grass manes that produce the whipping motion the dance is known for. The women perform in mushanana, the draped traditional dress, with the arm movements that echo the horns of the inyambo cattle.
Where to see it
The strongest performance in the country is the troupe associated with the national museum in Huye, which can usually be arranged at fairly short notice through the museum. In Kigali and around Rubavu there are professional troupes performing at hotels, conferences and weddings — competent and convenient, but a different thing.
Community-run performances form part of several village visits, including Iby'Iwacu and Dancing Pots, where the Batwa repertoire and instrumentation are different again and worth seeing on their own terms.
Modern music
The living continuation of all this is not on a stage. It is the massed devotional singing in any church service in the country on a Sunday morning, which is free, open and better than most ticketed performances.