A bélé is a folk song and dance from Dominica, performed most commonly during full moon evenings, or sometimes during funeral wakes (Antillean Creole: lavèyé). It may be the oldest Creole dance from Dominica, and strongly reflects influences from African fertility dances. The term bélérefers to a kind of drum both on Dominica and Martinique. Antillean Creole is a French-lexified creole language spoken primarily in the Lesser Antilles. ... Fertility is a measure of reproduction: the number of children born per couple, person or population. ...

All bélé are accompanied by an eponymous drum, the tanbou bélé, along with the tingting (triangle) and chakchak (maracas). Bélés start with a lead vocalist, who is followed by the responsorial chorus (lavwa), then a drummer and dancers. Traditional dances revolve around stylized courtship between a male and female dancer, known as the kavalyé (cavalier) and danm (dam) respectively. The bélé song-dances include the bélé soté, bélé priòrité, bélé djouba, bélé contredanse, bélé rickety and bélé pitjé. The triangle is an idiophonic musical instrument of the percussion family. ... Maracas (sometimes called rhumba shakers) are simple percussion instruments (idiophones), usually played in pairs, consisting of a dried gourd shell (cuia - kOO-ya) or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans. ... In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

On modern Dominica, bélé are primarily performed for holidays and other celebrations, such as Easter, Independence Day, Christmas, Jounen Kwéyòl and patron saint festivals held annually in the Parishes of Dominica, especially in the Fèt St.-Pierre and the Fèt St.-Isidore for fishermen and workers respectively. Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, Pascha, or Resurrection Day, is the most important religious feast of the Christian liturgical year, observed at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the moon. ... An Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nations assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another state. ... Christmas is an annual holiday that marks the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. ... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... Dominica is divided into 10 parishes: Saint Andrew Parish, Dominica Saint David Parish, Dominica Saint George Parish, Dominica Saint John Parish, Dominica Saint Joseph Parish, Dominica Saint Luke Parish, Dominica Saint Mark Parish, Dominica Saint Patrick Parish, Dominica Saint Paul Parish, Dominica Saint Peter Parish, Dominica Categories: Lists of subnational...

The kavalyé and danm take turns dancing. The kavalyé first demonstrates his prowess, then the danm reacts. The kavalyé again courts with the danm, and the both dance in the wildest part of the bélé.

The name bélé may derive from the French belle aire', or the old French aire (meaning threshing platform), or it may derive from an African word.

References

• Virtual Dominica
• Guilbault, Jocelyne (1999). "Dominica", Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge, pp 840-844. ISBN 0815318650.