ORUNYEGE DANCE PERFOMED BY KABALEGA ROYAL TROUPE HOIMA

ORUNYEGE, ENTOGORO AND EIGULYA DANCE BUNYORO Bunyoro My Sweet Home. Bunyoro the Land of Sweet Oil
When you are tracing for the real Ancient African Traditional dances`then there are probably two great Kingdoms with the most outstanding and sweet dance that’s Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa and Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom in Western Uganda, Runyege Entogoro and Eigulya all are balanced dances on function across Bunyoro be it official cultural etc
Watching Orunyege-Ntogoro dance is quite an interesting experience I can say. Getting to the start of any of the oldest folk songs for instance ,Ilemere abagara Nsonga Ilemera by Yohana Byabacwezi ,Bwazaahuka ,Butiitira, name them , you require one thing and that is patience .
Looking at lines of men and women with ornamented necks and waists, it is all curiosity for what will happen next ,passionate and energetic movements . But what happens next? Singers behind drums singing out in high pitches and hardly making any movements.
This is when you just need to wait until the song leader jumps to direct the first thundering sound of the drum and and dancers are awakened as if in a terrible shock ,so is the audience .But not really, this is how it is all planned .
It is the time the real dance should begin ,after a few minutes of bringing out a special message. A pair of one man and one female is given a chance to come and present a unique dancing style.The man will come from the men’s cue and pick a beauty to dance with.
When the first pair gets exhausted ,the second ,third and fourth pair comes on stage in a row . Elders in Bunyoro and Tooro Kingdom say , in the past, young men and women would be picked at random and paraded in front of the community in a traditional ceremony to choose their future partners. This ceremony was a significant event, especially for the boys. Poor dancers would remain bachelors.
The best female dancers would get the best men and poor dancers would miss out or get uninteresting male partners .That was then.Orunyege and Entogoro dances create utmost excitement at any event ,especially marriage ceremonies.
We have noticed that the dance is more interesting when there are no invented motifs, as some cultural dance groups have treated the treasure.It is awesome when it is original and pure to bring out real cultural identity of the Banyoro and Batooro in Western Uganda.