“Dá Ku Torno!”: Batuku and identity territories in the cabo-verdean diaspora

Authors

  • André Coelho Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/rm.v24i1.225961

Keywords:

batuko, deterritorialized identity, Cabo Verde, diaspora

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of processes of identification that exist in batuku, a practice that originated on the island of Santiago in Cabo Verde, through the observation of the performance of the Batukadeiras X. This group, consisting mostly of young Afro-Portuguese women, gained international prominence when they participated as part of the North-American singer Madonna’s Madame X Tour. The show integrated references from the expressive Afro-Portuguese culture that the artist absorbed during her stay in Lisbon, between 2017 and 2019, and through this collaboration the members of Batukadeiras X experienced a return to an imagined homeland, by reconnecting with their Cabo Verdean roots in a subalternized context. This return to the origins was not only a sort of cultural rescue, but also a creative form of rediscovery and identity affirmation. This experience also allowed these young women to reflect on the agency of the body in performance spaces, and on the awareness of batuku as an expression of identity and collective memory, particularly in the context of the diaspora.

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Published

2024-07-31

Issue

Section

Dossiê Temático: Música e relações étnico-raciais

How to Cite

COELHO, André. “Dá Ku Torno!”: Batuku and identity territories in the cabo-verdean diaspora. Revista Música, [S. l.], v. 24, n. 1, p. 259–284, 2024. DOI: 10.11606/rm.v24i1.225961. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/revistamusica/article/view/225961. Acesso em: 14 jun. 2026.