ABSTRACT
In both Africa and the West a drum is a musical instrument and much more. In the West drums help to set and control the pace of other musical instruments and direct the movements of dancing or marching bodies. This chapter argues that beni ngoma reveals neglected aspects of the nature of healing in Africa. In beni ngoma, as well as in the healing ngomas, the drum is an instrument of transformation and control. And it also 'talks', enabling those who dance to its rhythms to speak of a different range of affliction from that which has been studied in relation to the healing ngomas. The history of these ngomas also illuminates the realm of hygiene and its interpretation and deployment by Africans. The chapter analyses the African and Western technologies of healing that converge in one type of beni ngoma the kalela dance of Zambia's Luapula Province and Copperbelt towns.
