top of page
Feelin on the 5th combined logo official.png
Feeln on the 5th 2024
Feeln festival Brazil 2025

TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM

feeln on the 5th
Chrstine Salem

Christine Salem

Singer, songwriter, composer Mayola music

From Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the “potent, ­indefatigable contralto” (The New York Times) ­Christine Salem is the greatest living champion of maloya, a nearly-extinct musical tradition rooted in the work songs and chants of the island’s African slaves. The hypnotic, ­percussion-­driven music is based on rhythms played during ceremonies dedicated to ancestors, and is layered with ­rousing call-and-response vocals. A force of ­nature on stage, Salem delivers socially-­conscious lyrics in ­Creole, Malagasy, Comorian and Swahili, while shaking out the tempo on a traditional ­rectangular reed rattle, the kayamn. A channel to another time and place, she seems to fall into a trance while inducing the ­audience to do the same.

bottom of page