‘Shake it and Dance': Portuguese Burgher Identity and the Performance of Káfriinha

Abstract

Portuguese Burghers are a minority ethnic community in Sri Lanka who speak an endangered creole language, Sri Lanka Portuguese (SLP). This paper explores the way Portuguese Burgher identities are articulated in their main performance tradition: a syncretic quadrille dance known as káfriinha. This dance is an important social dance which is embedded in the proceedings of wedding celebrations and other formal events and is a prominent expression of Portuguese Burgher identity. As the primary form of Portuguese Burghers’ performative expression, káfriinha reflects aspects that are core to their identity including the socialisation of gender roles and the self-definition of their identity. Its groove is arresting to the observer, enduring in its history and catching in its cultural influence—both within Sri Lanka and across the Indian Ocean. In this article I demonstrate how ethnographic analysis of káfriinha is revealing of continuity and change in Portuguese Burgher identity, bringing into focus processes of creolisation and aesthetic (and cultural) value.