A Documentary Film by Dr. Johann Buis
Vingwengwe Screening
Vingwengwe: The Rhythm of the Fipa
Uncovering a Living Musical Tradition: A 400-Year-Old Mystery
Documentary Screening and Q&A with Dr. Buis
Thursday, September 25, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.
Barrows Auditorium | 500 College Avenue, Wheaton IL 60187
This documentary is the result of eleven years of research inspired by a retired Norwegian engineer’s account of a unique musical ritual in Western Tanzania. At a bridge opening in Kigoma, he witnessed nuns turning stools on claypots in different rhythm patterns, while others played drums, danced, and sang in complex, layered rhythms (polyrhythms).
Intrigued, Dr. Buis began a furtive quest leading him to Gabriel Ng’honoli, a choir director and government communications officer in Kigoma, who became a key informant. His insights and recordings revealed three distinct celebration dance styles tied to different generations, highlighting a rich and sophisticated oral tradition among the Fipa people of Sumbawanga.
Bios
Johann Buis is an Associate Professor of Music (Musicology), Coordinator of Music History Area at Wheaton College where he has served in the Conservatory of Music for over 20 years. His scholarship ranges from performance history of early music to the aesthetics and reception history of black music between the United States and urban centers in Africa. He is the co-author of Shout Because You're Free! The Ring Shout Tradition in Coastal Georgia (University of Georgia Press, 1998). A versatile public musicologist, he has published widely in journals such as College Music Symposium, Ethnomusicology, Early Music America, MLA Notes, to Torture: Quarterly Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture and Issue: A Journal of Opinion, among others. And most recently his research and documentation of the Western Tanzanian music traditions.
Rod Kirkman, the filmmaker, is a mid-career Los Angeles-based professional. He was impacted through Dr. Buis's teaching on the musical treasures of the African World over twenty years ago. He completed three feature films, won several awards, and entered this documentary in the first of several international film festivals. He and his Los Angeles-based team meet weekly and invested countless hours of work on this documentary. To learn more about this project visit Vingwengwefilm.com.
The U.S. State Department invested in this project, by awarding Dr. Buis a second Fulbright Fellowship to endorse this research in Tanzania (2022-2023). Wheaton College supplied initial funding for post-production of this documentary.
For further information, contact Johann Buis at johann.buis@wheaton.edu or his cell/WhatsApp 708-732-3332.
Want to Support Vingwengwe?
A tax deductible donation can be made through the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. In the comments block on the form please designate the gift for the “Dr. Buis Documentary.”
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