Dansa, djansa

After years of playing this rhythm I finally got to attend a workshop with a Malian teacher that could show me how the Dansa (Djansa) is supposed to be played. Originating from the Khassonke people (Kayes region in Mali), the Dansa is known as a slow song with a strong swung feeling. In fact, it seems more ternary than binary when played slowly.

Still today in Bamako and other cities in Mali, the Dansa is recognized by this konkoni pattern:
1...2...3...4...
O--X-OO-O--X-OO-

The solo dun plays a ternary bell pattern (x-xx-xx-xx-x) and there are several solo phrases which I'll not write about.

Pushing it faster the konkoni starts leaving out one stroke:
1...2...3...4...
O--X--O-O--X--O-

From which you can finally switch to this pattern, when the tempo is really fast:
1...2...3...4...
O--O--O---X---O-

The last pattern is of course the widely known sangban pattern for the Djansa (as they would play it in Guinea and elsewhere).