Batuco is a traditional music style of the island of Santiago, which is presented only by woman and which combines drumming, singing and dancing. One woman is the chorister. She sings about everyday happenings and experiences, but also about politics and culture in a very often funny but also critical way. The choir repeats the chorister, the song gets more and more intensive and ends in the torno, a dance, shown by two or three dancers.

As drums were forbidden by the Portuguese in colonial times, the women were drumming on bolts of cloth. With time these bolts of cloth were replaced by bolts of plastic. Today some Batuco groups use one or two real drums as well.

Delta Cultura, since 2004, leads 2 Batuco groups. The head of the groups is Marisa – one of the founders of Delta Cultura. Both groups rehearse twice a week and perform at weddings, village celebrations and festivals. One of the groups also travelled through Austria in 2008 where they performed at different festivals.

Delta Cultura contributes with these two groups to preserve this wonderful capeverdean-creole culture.