Beni (from English 'band') is a popular wedding entertainment with a strong focus on rhythm & dance, and audience participation. Beni borrows choruses from the latest taarab hits and arranges them in extended medleys with the female wedding audience joining in for the chorus and as dancers. In Zanzibar Beni is performed both as a street parade and stationary for a wedding dance. Beni originated around the turn of the century as a mockery of colonial style military bands. It was soon incorporated in the competitive song and dance exchanges so popular on the Swahili Coast and spread from here all over East Africa.