Dahomey in the New World: Arara and Jeje of Cuba and Brazil

When I lived in Bahia Brazil, I remember the Mae de Santo I worked with informing me that my spiritual ancestry somehow was of the Jeje stock. I never really understood what she meant and still don’t to this day but I have always resonated with the music and dance that comes from the Dahomey (Present day Benin), Fon inspired culture.   Years ago I owned some Dvd’s  out of Cuba that displayed beautiful renditions of some of the Arara traditions.  Most people are familiar with the Yoruba and Bantu influenced music of Cuba, but less so with Arara.  Arara from what I was told by an avid drum and dance expert is similar to Lucumi, Yoruba-inspired spiritual traditions in Cuba but for example the orisha are known as “foduces”.  Just like Lucumi, certain rhythms and dances are devoted to the invocation and communication with specific deities and it is understood that these deities are simply the variant manifestations of nature and the divine.  Arara has a reputation for being quite complex for African music and has some difficult timing and bar patterns that make mastery of it, especially by an outsider, quite an undertaking.   I sometimes observe the Arara music and movement and consider the things I saw while at various Casas de Candomble throughout Bahia.  It’s amazing how in the New World, so much of the African influence has been maintained in the various traditions that made it across the water.

Here is an Arara video from Cuba

Compare it with this Jeje rhythm from Northeast Brazil…Both rhythms have a likeness I think..

Here is a Jeje Candomble .  It speeds up towards the end and you can hear the similarities better.

African Dance as a Ritual of Healing: Senegalese Ndeup

I have been thinking a lot today about the profound way in which African drum and dance has affected my life and my health over the time I’ve practiced it.  For people from countries in Africa and indigenous cultures worldwide, dance and percussion are much more than simple means of entertainment but are actual  forms of medicine.  For some people suffering from illnesses Western medicine can not pinpoint or offer a prescription for, traditional and spirit oriented medicine, such as that put in practice throughout Africa is the actual cure .

My husband is from Senegal and we had been discussing recently the ceremony called Ndeup in his culture. It is a ceremony practiced by an ethnic group called Lebu as well as the Wolof and Serer and  involves an elaborate ceremony of foods, sacrifices, drums and dance.  Oftentimes the entire village comes and the ceremony may be carried out for up to 10 days, with drumming and dancing taking place from Sunrise to Sun up. It is usually prescribed by a traditional priest or medicine man/woman for someone suffering from unexplained mental illness.

Ndeup is a ceremony involving a great deal of incantation and  the addressing  of various spirits in particular ancestral spirits in order to appease them with sacrifice.  Trance is a major part of the healing that takes place during an Ndeup and various individuals may succumb to it.   Most importantly, the patient as well as the involved priests and priestesses go into trance in order to promote healing of the patient.    I’ve had the chance to be apart of similar ceremonies in Brazil, Ghana, Mexico and other parts of the world where people still utilize traditional methods of healing and know the profound impact these types of events can have on ones life…

Check out the Research paper by Nicole Monteiro for more info….

African Dance as Healing Modality Throughout

the Diaspora: The Use of Ritual and Movement

to Work Through Trauma

Here is a nice video of a Senegalese Ndeup

Bomba and Plena African Dance of Puerto Rican

One of the dance forms from the colorful African diaspora that I’ve always admired is the Bomba of Puerto Rico.  Bomba dates back to the Colonial period in Puerto Rico.   It was brought to the island nation during the 17th century and originally  and much like the other dance and music forms of colonial American Africans, expressed the lament and pain of people suffering from whatever conditions they were forced to deal with at the time.  There is also a celebratory aspect to Bomba as well because as we all know, African dance of the diaspora is crafted like a rich tapestry of emotions, dynamic and powerful.  Bomba as it  is practiced now is said to contain 16 different rhythms.  When played, the rhythms are to mark the pace at which the vocalist/s are singing and the dancer/s are dancing.  The instruments of Bomba are as follows:

1. Subidor or primo, the Bomba barrel or drum

2.Maracas

3. Cua, two sticks played against a wooden instrument

Plena was birthed out of Bomba in the 20th century.   The lyrics of Plena are typically narrative and discuss various themes that may be political and satirical in nature.  The Plena unlike Bomba has only one rhythm.  It’s instrumentation has undergone many changes over the year but contains the essential pandareta,  important for any authentic Plena session.

These rich and outstanding African dance traditions of the Americas are found in New York, especially and anywhere in which there is a high population of Puerto Ricans.  I first got into Bomba in the Oakland/SF area and have loved it ever since.

Here are some vids to check out:

and below is some nice Plena

Columbian Maroons: African Culture Alive in San Basilio de Palenque

One of the places I have to see in this life is a region about 60 km from Cartagena, on the Caribbean in Columbia, called San Basilio de Palenque.  This amazing place has maintained a vibrant african culture in South America despite attacks from the outside and social isolation.  The people of this region are actually Cimarrons or Maroons, descendants of fierce escaped slaves that fought to remain free in the 1600s.   Something really interesting about this area besides the fact that descendants practice african drum, dance and many other practices that are clearly old world in origin, but the people of this region actually speak their own tongue, Palenquero. It’s a language that is said to be the only Spanish creole found in Latin America.  It’s known locally simply as Lengua (tongue) and is so distinctly different from the local Spanish that those outside of the 3000 remaining speakers, hardly understand a word.   The language shares aspects of the  Kongo-Angola region of Africa’s language as well as Portuguese influences given their role in bringing slaves to South America.   Despite being a very impoverished and isolated culture that apparently faces a great deal of prejudice , especially surrounding language differences as well as cultural and ethnic, the people of this area have maintained a beautiful and rich tradition passed on from their ancestors that continues to tell the story of all they’ve been through and survived.

Here is a sweet video of some dance in the area of Cartagena by folks from this region

African Dance in Trinidad

The diaspora dance of Trinidad and Tobago is scarcely spoken about on diaspora dance and drum scenes but is a unique and vibrant form itself.  The dances of Shango, Limbo as well as Bongo and Kalinda are all forms that can be traced directly to regions of what is now called Africa.
Bongo is a Trinidadian african dance that is done on the night prior to a funeral (night of the wake).  It is a funerary dance that signifies the passage of the deceased from one world to the next.  Bongo is a dance of strength and despite its significance as a dance for the recently deceased, is exciting to watch and perform.

Shango is another more well known african dance performed in Trinidad and Tobago.  This dance is related to the Nigerian culture’s deity Shango, the God of Lightning and Thunder as well as the drum itself, a powerful force in the pantheon of the Yoruba.  In Trinidad, the dance is often performed day and night for weeks at a time, during which time people travel from far and wide to be exposed to the healing energy of the dance and drums.  They come prepared to give offerings of Rum as well as livestock in order to gain blessings or healing from the deity. During the course of the ceremony, usually as it begins to work its way into a frenzied state, a dancer or participant often falls into trance,  when Shango “comes down” to communicate directly with ceremony participants.

Below is a nice video of Shango being performed in Grenada, a neighboring island.

Dance Atlanta- Uhuru Dancers and Sekhou Senegal

From Darkness must come the Light…

Since moving to Georgia about 1.5 years ago to have another baby and take a break from globetrotting, I’ve been reminded of what an extensive African/Moorish dance and drum scene exists in the Atlanta Metropolitan region.  When living in Oakland in the Bay Area of California, I had the opportunity to learn a diverse array of dance forms.  The Bay is known for its Haitian and Afro-diaspora dance scene.   In the past I lived in Atlanta and definitely had some dance experiences, but now it’s becoming a hub of its own.
On any given day one can go to a classes with the longest running and very popular

UHURU Dancers.  Founded by elder dancer in the community Tony Young, who is a joy to dance with, this group has spent 23 years spreading the invigoration and beauty of African dance to those young and small.  Their website is here:

http://www.uhurudancers.com/13.html

Check them out for a good time.  They provide classes every day of the week…

One of my old teachers, Ouseynou Kouyate from Senegal, the country my husband is from,  has a twin brother that teaches a popular class in the Atlanta area at the same place as UHURU, the Clarkston Community Center.

His website is here:  http://www.sekhousenegal.com

Here is Ousyenou and his twin Assane’s group at their annual Nuit de Bazin event.  It’s a lovely event with beautiful Senegalese and West African griot or geewul dance, drum and song.