HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Exploring Agency in Young Bahian Women Through Yoruba Mythology and the Orixá Oxum: Towards a Contemporary Performance Art Model

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School

of

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Department of Art

by

Clécia Maria Aquino de Queiroz

*

Washington, D.C. May 2006 HOWARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OF ART

THESIS COMMITTEE

______Floyd Coleman, Ph.D. Chairperson

______Beti Ellerson, Ph.D.

______Kwaku Ofori-Ansa, Ed.D.

______Beti Ellerson, Ph.D. Thesis Advisor

Candidate: Clécia Maria Aquino de Queiroz

Date of Defense: April 18, 2006 ii DEDICATION

To Oxum, the dazzling Yoruba Goddess, beautiful owner of my ori.

To those African women, who arrived in Brazil as slaves, and with great courage, overcame all adversities their social status offered, created a religion that could maintain their traditions and pass forward the wisdom of their ancestors.

To my mother and my four sisters, great and powerful women, the most important feminine universe in which I have ever transited.

To my father, a slave descendant who overcame all social and racial prejudices of his time, becoming one of the most important citizens of his community. Despite his struggles to remain in ayê until his daughter’s Masters Graduation, the strong divine air of

Olodumaré sent him to the sacred realm of orun two months ago, where he now lives as an ancestor.

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To write a thesis as a second-language writer is a great deal of work that is impossible to do completely alone. Many people have been directly or indirectly involved in my work, making it possible to finish this thesis.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Beti Ellerson for many reasons. I thank her for the support, enthusiasm and effort put into my work. Second, for the critical reading of my text that has provided me with an objective means by which to clarify my ideas. Third, I thank her for the mentoring and careful editing, which ensured that my project and findings were represented in the clearest and most objective language.

My appreciation also goes to my other committee members, Drs. Floyd Coleman and Kwaku Ofori-Ansa, for their valuable feedback and time. I would especially like to thank Dr. Coleman for his interesting discussion, comments, and for giving me insight into my final project.

I wish to thank Professors Edgar Sorrells-Adewale, Kehembe Eichelberger, and

Connaitre Miller, who filled my soul with the beautiful universe of visual art and music. In addition, I deeply appreciate the assistance of Dr. Sherrill Berryman-Johnson for allowing me to work with her students of the Dance Program in the Department of Theatre Arts, as well as all filmmakers, musicians, performers, and students who participated in the Oxum workshops in Washington, D.C. and in Bahia, Brazil.

I want to express my gratitude to my sister Lúcia Queiroz, who strongly encouraged me to write a grant proposal to the Ford Foundation, as well as to Professor

Bela Serpa, and Drs. Luiz Marfuz and Suzana Martins who gave great insight on the final

iv proposal.

I would like to give special thanks to Eduardo Nunes who has supported me and given me loving care all the way through my work. I could hardly have completed this work without his faithful thoughts and daily motivation. Also, his organization of the

Oxum workshop in Bahia was fundamental for my research. Yet, his extensive knowledge in methodology and research experiences has provided useful feedback and suggestions to my work.

My gratitude goes also to Ayo Ifalase for being such a great friend in Washington,

D.C. I further thank Melissa Wesner, Maura Garcia, James Burks, Dave Yeh, Tehuti

Evans and Myles Johnson.

I have been fortunate to have support from family and friends throughout the thesis process. I would like to thank them and especially my mother, Euponina Aquino, for the unending faith in my creativity and my overall worth.

Finally, I would like to thank the Ford Foundation/International Fellowship

Program, which granted me a fellowship towards a Master’s degree, making possible this research. I extend my gratitude to my Ford Foundation contact persons Yolande Zahler and Tammy Langan, as well as to all of the Carlos Chagas Foundation team, especially

Fúlvia Rosemberg, Maria Luisa Ribeiro, Ida Lewkowicz, and Meire Lungaretti. Thank you all very much! Muito Obrigada!

ABSTRACT

v Although most Bahian/Brazilians are Afro-descendants, Blacks still suffer racism, discrimination, and oppression. As a result, many young African descendants suffer from low self-esteem and often struggle with their Black identities. This thesis departs from the hypothesis that by reinterpreting Afro-Brazilian identity and culture, as well as revalorizing

African mythology through performance art, Bahian young adults may acquire a sense of self-importance. The thesis elaborates an on-going performance art workshop model utilizing Yoruba Orixá Oxum’s mythology as the point of departure, which demonstrates how performance art can be applied for Bahian young women to develop a sense of self- worth and self-respect, and to enable them to make meaning in the society they live. The methodology is historical, observational, and applied. It is hoped that it provides an insight for others in the same area of research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

vi THESIS APPROVAL FORM...... ii DEDICATION...... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...... iv ABSTRACT...... vi LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………... ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION...... 1 1.1. Research Hypothesis...... 1 1.2. Statement of the Problem...... 2 1.3. Review of Literature...... 4 1.4. Theoretical Framework...... 9 1.5. Methodology...... 13 1.6. Structure of the Thesis...... 13 CHAPTER 2. YORUBA IFÁ AND CANDOMBLÉ MYTHOLOGY...... 15 2.1. Yoruba View of the World...... 16 2.2. Oxum...... 28 2.3. Oxum in Bahia...... 37

vii CHAPTER 3. CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS IN AFRICAN RITES OF 41 PASSAGE: A FOCUS ON FEMALE INITIATION CEREMONIES...... 3.1. Six Important Rites of Passage...... 43 3.2. Female Initiation Rites...... 50 3.3. Initiation Rites in Contemporary Societies...... 57 CHAPTER 4. PERFORMANCE ART: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY 61 PRACTICE…………………………………………………………………………. 4.1. Performance: The Semantic Concepts...... 61 4.2. Performance Art: The Historical Background...... 64 4.3. Performance Art: “An Open-Ended Medium with Endless Variables”...... 71 4.4 African Rites and Candomblé as Performance Art...... 80 CHAPTER 5. THE MODEL...... 95 5.1. Initiation Rites of Passage...... 95 5.2. Yoruba Religion and Candomblé Mythology...... 96 5.3. Performance Art...... 97 5.4. Oxum Performance Art Workshop Model...... 98 5.4.1. The overall structure as an initiation rites of passage model...... 100 5.4.2. The general concepts that inform the exercises...... 103

viii 5.4.3. The Performance Art Program...... 108 5.4.3.1. Development of Body skills...... 109 5.4.3.2. Development of Writing Skills and Black Women in Visual Culture Studies...... 115 5.4.3.3. Creating Installations...... 116 5.4.3.4. Working Collaboratively in Groups...... 117 5.4.3.5 Creation of Public Performance...... 118 5.4.3.6. Final Presentation: Live Public Performances...... 120 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION...... 123 APPENDIX A. THE MODEL EXPLORATORY CLASS……………………… 128 APPENDIX B. VISUALS THAT EXPLORE THE METHODOLOGY...... 134 REFERENCES...... 139

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

B.1. Initiation of Mende Girls...... 133 B.2. Mende Girls Practicing Dance...... 133 B.3. Sowo Mask in Sande Society...... 134 B.4. African Initiation Rite Doll...... 134 B.5. Oxum Doll...... 135 B.6. Oxum Installation...... 135 B.7. The Face of Oxum Installation...... 136 B.8. Oxum and Xangô Installation...... 136 B.9. A Daughter of Oxum...... 137 B.10. Three Daughters of Oxum in Candomblé 137 Ceremony...... B.11. Abêbê...... 137

x

xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

It is easy to understand why the black Brazilian does not like her/himself: Who would like to be identified with someone who is inferior, ignorant, malodorous, defeated--as people say black people are? Were such identification a good thing, even white people would want to be called black (Nilma Bentes, 1993, p.89).

The racism, discrimination, and oppression that African descendants encounter in

Bahia, a northeastern state of Brazil1; the collective memory of the extremely negative experience of slavery; as well as the mechanisms developed by the colonizer to make a negative stereotype of being black, all have had a strong impact on the identity development of African descendants causing much dissatisfaction. In Bahia, many young African descendants suffer from low self-esteem, due to their unhappiness with their black appearance and their sense of self as black people, a direct manifestation of internalized racism due to stereotyping and the normalization of European values and aesthetics. An appreciation of African-derived knowledge could provide a positive influence. The thesis proposes to analyze how Yoruba/Candomblé religious mythology could be applied in contemporary performance art as a practical element to both affirm black identity and explore agency in African-Bahian young adults.

1.1. Research Hypothesis

By reinterpreting Afro-Brazilian identity and culture, as well as revalorizing

African mythology through performance art, young adults may acquire a sense of self-

1 Despite 72.3% of Salvador‘s population is black, racism shows in that city. According to collected data from Brazilian demographic institutes, the gap between black and white people concerning unemployment, illiteracy, family income and homelessness is shocking. Many commercial establishment owners have been sued for explicit bigotry acts. Given this, the government of the state has decided to promote affirmative action in public university recruitment.

1 importance; thus diminishing their susceptibility to media influences, recognizing their personal competences, and enhancing their self-esteem.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Although data at the Brazilian Demographic Institute (IBGE) shows that 44.66% of the country‘s population is of African descendant2, it is startling that so little of the rich history and experiences of the African peoples that arrived in Brazil as slaves is part of Brazilian official history and education. The main focus of academic curricula regarding black history has been the subservience and pain to which these groups were submitted. The university‘s curricula are Eurocentric, and because of lack of information,

Brazilians usually take Africa as a homogeneous continent associated with the myths of laziness and backwardness. These facts present severe limitations for young Brazilians in general, but it has further implications for African-Brazilians. Moreover, the messages that popular culture and the mass media send to young Bahian focus on beauty and fashion, projecting white females and males as the standard ideal of beauty. Living by standards and rules of a white-dominated society, not seeing themselves reflected positively in the media, African-Brazilians experience an internalization of inferiority and the absorption of negative black stereotypes, which create serious obstacles to Black people‘s independence and self-growth.

This process of internalization of inferiority is especially damaging to adolescents.

The ages of 10 to 18 are critical years in the development of a person, as appearance and self-identity are important factors in the formation of self-identity (Ashford, Lecroy &

Lortie 2001). The literature supports the assertion that physical appearance is associated

2 Source IBGE 1991-2000 Demographic Census.

2 with self-esteem; one may conclude that an important factor that influences a young

Bahian‘s self-esteem is a racialized self-image, in other words, her or his self-image as a black person.

However, significant changes have happened from the 1970s to 1990s in terms of black identity affirmation, and integration of Afro-Bahian descendants on the national cultural scene. Music education organizations created initially for carnival purposes, such as Ilê Aiyê, Araketu, Olodum, and more recently, Pracatum have definitely contributed to these changes. By dancing and performing percussion music, these organizations, called

‗blocos afro’, have worked with marginalized boys and girls from impoverished communities in the city of Salvador, and developed a pride of being black. It is possible to observe it in each meeting and presentation organized by these associations, especially by Ilê Aiyê. 3

African-Bahian identity has been also reinforced in Candomblé, a traditional religion that has Yoruba beliefs as the basis. Candomblé has been a cultural reference of

African heritage. By repetition, its mythology addresses behaviors that reflect sacred performances that were developed by the Orixás and are repeated in the present by their followers, who embody these characteristics in their everyday lives.

Considering the successful experimental work from ‗blocos afro’ bands, in which

African music and dance performances had contributed to affirm black identity, and that

Candomblé has been the most powerful vehicle to preserve African roots and culture, the thesis proposes to develop a performance art model for an on-going workshop to be

3 Such viewpoint is defended by Goli Guerreiro, when she says that ―the construction of an African-Bahian identity, in which African traditions have strongly been reinvented, modifies the everyday life of black- mestizo people who frequents ―blocos afro‖ rehearsals spaces (Guerreiro, 2000, p.49). Translated by the researcher from the original text written in Portuguese.

3 applied with young women in Brazil, utilizing Yoruba Orixá Oxum mythology and

African-inspired rites of passage as the point of departure.

There are three reasons for choosing the Oxum archetype as a specific model as both myth and a way of living. First, the multidimensionality of Oxum’s powers— political, economic, insightful, natural, maternal, and healing; second, her attributes of sensuality, beauty, vanity, dynamism, warmth—all features that suggest power, affirmation, and assertiveness, and third, she is one of Bahia‘s most worshipped Orixás4.

These archetypal elements may be materialized in performance art to affirm and empower black Bahian young women.

1.3. Review of Literature

The relevant sources include performance art studies, embracing performance in

Afro-cultures; Yoruba Religion/Candomblé’s Orixás, focusing on Oxum; self-image studies; and adulthood rites of passage.

Evolving out of the 1970s the peak of conceptual art, ‗performance art‘ has thrived in recent decades. According to performance theorists such as RoseLee Goldberg

(1979), Renato Cohen (1989), Umberto Eco (1996)5, Armindo Bião (1996), and Márcia

Strazzacapa (1999), performance art is an intersecting language that crosses disciplines and links tradition and the contemporary. Similarly, Charles Garoian (1999) asserts that performance art is an art of politics, in which performers use ―memory and cultural history to critique dominant cultural assumptions, to construct identity, and to attain political agency‖ (p.2).

4 We can find Oxum‘s presence giving forms and elements for Art and Literature; naming a carnival block (Filhas de Oxum) and an opera (Lidia de Oxum); or inspiring several of popular music composers. 5 Cited in Bião, 1996, p.17.

4 In order to enable students to interrogate and intervene socially and historically embodied culture, Garoian developed a pedagogy – performing pedagogy – which consists of the praxis of performance art theory. According to him, ―the function of subjectivity and agency for postmodern performance artists is the production of critical citizenship, civic responsibility, and radical democracy‖ (p.9). His pedagogy will be used as the basis for the theoretical framework of this study.

Concurring with the idea of performance as agent of social transformation, some researchers in Bahia, such as Goli Guerreiro (2000), and Ângela Schaun (2002) localize the actual condition of Afro-Bahian descendants, and affirm that youth self-identity has changed through popular music and dance performances.

Yoruba mythology is the basis for performance art in this thesis. Examples of

Yoruba-mythology researches are numerous and would be too exhaustive for this study.

However, some studies on this subject are essential to understand the idea and mythology of Candomblé. Drewal and Pemberton (1989) for instance, provide an understanding of the Yoruba worldview, affirming that beauty is essential; rebirth occurs continuously; and that spirits, gods and life forces are extent all around. Neimark (1993) adds that by cultivating the support of the Orixás energy, through myths, rituals, prayers, and simple guidelines, one can further achieve one‘s personal and professional goals.

Specifically about Yoruba mythology applied to Candomblé, Edson Carneiro

(1948), Roger Bastide (1958), Suzana Martins (2001) and Fred Aflalo (1996) analyze embodiment, possession, songs, rhythms, dances, ceremonies, and rituals in this African-

Brazilian religion. Also essential for this study is Reginaldo Prandi‘s Mythology (2001) in which he brings three hundreds and one myths collected in Africa and the Diaspora.

5 Prandi delineates the special dimensions of Oxum as she appears in many different cultural contexts. He also shows the effects of her attributes of sensuality, beauty, vanity, love, dynamism, warmth, and self-confidence.

Directly focusing on Oxum’s spiritual nature and characteristics, Awo Fatunmbi

(1993), Diedre L. Badejo (1996), and Murphy and Sanford (2001) describe her multidimensional powers: political, economic, insightful, natural, maternal, and healing.

Moreover, Fatunmbi (1993) describes this Oxum as ―a complex convergence of spiritual forces that are key elements in the Ifá concept of fertility and the erotic‖ (p.1). Badejo

(1996) gives a feminist approach to Oxum with a holistic socio-cultural vision that recognizes and affirms the reciprocal role of women and men in building and sustaining a truly civil society.

Bringing the Orixás tradition to the contemporary, Teresinha Bernardo analyzes

Brazilian society through the viewpoint of candomblé mythology. She establishes a parallel between the Orixás Yemanjá and Oxum, and brings these archetypes to contemporary Brazilian society. Yemanjá symbolizes maturity, the mother, and Oxum, represents beauty and the happiness of youth. Moreover, she represents the female rejuvenation process (Bernardo, 2004).

Black Orpheus(1959) 6 and Oggún (1992) also allow the connection between tradition and contemporary, using mythology. Orfeu Negro is a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Besides the use of a Greek myth, the film shows the Umbanda7 ceremony at the end of the film to

6 French director Marcel Camus created the movie Black Orpheus from Vinícius de Moraes musical play Orfeu da Conceição." 7 Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion, practiced especially in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, which combines elements of African, Indian, Spiritism , and Catholic religious.

6 help Orpheus contact his deceased love. More specifically to Orixás mythology, Oggún

(1992) relates the mythical story of the warrior Orixá Oggún – spirit of the transformative, creative power of technology – who, enamored of his mother, decides as punishment to imprison himself in the mountains. Only Oxum, goddess of love, succeeds in captivating him. The filmmaker brings the spectator back and forth from the reality of myth and spirit to the reality of the Cuban Santeria dances, and back again to the life of the spirit.

This research also reviews literature in which African mythology is applied in performance. In her doctoral dissertation, Inaicyra Santos (2002) developed a multicultural proposal in Brazilian dance using Candomblé mythology. However, her pedagogical purpose appears to have been purely to incorporate aesthetic elements from

African-Brazilian dance and music tradition to art education.

More specific to performance art, Mary Arnoldi (1995), working with young people‘s theater in West Africa, concluded that the use of tradition expresses individual, social, and historical identities. Also thinking about performance in a social context,

Frederick Lamp (2003) draws attention to the necessity of looking beyond the isolated artifact, toward an understanding of African music and dance as fully sensory experiences. According to him, dance, music, storytelling, audiences should be seen together as part of a whole artwork and life.

African feminine power is shown in Gelede – a popular community festival of masquerade, dance, and song, held several times a year in Nigeria and Benin. Lawal

(1997) brings out this Yoruba celebration, which, in essence, honors spiritual and physical African womanhood in all of its aspects - both positive and negative. Lawal does

7 not make reference to Oxum, however, he does shows women‘s important role in bringing peace and harmony to African communities.

Literature on the construction of "Self" and "Other" is equally important to the research. Cusumano and Thompson (1997) affirm that youth internalize media representations of beauty, which directly influence the body image of young adults. They also identify the social-culture pressure upon individuals to conform to a certain ideal body. More centered on the identity problem of black people in a dominant white world is Frantz Fanon‘s work Black Skin White Masks (1967). He analyzed the black psyche and the antagonistic social forces black people struggle against in everyday life. He expressed the importance of destroying negative myths of black selfhood. According to him, a disempowered people may develop agency if their sense of self is rediscovered through a positive self-identity regarding their historical past.

Considering that Africa is part of black Brazilians‘ historical past, the objective of giving agency to young adults, and also that rites of adulthood in some African societies mark the transition from childhood to adulthood, initiation rites studies such as those of

Babatunde Lawal (1992) , and Sylvia Boone (1986) inform this research. Lawal affirms that imagery and achievements of male and female initiation rites consolidate an ethnic identity for Kaguru people from eastern Tanzania, despite of the outside pressure thriving to weaken their culture.

Boone analyzes Mende‘s life and philosophy, drawing attention to beauty – one of

Oxum‘s strongest attributes – According to her, the looks of a Mende child are considered from the very moment of her birth and her mother makes an effort to develop beautiful characteristics in her body such as rubbing the head, shaping and exercising the buttocks

8 to develop a high behind or strengthen their bodies through the practice of dancing and swimming. During her period of initiation rites, the girl must show interest in her own appearance to adhere to the model of Mende beauty. Excessive fuss is made over her looks.

1.4. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of this study is informed by analysis drawn from discourses on art educator Charles Garoian‘s Performing Pedagogy (1999) and

Therezinha Bernado‘s contemporary world analyses of Candomblé (2004). However, critical discourses on applied performance studies, mythology, and fanonian analysis also reveal the importance of an interdisciplinary exploration of agency in Bahian identity.

Garoian‘s Performing Pedagogy theory is founded on three concepts of cultural production: performance, performativity, and performance art. He defines performance as the extended representation of cultural work within with the body performs various aspects of production. Cooking, fishing, computing, teaching, buying, selling, playing sport are examples of domestic and cultural performances. Within the arts, performance involves a process of making and doing production in dance, music, and theatre, architecture, landscape architecture, and the various genres of visual arts. Within the context of educational practice, performance represents the teacher‘s pedagogy, the student‘s interaction with that pedagogy, and their mutual involvement in school

(Garoian, 1999).

Garoian‘s second concept of cultural production, performativity, represents the performance of subjectivity, a means by which students can attain political agency as

9 they learn to critique dominant cultural paradigms from the perspective of personal memories and cultural histories. Performance art, the third concept of cultural production, is the performance of subjectivity that originates from within the context of the arts.

Based on these concepts of cultural production, Garoian elaborates six pedagogic strategies to involve students in physical, emotional, and conceptual exercises to transform the body from a passive recipient of culture to one that takes a provocative role in challenging cultural categorization. These strategies comprehend different instructional steps in which students are engaged in: (1) exploration of the body, (2) linguistic spectacle, and organization and production of public performances, (3) working collaboratively in groups, (4) engaging mechanic and electronic devices in their performances, and (5) utilizing memory and cultural history as material for aesthetic production.

Garoian‘s sixth strategy ‗ecstatic spectacle‘ represents the culmination of his pedagogy. This strategy ―renders the body explicit by presenting itself, its corporeal phenomenon, memory, and cultural history as material for aesthetic production‖ (Garoian

1999, p.45). These strategies, especially the last one, inform the theoretical framework, since it intends to bring history and mythology to engage students in performance art.

This study finds in Freire‘s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1993) theoretical support towards an educational process to enable students. Freire points out that students

develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves, they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation (p.54).

Learning to participate in this transitional and temporary world requires pedagogy where teachers and learners are critically engaged in the exploration, improvisation, and

10 performance of their subjective understanding of reality. This principle is found as well in

Garoian‘s Performing Pedagogy.

Engaged in the same principle, educator Hanne Seitz 8 developed an art performance work with deaf college students in Germany. She assigned the students a collaborative project: to invent a fictional person as a social/cultural myth. After researching the topic, they created ―a case study of Thomas H.‖ In building Thomas‘s identity, they exposed and analyzed the stereotypes of youth culture found in fashion, religion, nutrition, sexuality, and demographic knowledge.

Seitz argues that the Thomas H. case study enabled the deaf students to expose and critique the stereotypes surrounding their deafness. They also learned to take responsibility for situations that can emerge in their lives by creating new social realities from their silent perspectives. Seitz studies support the use of a specific myth – Oxum – in performance art to give students agency and rethink the contemporary world.

Explaining mythology, Mircea Eliade (1975) affirms that homo religious man is what he is today because a series of events took place ab origine. The myths tell him these events and, in so doing, explain to him how and why they are constituted in this particular way. Mythology was essential in the history of Africans who arrived in Brazil as slaves, thus part of Afro-Brazilian historical past. According to Frantz Fanon (1967), a disempowered people may develop agency as their sense of self is rediscovered through a positive self-identity in the historical past. Considering the arguments of Fanon and

Eliade the researcher concludes that applying Candomblé mythology in performance art may be an important tool for bringing African-Brazilian historical-mythological past to reinterpret positively Afro-Brazilian identity.

8 Cited in Garoian, 1999, p.61.

11 Considering that Orixá well characterize African-Brazilian personalities,

Terezinha Bernardo‘s study (2004) analyzes Brazilian societies through the viewpoint of

Candomblé mythology. For Bernardo, concepts of beauty are related to the dynamism of a culture. She cites Morin to tell that one century earlier ―a woman of thirty was autumnal; a man of forty experienced his last affair, frightened by the end of his youth‖ (Morin,

1987, p. 147).9 She relates this to the myth of Yemanjá.

However, for Brazilians nowadays, beauty is synonymous with thinness, strength, and dynamism. Such concepts explain the fact that thousands of new gyms have been built in the last decades, and also why society valorizes consumption to the extreme and, sells and buys beauty and youth through cosmetic industries, pharmaceutics laboratories, and plastic surgery. These practices confirm Bernardo‘s view of ―the young adult of thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty‖ (p.288).10

Further, she observes that the modern Brazilian society is based on valorization of work, new and precise information, and fast development. Therefore, the woman of today oriented by myth-ideology, might be young, happy, beautiful and dynamic. Thus she concludes that Yemanjá is losing her role in Brazilian society replaced by Oxum, who embodies these attitudes.

Terezinha Bernardo‘s analysis will also guide this study towards a connection between tradition and the contemporary. Together with her analyzes, the pedagogy of performance art in theory and praxis, with its multiple strategies for learning and expression will provide the study a lens through which to consider the applicability of mythology in performance art as a pedagogic means to attain cultural identity and agency.

9 Quoted in Bernado, 2004, p. 297. Translated by the researcher from the original in Portuguese. 10 Translated by the researcher from the original in Portuguese.

12 1.5. Methodology

The methodology procedures were:

1. Historical – A research on Yoruba mythology, rites of passage, and performance

art was done.

2. Observational – The researcher conducted and observed three workshops with

female young adults in Washington D.C and in Bahia/Brazil, in which a

preliminary version of the model was tested.

3. Applied – Research and workshop results were applied to the model.

4. Exploratory – the researcher created exercises and investigated them in search for

examples.

1.6. Structure of the Thesis

This thesis is structured in five chapters. The first one, the introduction, states the problem, presents the hypothesis and the literature source, discusses the theoretical framework, and the methodology procedures.

A general overview of Yoruba and Candomblé religious concepts and beliefs, is the focus of Chapter 2. This chapter provides an understanding of the Yoruba worldview, affirming that beauty is essential, rebirth occurs constantly, and that spirits, gods and life forces are everywhere. This chapter also pays attention to the Orixá Oxum, discussing her presence in Brazilian society and how she can be used as a model of a powerful Black woman to enhance confidence, construct identity, and develop a sense of self-worth in

Brazilian female youngsters.

Chapter 3 focuses on African rites of passage, drawing attention to female initiation rites analyzing its importance to African societies and discussing how these

13 rites use creative expressions to direct and guide young girls through their transition from childhood to adulthood. It also comments on the success of contemporary American initiation rites programs that are based in African principles and were created to help preteens safely navigate the difficult stages of United States life. The chapter ends asserting that African rites could be a pattern for the creation of a coming-of-age program for young girls in Bahia/Brazil, in order to strengthen and help their self-development and self-esteem.

Chapter 4 discusses performance as a term and how this expression has acquired so many different meanings, being incorporated by several academic fields. The chapter progresses with an overview of the historical background of performance art as an interdisciplinary language. It also discusses how such language was established in the

West, and how it has been used as a powerful tool to deal with social issues, such as gender, race, sexual orientation assumptions, and identity. This chapter also analyses

African performance rites and discusses a possible approach of Candomblé as performance art.

The last chapter is geared towards the development of a performance art workshop model, informed by the three phenomena discussed in the previous chapters – mythology, rites of passage and performance art. This model is exploratory in that it attempts, probes, investigates, and examines concepts and ideas to test the hypothesis that traditional African mythology combined with performance art may generate agency and subjectivity in young adults. This chapter explains how the model is organized and divided in six stages, ending with a public display of performance pieces created during the workshop that gives voice to the young girls‘ creativity, feelings and thoughts.

14 CHAPTER 2. YORUBA RELIGION AND CANDOMBLÉ MYTHOLOGY

Tradition allows us to think our own insertion into historically, the fact that we are constructed as subjects through a series of already existing discourses, and that it is through this tradition which forms us that the world is given to us and all political action made possible (Chantal Mouffe, 1993, p. 16).

Every society on earth has its own hero myths. In myths one finds the greatest sense of one‘s own essential nature and asks the biggest questions about life. Myths give shape to one‘s essential understanding of how the grand scheme of things can fit together.

Myths are clues to understand and deal with death; to help one‘s passage from birth to life and then to death. They are clues to understand the mysteries of life. According to

Campbell (1988), the reason young people do not know how to conduct themselves in a contemporary society—acting destructively and violently—is that most societies no longer embrace a powerful mythology. Considering this statement, as well as the fact that

Candomblé as a socio-religious model brings great mythological fundamental principles that support and validate rituals, behaviors, and moral and ethical codes, this chapter investigates Yoruba religious concepts and beliefs which form the basis of Candomblé mythology. It is hoped that the application of this mythology provides young Brazilian girls the reference, orientation, and patterns of behavior within their African heritage towards a construction of a Black identity.

Yoruba people from Nigeria and Benin were the last slave groups to arrive in

Brazil. They came in great numbers, populated the urban centers, and because of the high level of social organization they had achieved in Africa, they were able to establish a

15 religion – Candomblé – mostly based on Yoruba beliefs. 11 In spite of the fact that

Candomblé was born in Brazil, and its specific structure was designed according to the needs and social conditions of its Afro-Brazilians creators, this religion has preserved most of the basic principles and traditional fundamentals of its Yoruba ancestors. Thus, the first part of this chapter brings out general ideas of the mythological world of the

Yoruba traditional religion known as Ifá to provide an understanding of the universe of

Candomblé. The second part focuses on Oxum, a powerful Candomblé female archetype whose features and mythology may inspire an African-centered pattern of behavior for young Afro-Brazilian girls.

2.1. Yoruba View of the World

According to Drewal and Pemberton (1989), the Yoruba view of the world is a circle with intersecting lines. The Yoruba believe that the cosmos is formed by two different yet inseparable realms: ayê and orun. Ayê is the visible, tangible world and orun is the spiritual world of deities, spirits, and ancestors. These two realms are usually visualized either as an aspheric gourd cut in the middle, firmly touching each other – the upper half depicts orun, while the bottom half symbolizes ayê – or as a tray having an upper boarder with symbols that represent certain events and persons. At the outset of the divination, before beginning to talk about the past or the future for an individual, a group or a family, the priest or priestess draws a crossroad in three steps: from the bottom to the top, center to the right and center to the left. These intersecting lines symbolize a

11 Later, Candomblé incorporated traditions from other African peoples that lived in Bahia in the nineteen century. As points out Roger Bastide (2001), ―Candomblé belongs to different ‗nations‘ and perpetuates different traditions: Angola, congo, jeje, nagô, queto and ijexá‖ (p. 29). However, the most authentic cults in Bahia have Yoruba beliefs as the basis and only those will be considered here.

16 crossroad, the intersection between the two cosmic realms. The ofurufu, Olodumare’s divine air, is what separates these two levels of existence.

The symbol of the gourd gives us the image of either the essential relationship between past and present or spiritual life and physical life. Everything that is in the top has a direct influence on what is at the bottom and vice-versa. The Yoruba believe that the past is a model to the present and every person lives, departs and returns. Everybody comes from either the gods or one‘s ancestors. Every life, everything in aye has a double

(correspondent) spirit and abstract in orun.

Bascon (1969) points out a phrase from a Babalawo that lives in Ifé: ―each person has two ancestral guardian souls, one residing in his/her head and the other in orun. The one in orun is his individual spiritual counterpart or double‖ (p.25).

Orun

Orun is the realm of spiritual forces, the supernatural space, the double abstract of all ayê. As many Africans, the Yoruba people believe in only one creator, several gods or deities, and other spiritual forces. They conceive Olodumaré (also known as Olorun - o + ni + orun = who is or has orun - Odumaré, Eleda, Eleemi) as the supreme creator of existence. Without a gendered identity, Olodumaré is not only a god linked with the heaven, but also who is or has all the abstract space parallel to ayê. He is the Lord of the entire spiritual being, of the divine entities, of the ancestors of each category. Olodumaré is the source of axé, the life force possessed by everything that exists.

The two other sacred forces that populate the orun are the Spirits and the Orixás

(or odus). The word Orixá means ―Select Head‖. The Orixás are deified ancestors and/or

17 personified natural forces. They govern all the aspects of human beings, animal and plantas. They are several – 401 says the chant Ìbà, 200 in each hand of Olodumaré. The exceeded number 1, that is on both sides, is Exu. Although, this number, 401, is only symbolic and means that the Orixás exist in great quantity.12

Depending on their character, they are grouped into two categories – Orixás funfun (cool, temperate, symbolically white gods) and Orixás gbigbona (the

―temperamental deities‖).

1. Orixá funfun - The Orixás of this category are usually calm, gentle, suave,

comforting, and reflective, and include Obatalá/Oxalá, the divine sculptor;

Oxossi/Eyinle, hunter and water lord; Ossain, lord of leaves and medicines,

Oduduwa, first monarch at Ile-Ife; Yemanjá, Oxum, Yewa, and Obá, queens of

their respective rivers; Olusa, ruler of the lagoon; and Olokun, goddess of the sea.

2. Orixá gbigbona - Most of gbignona are male, although there are some female.

They usually are temperamental, aggressive, harsh, demanding and include Ogun,

god of the Iron; Xangô, former king of Oyo and lord of thunder; Obaluayê, lord of

pestilence; and Oyá, Xangô’s wife and queen of the whirlwind.

These categories are not related to other religious concepts of good and evil. As human beings, every Orixás has positive and negative values – strength or weakness. The actualization of their distinctive axé (life force), will determine the expression of their nature or personality. Moreover, the Orixás have no hierarchy from one another. Their relative importance, influence and ceremonies depend on the local popularity in the different regions of the Yoruba people.

12 In Brazil several Orixás were never worshiped or were forgotten. Nowadays, only less than thirty Orixás are worshiped in Bahia.

18 The Orixás do not speak directly to human beings. They speak and give guidance through their devotees – worshippers that are initiated to receive them in their bodies, during religious ceremonies. There are also priest or priestesses and diviners that are initiated and trained to understand and read the gods‘ language during a divinatory process.

Assisting the communication between the divine and the human being, there are two sacred powers: Exu/ Elebara and Ifá. Exu is a trickster divinity that has dual attributes of the polarities good and bad, positive and negative. He tries to establish order in the way of contradictions, tricking, testing the human being. ―He is the agent of effective action, who also reminds one of the unpredictable nature of human experience.

Exu‘s constant and often unsettling activity reminds humans of the need for guidance in lives of engaged action‖ (Drewal and Pemberton, 1989, p.15). It is he who guards and protects all ritual processes and who bears the sacrifices of humans to the Orixás and other Spirits. It is always necessary to acknowledge him to maintain order and peace during the ceremonies.

Olodumaré sent a spiritual being, Orummilá, to earth on a mission to restore order and to teach human beings the science of nature and the art of proper living. Orunmilá brought with him a group of spiritual forces called Irunmolé. This Irunmolé included the

Orixás (or odus) Oxalá, Ogun, Xangô, Exu. Oxum was the last of the seventeen odu who came to earth. While this entourage lived on earth they did good deeds and works. When their time was finished, they came back to orun and their tools were left behind, and they continue to be worshiped today by their devotees. The teachings of Orummilá are known as Odu Ifá and have 256 chapters.

19 Therefore, Ifá is actually a system of divination, presided by Orummilá

(sometimes called Ifá as well) and assisted by Exu, diviner messenger and activator.

These Odu Ifá are stories and parables depicting various aspects of ancient Yoruba life. A diviner – Babalawo, using the ritual and poetry of Ifá, identifies cosmic forces and the machinations of the enemies, reading through a formation of palm nuts in a divination tray. Ifá gives, therefore, the humans the opportunity to know about the past and about the forces that are influencing his/her course of life, in order to solve specific problems through prayer and sacrifice.

The word ―ancestors‖ is used to translate the Yoruba term Ara Orun that literally means ―Dwellers in Heaven‖ or Beings from Beyond‖. For the Yoruba this existence is not defined only in terms of physical life on earth. The dead also ―exist‖ in the sense that they make their presence known to the living, whose well being depends upon their relationship to the living dead. Most Yoruba believe that once a person has made the transition into the After-Life, they are possessors of limitless potentialities, which they can exploit for the benefit, or the detriment of those who still live on earth. For that reason, it is necessary to keep them in a state of peaceful contentment. Every Yoruba lives with the knowledge that they will one day also become an ancestor.

Therefore, the ancestors are very important to the Yoruba world. Throughout the

Oyo, in Nigeria, there are biennial/annual festivals named Egungun that celebrate and honor the ancestors. The festival consist of a series of rituals performed over several weeks within the compounds of the lineages that compose a town, as well as public rites

20 at the igbale (the forest of the Egungun), in the marketplace, and at the front of the palace.13

Ayê

What is usually known as the world, humans, animals, plants, rocks, and rivers belong to Aye, the tangible realm, the world of the living. However, ayê includes also otherworldly forces that visit frequently or influence human life. In other words, when an

Orixá is using the devotee‘s body as his instrument of communication to a group, community or a family, the Orixá becomes part of this living world, become part of ayê.

Religious contact in a constant search for wisdom, understanding and acknowledge could make one achieve peace, long life, prosperity, and good reputation.

Indeed, this world is only a place that one visits. The real home is the otherworld, the orun.

Axé All the Orixás are equal in relation to Olodumaré. In the same case, Yoruba societies are open, consensual rather than autocratic, in spite of a long and traditional history of monarchial and hierarchical organization. There is a respect for the elders.

Seniority is based on age, one‘s kindheartedness in her/his position and the seniority of the title. However, the lineages are equal in relation to the king. ―Such an ideal for social interaction is rooted in the concept of axé, the life force possessed by all individuals and

13 The cult of the male ancestors, Egungun (or simply Egun) survived in Bahia, in the island of Itaparica. Just as its counterpart in Nigeria, the Egungun societies do not venerate orixás; instead they honor deceased ancestors. According to Marco Aurélio Luz (2000) this cult inspires adoration, respect and fright at the same time. The Egunguns, protectors of societal traditions, and promoters of justice, bring their societies a measure of tranquility and a sense of belonging, linking the present with the past; in this manner allowing the living to look to the future with optimism and hope.

21 unique to each one. Thus, axé must be acknowledged and used in all social matters and in the dealings with divine forces as well‖ (Drewal and Pemberton, 1989, p.16).

Olodumaré gives axé – the blend of power and knowledge to make things happen and change - to everything that belongs to orun or ayê, including voice words, songs, prayers, praises. Existence depends on such life force.

The axé is unique to each person, and each one can learn how to use it, through experience, training, and initiation. Furthermore, nobody can know the potential of others.

Social processes encourage the participation of all and the contribution of the axé of each one.

The ritual invocations reflect the same concept of autonomous axé of the Orixás and spiritual forces. The order that they are invocated is not related to higher importance, rather they are called to achieve certain tasks, and Exu, the guardian of communication, is the first one to whom the instruments play and prayers are said. Drewal and Pemberton

(1989) points out that the acknowledge of ―the uniqueness and autonomy of the axé of persons and gods is what structures society and its relationship with the otherworld‖

(p.16).

The Creation of the Earth

In the beginning there was nothing except air; Olodumaré was a infinitive mass of air; when he began to move slowly, to breath, some of that air became a mass of water, giving origin to Orinxalá, also called Oxalá or Obatalá, the great Orixá-funfun, white

Orixá. The air and waters moved together and a part of it became muddy. From this mud a bubble was born, from which matter was created evolving into a red mud-like cliff.

Olodumaré admired that formation and blew into it, giving it life. This was the first

22 formation from which an individual existence emerged. It was Exu. Exu is the first to be born from the existence, and for this reason, he is the symbol of procreation.

The earth, as an element, is fecundity, which is associated with several Orixás, especially Ododuwa, also called Odua. Ododuwa depicts the deified Iyá-mi, the collective representation of the ancestors‘ mothers, and the feminine principle, from which everything comes. Thus, Odua corresponds to Oxalá, the masculine principle.

Joana Elbein dos Santos (1975) said these concepts are symbolically represented as the ritual gourd. The top is Ododuwa and the bottom is Oxalá. It seems that on one hand, aye is the existence level controlled by the feminine power Ododuwa, the collective symbol of feminine ancestors. On the other hand, the orun is the existence level controlled by Oxalá, collective symbol of the masculine power.

Ododwua created the earth and Oxalá created all the creatures of orun that would be incarnated in the earth. The myth of the creation of the earth is full of conflicts between Ododwua and Oxalá. Actually, when Olodumaré decided to create the Earth, he designated Oxalá to realize this important task. However, Oxalá did not make the needed offerings to Exu and this was fatal to him. Exu decided that everything that Oxalá attempted would fail. Indeed, Oxalá got very thirsty on his way to create the earth and drank a liquid from a tree that made him fall asleep and nothing or nobody could awake him. This fact made Olodumaré designate Ododwua to create the Earth.

Ododwua launched the earth and sent a pigeon to spread it. The pigeon worked hard for a long time and Ododuwa sent five chickens to hasten it. Afterwards, Ododuwa sent a chameleon to see if the earth was firm. Ododuwa was the first entity to step on earth, marking it with her own tread. Behind Ododuwa came the other Orixás.

23 When, finally, Oxalá woke up, he was absolutely disappointed and sad. To calm him down, Olodumaré gave him knowledge and power which allowed him to create all the creatures that would live on earth: all the human beings and the multiple species, such as trees, plants, herbs, animals, birds, fish, and rocks.

Afterwards, the relationship between Ododuwa and Oxalá was full of conflict and power disputes. If Oxalá created the Earth‘s creatures, Ododuwa arrived first and created the earth. Finally, they came to a peace agreement with the intervention of Orunmilá. The two sides of the spherical gourd, orun and ayê, should be together. The masculine and feminine complement each other to form the sign-element that allows the procreation and continuity of existence.

Oxalá is not only the creator of human beings, but also the creator of all substances of the Universe. The majority of forces existent in Nature, such as energy and light, are not visible to human eyes. Oxalá is the source of all those invisible forces; source of all small fragments that form the structure of galaxies, all particles that forms animals and plants and of forms that are not visible to the human eyes.

Cosmology

According to Ifá, the universe or ―all that is‖ is balanced by forces of contraction and expansion. Forces of contraction are usually associated with female spirits and forces of expansion and are often related to male spirits. All ritual work done within Ifá or

Candomblé spiritual phenomena is a reflection of the interaction of these forces that operate on all levels of existence, from the polarities that lead the formation of planets to the attraction between men and women.

24 Destiny

According to Ifá, before being born into the world, each individual chooses her or his own destiny. These choices materialize as those elements that form human potential.

It does not mean that one has no ―free will‖. Within the scope of each person‘s action there are possibilities of choice - called ―road of destiny‖ – that can influence the highest expression of the individual destiny. Thus, each decision that is made in the course of one lifetime has an effect on the options that exist in the future, by either restringing or increasing the possibilities for growth. Those who make choices that are consistent with their highest destiny develop a ―good character‖ and are frequently described as

―weaving white cloth‖, which means ―creating purity and spiritual elevation in the world‖

(Fatunmbi, 1993, p.9).

Ori The head – ori – is extremely important to Yoruba and Candomblé thought. The inner head is the site of one‘s spiritual essence. It is also the place through which divine forces enter during possession and trance. That is why the size of the head is often enlarged in relation to the body in Yoruba sculpture (the Yoruba view religion and art as intrinsically linked), which shows the importance of this part of the body that shelters the life force. According to the Yoruba worldview, the self has two aspects: an interior (inu)

– that is the inner characteristic of the individual – and an exterior (ode) that denotes the visible appearance of the individual. Inu’s qualities, such as calm, self-control, and patience should rule ode. Although it may mask inner characteristics it also may reveal it.

Ideally, it should express a confident nobility of mind.

25 Names usually demonstrate the individual characteristic of one, expressing his connection with the ancestors or spiritual forces. Some of them have direct association with the head, like Dada and Ekine or Omolokun. Dada is given to one that is borne with thick curly hair and Ekine to whom is born with soft, slightly curled hair—that looks like seashells that are associated with water spirits. Names are important to the Yoruba because they say that a person‘s name directs her or his actions and behavior. It also encompasses the person‘s and the family‘s history—names are used to reconstruct historical circumstances.

A name is so important that it is necessary to protect it. Much of the information regarding it is only shared with the family, to avoid it being used against the person by enemies. In some occasions, it is forbidden to call a person‘s name at night in order to avoid attacks of evil-intentioned persons or spirits. Protecting the privacy of the inner being ensures its well being and vitality.

It is in the head, also, that the person is linked with the ancestors or the Orixá he comes from. When a child is born, a ritual named imori is performed to find out from where he comes. If he comes from a particular god it means that the person should follow that god. When the person becomes an adult, he will be instructed and initiated to receive the spiritual presence, the axé of the divinity—during the trances—which are an important part of Yoruba worship. In other words, he will be prepared to be a horse of his god, prepared to be ―mounted‖ by the Orixá.

26 Ebó

The term Ebó (life force offering) has often been a misunderstood characteristic of Ifá worships, and has suffered from negative stereotypes in the press and the media.

According to Fatunmbi (1993), the term is used in reference to the fact that many Orixá rituals involve the preparation of a feast or communal meal. On every occasion this occurs, the blood from the animal that is used for the meal is given to a Orixá as an offering. This offering is considered a reaffirmation between orun and ayê. It is an agreement between the spiritual realm and mortals that food will be provided for the nourishment of people on earth. In such accord, humans ―agree to respect the spirit of the animal who provided the food and agree to elevate the spirit of that animal so it will return to provide food for future generations‖ (p. 18).

Iwa

Iwa is always related to beauty. The term derives from the word ―existence‖ and by extension from the concept that ―immortality is the perfect existence‖. It is not related to moral values; rather it refers to eternal constancy, the essential nature of a thing or a person that express its own axé. In Yoruba thought everything has iwa, and thought is beautiful when its essential nature is fulfilled. For instance, Yoruba art – that is related to religious vision – should be full of iwa because it comes from the natural essence of the artist. The artist should have the good character to give those who see his or her art object the essential iwa.

This section concludes by restating the beginning of the chapter. Yoruba mythology is on the basis of Candomblé religious. The principles, beliefs, deities here discussed are common to both religions. Candomblé‘s public ceremonies will be explored

27 in Chapter 4, as an expression that encompasses several artistic languages as rhythms, songs, dance, acting, visual art works, costuming and a liturgy that revels a great ecologic understanding. The next two sections investigate the Orixá Oxum, analyzing her symbolism in Candomblé and her presence within Bahia society.

2.2. Oxum

As an Orixá, Oxum is a Natural Force. She is the Spirit of the river. As water, she makes life possible and preserves life for creation since there is no life without this element. The word ‗Oxum’ is related to ‗orísùn’ that means the source of a river, a people, or children. Like the river that flows, runs, sweeps, Oxum is the continuously renewing source of life. She is ―the appearance of sweet water from dry ground, a mode of hope and agency in new and difficult situations…‖ (Murphy and Sanford, 2001, p.2). Oxum represents the constant flow of human life and her water sphere extends to the human body, since she is the one who controls its circulation of blood. Unlike other Orixás entrenched in firmness and stillness, such as Euá and Obá, like a river Oxum is constantly moving. She is eternally pursuing a path.

Oxum: Fertility and Children protection

As fresh water, Oxum is the foundation for the fertility which creates life on land.

It is the water which nourishes the vegetation and allows precipitation that maintains the ecological balance of nature. Oxum is also responsible for women‘s fertility or even before it, for women‘s reproduction system. It is she who releases menstruation, and protects the clitoris, which is traditionally regarded by Yoruba peoples as ―possessing

‗concealed power‘ which woman can use to accomplish whatever she wants‖ (Abiodun,

28 2001, p. 24). Also, Oxum is the protector of birth. When male and female gametas form an egg, this Orixá immediately becomes responsible for the offspring, assisting the process of its development during pregnacy to assure its birth. As water, it is she who involves the embryos and nurishes them in the womb. After birth, she continues protecting the babies until they acquire language skills, becoming part of Yemanjá’s domain (Eyin, 2000).

One oriki14 narrates the origin of menstruation. One of the daugthers of Oxum was the main wife of Oxalá. The other wives, jealous of her, decided to do something to make Oxalá angry with his favorite wife. Once, when he was absent, they started saying to Oxum’s daughter that she was so powerful that she could sit on Oxalá‘s stool, which was absolutely forbidden. She refused to do it, but the other wives insisted and persuaded her until she believed that she had the right to sit on her husband‘s stool. When it was announced that Oxalá had arrived at the village, she tried to stand up, but she could not.

The envious wives had placed a magic potion on the stool that made it impossible for her to stand up. In her attempts to leave Oxalá’s place, Oxum’s daughter hurt herself and her vagina started bleeding. When Oxalá saw his white stool covered with red spots and his favorite wife bleeding, he became furious and banished her from his village.

Ashamed, she went to her mother‘s house and asked her protection. Oxum gave her daughter a bath and transformed all the drops of blood into feathers of an African red sacred parrot. Oxum told Oxalá what his wives had done, and he forgave Oxum‘s daughter. However, to remind women that they have to be respectful of their husbands,

Oxum makes women bleed whenever they are not pregnant.

14 Orikis are myths, narratives that tells the Orixás’ actions and accomplishments

29 In this oriki, Oxum gives to menstruation a poetic connotation. She transformed her daughter‘s blood drops, which were meant to be horrible, into sacred and beautiful parrot feathers.

Oxum‘s ties with fertility can be learned from another oriki that narrates how she became the only female Orixá to come to the earth. The myth says that when Olodumaré sent the Orixás to ayê, they excluded Oxum from their group or Irunmolé because she was a woman and, as such, should not be part of their political decisions. She became furious and decided to sterilize all beings on earth. As a result, no trees could bear fruits, no animals could be born, and no children could come into the world. When the Orixás consulted the oracle to discover the reason of this misfortune, Olodumaré revealed that it was because Oxum was excluded from their Irunmolé. Then, the Orixás recognized that women are indispensable to men and begged Oxum‘s forgiveness. She forgave them and became the seventeenth odu to arrive on ayê (Prandi, 2002). This oriki affirms not only the influence of Oxum on fertility, but also her female political power.

Oxum: Destiny and Source of passion

Oxum is known as the daughter of Orummilá who presides over the system of divination called Ifá. In this system, Oxum takes charge and directs all divination procedures. Also, Oxum is portrayed as a hair-plaiter (hair-dresser) with the beaded comb.

Hair-plaiting carries an important religious meaning in Yoruba tradition. A hair-plaiter is considered the one ―who honors and beautifies ori, the ‗inner-head‘‖ (Abiodun, 2001, p.11). As a hair-plaiter, Oxum is believed to control the outer head and inner head or destiny. She has the power to influence the destinies of all creatures of ayê.

30 When discussing the Ifá concept of destiny in the previous section, it was stated that within the context of choice or ―free will‖, one has to make one‘s individual destiny; each decision made in the course of a lifetime can affect one‘s future. It was also affirmed that the highest destiny is based on those choices that build good character.

Oxum is the one who generates the passion that makes the development of good character an attractive task. Oxum is also known as a Goddess of wealth and her color is yellow symbolizing gold. Ifá teaches that blessing and fortune come to those who build good character, which affirms the importance of this Orixá in one‘s destiny.

According to Ifá, everyone who comes to earth is entitled to a ‗good life‘, which means the blessings of abundance, long life, and children. It is Oxum‘s function to create the spark of passion that leads to the creation of children, and to generate the creative passion that defines abundance as a way of life. Indeed, Oxum provides the spark of passion that attracts all forces of expansion and contraction of the universe to each other.

She is the erotic impulse that leads life forms to reproduce and motivates all realm of

Being. Without Oxum, the Goddess of love, ―no rain can fall, no plants can bear fruit, and no children can come into the world‖ (Abiodum, 2001, p.11).

Oxum: Balance and Harmony

In Ifá tradition, Oxum as the incarnation of both fertility and love, represents the impulse to maintain balance and harmony within the natural environment. When this impulse is translated into a communal environment, it represents the motivating factor for social justice. One oriki tells that the mystery of divination was limited to Oxalá, the only

Orixá who had learned from Orunmilá such mystery. All immortals and humans were relying on him to have information about their destinies. It was Oxum who made

31 divination available to all. She followed Oxalá to the river where he took off his white clothes and entered the water. As Oxalá swam, Oxum asked Exu to convince Oxalá that he should teach her the mystery of divination. Exu asked her to go home and take a bath in honey. Exu picked up Oxalá‘s clothes and took them to Oxum‘s house. When Oxalá realized he was without his robes, he followed Exu‘s footsteps and arrived at Oxum‘s house. She opened the door still wet with water and honey. By using her wisdom, allure and charm, Oxum convinced Oxalá to revel the secret of divination, making divination available to all immortals and humans.

Analyzing this oriki, Fatunmbi (1993) asserts that each time power becomes limited to a particular segment of society, he says, the balance and harmony that are ordained by Natural Law becomes disrupted. By getting access to the mystery of divination, Oxum allowed a communal access to the power that comes from knowledge of the inner secrets of Nature. He also calls attention to the fact that ―in traditional

Yoruba political structure it is the priestesses of Oxum who has a key role in maintaining the communal standards of justice and equality‖ (p.7).

Oxum: Mediator and Saving Force

Oxum‘s orikis consistently portray Oxum as a mediator and a saving force. She often acts on behalf of others. One oriki narrates that the sky moved away and abandoned earth because the latter had asserted that she was more powerful than the former. As a result, the trees and animals died. All birds were ordered to carry offerings to the sky, but they failed and died in their attempts. Oxum was the human beings‘ last hope.

Transformed into a bird she flew for several days, and with her remaining strength, she reached the sky and deposited the gifts at his feet, begging his forgiveness. Sky forgave

32 Earth and sent so much rain that plants grew once again and animals and human beings were revived.

Another oriki relates that Ogum, the Orixá who is the foundation of labor, the owner of tools and metals, decided to abandon his village and live by himself in the forest.

His decision affected the prosperity of his community. Desperately, men offered him fortune, women offered themselves. All Orixás sent him messages asking for his return.

No one was capable to convince him to go back home. Oxum, was the village‘s last hope.

Dancing and singing, she arrived at the forest where Ogum was living. Behind the bushes, fascinated, Ogum watched her elegant and sensual movements. Trying to see her better, he showed his head. Oxum, came quickly to his side, daubed his mouth with honey and continued dancing. Ogum came closer and closer, and she continued giving him honey and moving voluptuously. Slowly, she showed him to the village, where he was convinced to stay and work as an ironworker.

These two orikis present Oxum as a mediator and as a confident woman, who trusts in her own abilities to accomplish difficult tasks. In the first one, Oxum‘s love for humanity and her ability as an intermediary enabled the world to be reborn. The second myth shows how her wisdom and self-confidence saved humanity from misery.

Oxum: Not A Passive Wife

Several orikis report Oxum as wife of Oxossi, Ogum, and Xangô. The following two reports show the reasons she broke-up her marriages with Oxossi and Xangô. She was first married to Oxossi, the hunting Orixá. However, Oxossi was frequently traveling, leaving his wife by herself at home. She was absolutely unhappy and feeling alone, when she met Ogum, Oxossi‘s brother. Ogum had gone to visit his brother but as usual, he was

33 travelling. When he met Oxum, he became absolutely fascinated by her. During the days

Ogum waited for Oxossi, he gave Oxum all the attention and care she needed at that moment. They felt very close and fell in love with each other. Then, she left Oxossi‘s house and married Ogum.

Another oriki reports Oxum breaking-off her marriage with Xangô. She married

Xangô and left her father‘s house to live with her husband in his land. She was very much in love with Xangô, and thought this relationship was the most powerful union she could have with a man. However, she did not like to manage household tasks like most women of the village. When Xangô realized it, he became furious and made her prisioner in the castle tower. Exu, the trickster messenger who watches everything, saw her suffering and told her father, Orunmilá, what was happening. Her father gave a powder to

Exu, who blew it on Oxum‘s head and transformed her into a pigeon. When Oxum realized that she could have her freedom back, she flew back to her father‘s house.

In both myths Oxum appears suffering in her marriages, being abandoned or betrayed. In both cases she decided to break up her marriage and change her destiny. It shows that she is not a passive women who accepts an unhappy relationship, and that she respects herself and her freedom.

Oxum: The Owner of the Mirror and the Sword

The Spirit of the River is personified as a beautiful woman, who is proud and aware of her beauty. It means that her essential nature is fulfilled; thus she is beautiful

(iwa). Indeed Oxum is beauty. One of her two symbolic elements is a fan with a mirror in the middle (abêbê). Waving her fan, she purifies the air, neutralizing its negative content. The mirror symbolizes her inner and outer beauty. Ifá teaches that beauty is the

34 essential nature of each being that expresses its own axé; thus beauty comes from the inner character and it is expressed externally. The mirror reflects Oxum‘s character, her self-confidence and self-love that are the foundation of their infinite love she feels for humanity. However, when placed against the light, Oxum‘s mirror serve as a weapon; the reflex of the light dims the enemy‘s vision.

In the West Oxum‘s mirror tends to be misinterpreted, becoming only a symbol of vanity, which has been re-enforced by some popular stories that characterizes her as

―superficial‖ and ―self-centered‖. However, as noticed in the aforementioned orikis, this

Orixá takes responsibility for child birth and risks her own life on behalf of humanity.

Another oriki presents her as a powerful warrior who is able to resolve a conflict without involving warfare. According to this myth, there was a terrible battle involving some villages, in which the warriors made all young women prisoners. Among them was Oxum.

She invocated her magic forces and an intense luminosity arose from the sky, and the warriors became disoriented and blinded by the strong light. They became desperate.

Then, Oxum prepared an herbal portion and put it in their eyes and they immediately recovered their sight. Grateful, the warriors gave all women freedom and they could go back to their villages (Prandi, 2002). This story clearly shows that Oxum is not self- centered or superficial; rather, she cares and acts on behalf of her entire community. This oriki also shows that it is possible to resolve conflicts without what is defined as aggressive behavior, using only diplomacy and wisdom.

Oxum‘s second element, a sword, is a symbol of her manifestation as a warrior.

Like a river that sometimes behind its calm appearance hides mysterious dangers that can cause catastrophes, Oxum can abandon her tranquil behavior and fight vigorously to

35 accomplish her objectives. The sword, however, is not common to all manifestations of

Oxum; rather it is the instrument of Oxum Apará, a beautiful warrior that appears dancing faster and faster simulating a war in Candomblé ceremonies.

Oxum – The Roads of the Spirit of the River

The sacred history of the Orixás frequently portrays them in different manifestations. These manifestations are called Ona Orixá, which means ―roads of the force of nature. For instance, depending on the different seasons of its yearly cycle, the river may be low, empty while it waits for rain; or flowing, filled with water and pouring topsoil along the shoreline. They both are different manifestations of the same river.

According to Fatumbi (1993), Oxum has forty-one roads. In Brazil, Oxum is described only in 16 manifestations. Following are some of the most common roads of the spirit of the river whose orikis may be considered when applying the model proposed in Chapter 5, since they are manifestations that suggest a way of living, transformation, power, and assertiveness:

1. Oxum Yeye Moro – The Spirit of the River , Mother of the Mirror

2. Oxum Kayode – The Spirit of the River, Owner of the Dance.

3. Oxum Migwa – The Spirit of the River who guides my Character

4. Oxum Funmike – The Spirit of the River who blesses us with Children

5. Oxum Ede – The Spirit of the River who Creates Beauty and Elegance

6. Oxum Funke – The Spirit of the River who Teaches the Mystery of the Erotic

7. Oxum Ibu Kole – The Spirit of the River who transforms.

8. Oxum Apará – The Spirit of the River who is a Warrior

36 The oriki, that tell Oxum‘s mythological roads and adventures on the earth talk about some of the most important female issues, such as menstruation, fertility, children, and female power that frequently affect young girls in their transition to the adult world.

This oriki provide elements to discuss female issues such as menstruation, and may help young girls to think poetically and naturally about this natural cycle. Oxum‘s orikis may be important tools to provide orientation and to respond many questions about the female universe that often invade teenager‘s minds.

2.3. Oxum in Bahia

Oxum is one of the most worshiped Orixás in Bahia. Her presence is not limited to Candomblé houses; it is observed in all aspects of Bahia culture: music, dance, film, visual arts, and literature. Her name has been used to designate a carnival group, ball, opera, restaurant, and a social program for young girls. A very famous popular song composed for carnival purposes says that in Bahia, everybody belongs to Oxum, whether it is a man, a boy, a girl or a woman. Also, it does not matter if one is rich or poor, well known or not, black or white; the female power living in the water makes no difference, and everybody belongs to her.15 When this song is played by musicians at Carnival, and the audience—composed of thousands of people—sings it in one single voice, it seems that the whole city together honors the sweet, calm, and sensual goddess of love. The tourists, who watch it, fascinated by the magic that comes from the singing, may join the

Bahians, who, proud of their beautiful Orixá, sing aloud, ―ôôôôôôôô Oxum ora iê iê!!!!!‖

15 This song, Nesta Cidade Todo Mundo é D’Oxum (In this city everyone is Oxum‘s), is composed by Gerônimo and Vevé Calazans).

37 Bahians usually call Oxum “mamãe (mamy) Oxum”. The most famous priestess of a house of Candomblé, Maria Escolástica da Conceição, was an Oxum daughter who

Bahians lovingly called ―Mãe Menininha do Gantois” (Little Girl Mother of Gantois).16

Owner of great courage, she overcame several obstacles when Candomblé was still being persecuted by the police. Famous writers, singers, composers, politicians, such as

Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, and Jorge Amado became her sons and daughters and also her supporters. Dorival Caymmi, a singer and composer, said in one of his famous songs that the most beautiful star of the universe was in Gantois, and that it was Olorum (Olodumaré) who sent that star—an Oxum daughter—to take care of

Bahians. Mãe Menininha symbolized Oxum‘s political power, kindness, and love, and although she passed away twenty years ago, she is still reminded and considered an example, a pattern of living, an ancestor, and a myth—the most beautiful Oxum who had ever lived in Bahia.

Oxum‘s mythology has been also used to analyze Brazilian societies. Brazilian scholar Teresinha Bernardo (2004) compares Oxum archetypes of beauty, dynamism and youth with the contemporary society‘s rejuvenation process. For Bernardo, concepts of beauty are related to the dynamism of a culture. Nowadays, Brazilian societies are based on new and precise information, valorization of work, and fast development. Thus

Brazilians are oriented by such dynamism. Men and women are oriented by the myths of youth and beauty, which have been associated with thinness, strength, and dynamism.

This has influenced the society to buy and sell cosmetic products, perform plastic surgery, and build a great number of gyms each year. Therefore, in Brazil, it is not possible

16 Gantois is a neighborhood of Salvador where Mãe Menininha’s Candomblé is located. After her death, her daughter Cleuza assumed the command of the house. Few years later, she died and her other daughter, Carmem is now the new priestess.

38 anymore to consider a woman of thirty, forty or a man of fifty, sixty, as old people as in the past. For Bernardo, this is related to Oxum, whose archetype represents beauty, dynamism, and happiness. In other words, Brazilians societies are nowadays oriented by

Oxum mythology.

This chapter started by stating that mythology is important to provide an understanding of people‘s purpose in life, and that a society that does not embrace a powerful mythology suffers serious consequences. Despite Bernado‘s analysis, the strong presence of Oxum and other Orixás in Bahia, and the fact that Candomblé has been the most powerful vehicle to preserve African roots and culture in Brazil, this religion still encounters deep-seated prejudice in Bahian society. Since the beginning of the last decade, Candomblé has had to struggle severely against religious intolerance. Besides,

Candomblé has been folklorized by tourism, and there is the commodification of its symbolic objects and images, usually in distorted ways. For instance, it is possible to buy white blond dolls wearing yellow gold meant to represent Oxum. It has been one of the great concerns of many Candomblé priestess and priests in Bahia. Thus, the researcher considers that an appropriate usage of the Candomblé historical-mythological tradition can provide Bahians knowledge of their cultural heritage and a lens through which to understand their purpose in life and to reinterpret positively their Afro-Brazilian identity.

Mythology has close ties with rites. Most rituals encompass mythology as an important tool for learning. Since the purpose of this thesis is to use Yoruba mythology to create a performance art model that operates as a rite of passage to young girls, the next chapter focuses on African rites of passage seeking to provide an understanding of how

39 female initiation rites give rules and orientation for young girls during their critical passage from childhood to adulthood.

40 CHAPTER 3. CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS IN AFRICAN RITES OF PASSAGE: A FOCUS ON FEMALE INITIATION CEREMONIES

This chapter examines beliefs and expressions in African rites of passage in selected societies, with a particular focus on female initiation ceremonies in West Africa, which will be applied to a model developed in Chapter 5. This research will be used to inform a performance art work which the researcher plans to create. The purpose of such performance art is to reinterpret identities within Afro-Brazilian cultures--thus the focus in West Africa, where Brazilian Diasporans came from-- through the creation of a coming-of-age ritual for young girls/women.

According to Wikipedia17 a rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. Rites fall into three major categories:

1. Rites of passage, generally changing an individual's social status, such as

marriage, or Christian baptism.

2. Rites of worship, where a community comes together to worship, such as Jewish

synagogue or Christian Mass.

3. Rites of personal devotion, where an individual worships, including prayer and

pilgrimages such as the Muslim Haj.

Rituals are interpreted variously, as ―culturally transmitted symbolic codes which are stylized, regularly repeated, dramatically structured, authoritatively designated and intrinsically valued‖ (Bird, 1980, p.22). Ritual is synonymous with culture. It is the oldest form of human activity and at the same time, as a unifying activity, the original multimedia performance (Grimes, 2000). Rituals have multiple roles: to act, perform, modulate and transform (Doty, 1986).

17 http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/model.html

41 Nearly every culture in the world ritualizes the important milestones of life. Birth, marriage and death are typically marked by special ceremonies. The final passage from childhood to adulthood also figures prominently among various ethnic groups worldwide.18

In many African societies, rituals are rooted in deep, conservative traditions. Two major ritual categories are seasonal and rites of passage. Seasonal rituals symbolize the passage of time as something outside oneself. Along with their recurrence, they also take one out of individual existence. These rituals are practiced at intervals of: hours, days, weeks, months, seasons and years. Rites of passage are rituals which symbolize change and paradox within the self. They teach that change is typical or to be expected and not specific to the individual – it is a collective experience. They are characterized by transitions, passages, critical periods or life crises in an individual‘s life. The six most common transitions to be ceremonialized are birth, adulthood, marriage, eldership, death, and ancestorship (Ampim 2003).

Many African societies view these rites as originally established by African ancestors while they were living in order to link the individual to the community and the community to the broader and more potent spiritual world. Each of these rites is a key component that is part of traditional African cultures. Some societies have more elaborate and extensive ceremonies than others, but these five themes are the thread that links families and villages in traditional Africa and provide the necessary structure for individual growth and development (Cohen, 1964).

18 Brazil and Hispanic cultures have fifteen parties for their daughters. Jews hold Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs for their children. And in the United States Sweet Sixteen parties are celebrated to mark the magic age of sixteen.

42 Initiation rites are a natural and necessary part of a community, as are arms and legs natural and necessary extensions of the human body. These rites are critical to individual and community development, and it should not to be taken for granted that people automatically grow and develop into responsible, community-oriented adults.

The process of initiation concerns an experiment, a set of rites to start a new phase or beginning of life. It marks the passage from one phase in life to the next more mature phase. Initiation fundamentally has to do with transformation. The details of the rites vary among the different societies, but these rites are nevertheless basic components of the society as they help guide the person from one stage in life into the next, developing from birth to death and beyond. According to Grimes (2000),

Even a single rite of passage can divide a person‘s life into ―before‖ and ―after‖. An entire system of such rites organizes a life into stages. These ceremonial occasions inscribe images into the memories of participants, and they design values into the social institutions. Effective rites depend on inheriting, discovering or inventing value-laden images that are driven deeply, by repeated practice and performance, into the marrow. The images proffered by ineffective rites remain skin-deep (p.23).

Adults must learn to embrace the realities of life, including change and inevitable death. Then adults can pass on healthy values to children. Grimes views these rituals as a way to assist people to cope with life‘s transitions, thus providing a means to channel tensions and negativity. These rituals offer an occasion and location to express emotions and thus feelings are provided a conduit and are not left to be expressed randomly.

3.1. Six Important Rites of Passage The six most important rites represent an integrated initiation system that has given indigenous African cultures the stability and longevity to provide a model of

43 consistency and unity within different generations. ―They represent a complete set of devices that prevent the inherent conflicts between various age groups or the systematic ill treatment of women, children, or elders‖ Ampim (2003).19

Baldwin details the ritual process starting with conception acknowledgment rites, followed by birth and name rituals and at adolescence, preparing boys (as well as girls) for family and parenthood. Thus the cultural rituals for boys and girls should included gendered rites in preparation of adulthood and rites in preparation for marriage and family life. In addition, other rites might include transformation/passage rites which signal the transition from infancy to childhood, from childhood to adolescence, adolescence to young adulthood (which includes marriage and family), to middle-age, to elderhood, and death to ancestorhood.

Baldwin (1991) also interprets rites of passage as a means by which African people ensure well-balanced development on a personal, communal and cosmic level. At the same time, he believes rituals are a modality for learning and for transformation, a system that establishes bonds between an individual and his or her community, and therapeutic and spiritual devices.

Rites of Birth The Rite of Birth is the first of the major African initiation rites and it involves initiating the infant into the world through a ritual and naming ceremony. Nearly all

African cultures hold that the infant has come from the spirit world with important information from that world, and is bringing unique talents and gifts to offer to the community. The infant, in fact, is believed to have been commissioned to come to the

19 Quoted in The Five Major African Initiation Rites. On line source. http://www.manuampim.com/ AfricanInitiationRites.htm

44 world and accomplish a particular mission, and often has a great message to deliver

(Ampim, 2003).

Therefore, it is the responsibility of the family and community to discover the infant‘s unique mission through consultations with a diviner and to have rituals and a birth map done. In this way it is possible to determine the new community member‘s mission in order to guide him/her through their life path. The infant‘s name is given after the determination of the mission and it is a reflection of the infant‘s personality or of his/her life mission.

In addition, in some African societies, it is only through birth-giving that the marriage becomes fully recognized. Therefore, pregnancy finalizes the marriage. The woman has at this stage completely integrated into the husbands‘ family and kinship circle. Because of the significance of this event, in most African cultural groups, the woman who fails to have children is deeply troubled. Since, at her death she will have no one from her immediate bloodline to remember her and to immortalize her existence. In

Kenya, for example, ―these beliefs contribute to the present birth rate of 6.7 births per female‖ (Watson and Montgomery‘s, 1999).20

Nearly all-African names have a meaning. The naming of children is therefore an important occasion, which is often marked by ceremonies in many societies. Along with the day-of-birth names, other names may mark the occasion of the child‘s birth. For example, if the birth occurs during rain, the child would be given a name which means

―rain‖ or ―rainy‖ or ―water‖; if the mother is on a journey at the time, the child might be called ―traveler‖, ―stranger‖, ―road‖ or ―wanderer‖. Some names describe the personality of the individual or his character, or some key events in his life. Other names given to

20 Online source. http://www.mscd.edu/~psych/connecting/assets/rites_passage.doc

45 children may come from ancestors who were thought to have been re-incarnated in the child, especially if the family observes certain traits in common between the child and particular ancestor.

Mbiti (1969) emphasizes the significance of nature to the child‘s social being and her/his evolution into a communal person,

For it is the community which must protect the child, feed it, bring it up, educate it and in many other ways incorporate it into the wider community. Children are the buds of society, and every birth is the arrival of ―spring‖ when life shoots out and the community thrives. The birth of a child is, therefore, the concern not only of the parents but of many relatives including the living and the departed. Kinship plays an important role here, so that a child cannot be exclusively ―my child‖ but only ―our child‖ (p.143).

Rites of Adulthood

The Rite of Adulthood, also called Rite of Initiation, is the second major initiation rite, marking the transition from childhood to adulthood, when adolescents assume their full responsibilities as adult members of the community. For many African societies a person is considered a full member of society only when these rites have been completed.

There are distinctive practices among different peoples; however some of them are common in most of the initiation rites, such as a period of seclusion, scarification, and fattening rooms for girls and circumcision for boys. Included also are rituals of the community and the teaching of the community customs. Normally, the initiates are between twelve and eighteen years of age and the initiation period lasts from one to two months (Ampim, 2003).

Female African initiation rites are rarer, however much like male rites, they provide instructions to girls regarding societal expectations of them as adults. Having

46 imitated their mothers from birth, most girls are already fully aware of what will be expected of them as women. The final ceremony, however, is the public expression of this expectation by the society. In most cultures, the initiation ceremony is something a young girl looks forward to, prepares for, and honorably takes part in. In essence, the ceremony is the ultimate expression of her emerging womanhood.

Rites of Marriage According to Ampim (2003), the Rite of Marriage is the third major initiation rite and it represents not only the union of two families, but also the union of the two missions of the new couple. In other words, the marriage rites are performed for not only the joining of man and woman to procreate and perpetuate life and the joining of families, but also it is an institution that helps both the husband and the wife to best fulfill their mission and objectives in life.

Unlike Western society that has a vast number of marriages based on individuals

―falling in love‖, many African societies do not emphasize individual looks and sexual desire as the primary motivation for marriage, but rather the basic focus is on building families and communities. The focus is on the collective more than the individual. A person is not generally considered an adult until they have married and had children.

Rites of Eldership The Rite of Eldership is an important component of the initiation system, because it is the elders who represent tradition and the wisdom of the past. According to Ampim

(2003), in African cultures, there is a essential characteristic that distinguishes the ―elder‖ and the ―older‖ person.

An older person has simply lived a longer life than most [of] people, but is not considered one who deserves high praise and respect. This is because the older person‘s life has not been a

47 positive example for the community. An older person could be a thief or drunkard, an evil person, or could be someone who never married and had children, and thus these examples would certainly prevent a person from being considered a respected elder.21

Usually, the highest status in African cultures is given to the elder, since s/he is someone who had lived a purposeful life—and thus nothing is deserving of more respect.

The life of an elder is centered in the best tradition of the community, and she or he surely has gone through all of the previous three rites, and is a living model for the other groups in the society.

Rites of Death

The African death rite of passage is related to the belief that death is not the end of life, but a transition into an active spirit life. Birth – Adulthood – Marriage –

Elderhood – all of the rites of passage lead to death. The soul leaves the material world and crosses over into the spiritual one. Traditionally, when someone dies, it is said that they have gone back to Mother Africa, back to their own village. Thus, when a person has led a full and productive life, the sentiment tends to be more of a celebration than a mournful state of loss (Watson and Montgomery, 1999).

The majority of African belief systems is monotheistic and based on a hierarchical pattern with God at the highest point, then spirits, then human beings, animals and plants, and phenomena. When people die they are elevated to the status of spirit and exercise more control or authority over those still living. Thus proper burial is of the utmost importance. Considerable thought is devoted to burial places. Some bury their dead around the house. For others, it is important to remove the body to a burial ground some

21 Quoted in The Five Major African Initiation Rites. On line source. http://www.manuampim.com/ AfricanInitiationRites.htm

48 distance away. The Baganda, in Uganda, for instance, prepare a grave for each individual when they are still children. There are all sorts of rules governing how the dead are buried, what they should wear, and what food they should take with them (Ampim, 2003).

There are a huge variety of different customs associated with death. Many of them include traditional music, dance and ceremonial speeches. In Dahomean and Yoruba cultures of West Africa, when people die the joyful music and dancing which follow the funeral rites reflect the belief that death is a gateway to the domain of the spirits.

Rites of Ancestorship

The last of the six major rites is the Rite of Ancestorship, which concerns passing over into the spirit world. This final initiation rite is an extension of the elder/older distinction because the status that a person has in life is the same status that he/she brings upon passing. There is virtually no African society that believes that when a person dies this ends all ties and communication with the living (Watson and Montgomery, 1999).

Moreover, African philosophy from one culture to another concurs that the spirit of the dead person is still with the living community, and that as there are distinctions made in the status of the living, a distinction must be made in the status of the various spirits.

One of the most important and interesting distinctions is the difference between an older person who dies and who is seen as nothing more than a ―dead relative,‖ and a respected elder who passes on and is revered as an honored ―ancestor.‖ The dead relative dies without honor and is someone who is not remembered as a great person or someone who should be followed or emulated. On the other hand, a respected elder who passes on becomes a respected ancestor and is given the highest honor. This group of ancestor wields great power and is often called upon in matters of trouble or uncertainty to help

49 influence a favorable outcome (Ampim, 2003). Thus, ancestors are respected elders who have passed away and who continue to serve as an extension of the family and community.

3.2. Female Initiation Rites

This section presents an overview of selected female adulthood rites in African societies, drawing attention to their common aspects and characteristics.

Female African initiation ceremonies are less common than for males and the rites often involve the domestic group rather than in an isolated camp, in the wilderness, as their male counterparts. These rites instruct young girls on what society will expect of them as adults. They are rooted in deep, conservative traditions. For African females, ceremonies mark their entry into the realm of adulthood, and are also a public announcement to the community that she is ready to be married. In many African societies, life revolves around the family and therefore female African initiation ceremonies tend to focus heavily on the preparation of young girls to be good wives and excellent mothers.

Many ethnic groups in Africa find corpulent women attractive. Their corpulence provides a public statement of a man‘s wealth in that his wife has plenty of food and servants under her supervision. In many African female rites of passage we find the custom called the Fattening Room (Brick, 1989). A Fattening Room is a room in the village or in the father‘s compound that is secluded from the routine of the household: ―a room where a girl has a great deal of privacy away from chance encounters with family, visitors or outsiders, particularly men‖ (p.134). They cloister young girls for weeks in an

50 effort to learn the nuances of being a good wife. During this time, the girl would be fattened so as to add several dimensions to her body. Although a heavy body is still admired among Africans, and several girls will take great pains to increase their weight, the ritual fattening is slowly disappearing.

During the seclusion period in fattening rooms, they learn about sexuality, beauty, human procreation, marriage, family management and how to preserve and assert women‘s prerogatives in male-dominated culture. They also have lessons on local etiquette, on how to serve visitors of various ranks, and they are supplied with some items for showing visitors they are welcome. Seclusion is also a time to learn through dance and music community principles, values, and laws.

In Nigeria, some groups such as the Waikiriki, immobilize girls legs in copper impala rings. It purpose, metaphorically, is make the girls able to deal with certain difficulties in life, the rings cause skin irritation, and make it difficult to walk (Onwurah,

1993).

Mende-speaking peoples from Sierra Leone and Liberia have powerful and organized secret societies and female societies called Sande. The society operates schools that initiate young women into adulthood22. Every girl goes into Sande and her most vivid and memorable experience is the period of initiation. Throughout the period of initiation, her skills and responsibilities of an adult life are developed, and concepts of personal beauty are stressed (Boone 1986).

When the initiates finish their graduate process, they are presented to the community, in a vigorous dancing and singing ceremony, as new community members, fully mature women. The young girls appear looking like desirable wives. The girls are

22 In Liberian English, these training centers are called ―Bush Schools‖.

51 proud, the village honor and receive their new members (Delafield, 1967). Among the

Sande people, the Waa Jowei, the head of initiation ceremonies, presents the girls to the chief with these words: ―You gave me girls; I bring you back women‖ (Boone 1986, p.65).

Beauty, Dancing, Songs and Other Expressions in Initiation Rites

There are some other social and anthropological aspects in these rites that have been the object of study by many researchers. However, the interest here is to draw attention to their creative expressions, such as, beauty, dance, song, and the use of masks.

For the Mende people of Sierra Leone and Liberia, the word for beauty is also used to describe an exquisite woman. The looks of a Mende child are considered from the very moment of her birth and her mother makes an effort to develop beautiful characteristics in her body such as rubbing the head, shaping and exercising the buttocks to develop a high behind or strengthen their bodies through the practice of dancing and swimming. During her period in the Sande School, the girl must show interest in her own appearance to adhere to the model of Mende beauty. Excessive fuss is made over her looks (Boone 1986).

Hojo, white clay – is a symbol of beauty and youthfulness. Clay is smooth, glossy, shiny, in appearance exactly what Mende find attractive and beautiful. White, an important color among the Sande, symbolizes immaculate, pureness, cleanness.

Beautification is also part of the art of seduction that young Krobo girls, from

Ghana, must learn during the three-week pre-ritual, before the Dipo ceremony. The ability to please a man in every way is an art taken seriously by Krobo women. At the end of the seclusion, during the days of the official ceremony, a special string of beads

52 may be worn loosely about her hips as a visual gift to her husband. Glass beads represent wealth among the Krobo and the more beaded necklaces, bracelets and other adornments she wears, the more attractive she will be. Traditionally the girls would perform the ceremony wearing nothing but their glass beads, but today all girls wear a loincloth.

The five-day ceremony consists of dancing, eating and merriment. Although the goal of the ceremony is to celebrate a young girl‘s new maturity, it is also a means for attracting a husband. Serious negotiations also take place as local boys and men begin to inquire after a girl‘s family. To afford the best possible selection, the girl will travel with her female mentor to nearby villages to perform the ceremony. She takes with her all the glass beads owned by her family (Beckwith, 1999).

Among Waikiriki of Nigeria, young women, during the ceremony that precedes the girls‘ seclusion, an elder woman, who oversees the ritual, gives careful attention to the girls‘ beauty. Body painting is used as a beautification technique. The girl‘s hair is shaved and powder is put on their heads to match the painting on their bodies. Indigo designed on their bodies to make then more beautiful than any clothes they might wear.

At the end of the seclusion, the girls, now women, are presented to society, wearing beautiful fabric around their waists indicating each family's wealth (Onwurah 1993).

Songs have a strong presence in African female rites of passage. During seclusion, most of the training for girls is in the form of songs. Their lyrics have some useful information, and reinforce laws, costumes and traditions. Dance is also part of the preparation for womanhood and enables the girls to display their talents to suitors. Dance

53 is synonymous with beauty and vigorousness. Dances are important means of seduction and may stress sexual fertility as well as customary behavior between the sexes.23

To bring refinement and charm, dancing and singing are also emphasized in the

Sande School. Girls greet all of women higher rank with a song, before proceeding in the domestic and other tasks of the day: ―No bird is as beautiful as its songs‖ (Little, 1967).

Songs and dances learned in the ―bush‖ are repeated and sung on all major occasions in the social and ceremonial life of the people.

When the young girls return to their communities, the presentation ceremony among many African initiation rites marks the end of seclusion and their flourishing as new citizens. As seen among the Umhlanga and Sande, drums, songs, and dances give expression to the community‘s beliefs and philosophy.

Dolls are also used during seclusion among some group. Some dolls have the function of helping guarantee girls‘ fertility, such as among the Zaramo of Tanzania, the

Dan of Liberia or the Turkana of Kenya.

Other types of doll emphasize the interaction not between a mother and her child but between a woman and her lover or husband. In this case a woman‘s mother makes a doll from large nuts that replicate the shape of male genitalia and decorates it with beads donated by the man‘s best friend. This would be attached to a string around the girl‘s

23 In Swaziland, for instance, every year, during the eight-day ceremony that marks the beginning of adulthood for Swazi girls and announces to the kingdom that they are ready for marriage, songs and dances are a fundamental factor of attractiveness. The ceremony, Umhlanga, starts when the girls arrive at the royal home of the mother of the king of Swaziland. For the next six days, the girls perform a series of songs and dances, in hopes of attracting the eye of a suitor. On the seventh day of the ceremony the king arrives to watch the girls dance. If he so desires, he will choose one girl from the crowd to be his wife. On the eighth day, the ceremony is complete and the girls return to their villages ready for marriage. (Wikipedia. Online Source. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Dance).

54 neck or over her shoulder during the day, symbolizing the future couple‘s son (Cameron,

1996).

Masks are not very common in female initiation rites. The holy mask, Sowo, of the Sande seems to be the only known case of women being patrons, owners, and performers of initiation masks. Masks personify concepts of beauty through its iconography, costuming, and choreography (Weston 1996). In fact, the use of masks makes Sande rites of passage unique. Sowo, its classical mask – carved wooden headdresses combined with a black raffia-and-cloth costume – is used by leaders of the women‘s association to make manifestations of the spirit who guide the girls during their initiation period.

When the ritual officials take the pubescent girls into a shelter in the forest, Sowo accompanies them and supervises their education. During the clitoridectomy period, it is said the mask hypnotizes the young girls and relieves the pain of the operation. The mask represents all that a woman should be: wise, elegant, and serene. Sowo also dances for their coming-out ceremony. Boone describes the masked dancers as emissaries from the spiritual realm, but these emissaries are the expression of a single, collective body: the spirit of the Mende people.

The Mende recognize two categories of Sowo masks. One is the sacred Sowo-wui, whose origins are divine and whose use is restricted to the highest, Sowo level of the

Sande Society; the other is less holy and is used by specialized dancers at the middle level.

Masks must be beautiful to Sande eyes. As a result, there are some rules for a mask to be accepted by the Sande Society. The sacred mask head, Sowo-wui, must be:

55 1. complete and correct in all its parts: full, striated neck, small face with closed

mouth, lowered eyes, large forehead, plaited hairdo—all symmetrical and

balanced, carved in wood, and dyed deep black.

2. comfortable to wear--to be worn for dancing.

3. shiny black

4. smooth, without any bumps or rough spots

5. balanced and symmetrical

6. clearly visible in all its features

7. fresh an new

8. delicate, dainty

Sowo is a head of a woman, and each element of its form corresponds to some identifiable natural object. All details have a meaning. A mask‘s large forehead signifies knowledge, downcast eyes indicate insight and secret powers, and an elegant coiffure shows self-esteem and artistry. Neck rings refer to a heavy woman‘s proud presentation of prosperity and to concentric waves as the water spirit breaks the surface (Lamp, 1985).

Hair reinforces Mende identification of women with Maa-Nsoo, the Great Mother Earth, the female principle of God Almighty. Trees, plants, vines, flowers, herbs – verdure is the

―hair‖ on the head of Earth Mother, just as the hair on the head of a woman is her flora).

The lustrous blackness of the mask and of its accompanying costume of raffia and cloth is associated with the deep, cold waters where water spirits dwell in luxurious

―paradise towns‖ and with the profoundly ―cool‖ mysteries of femininity (Boone 1986).

For the Mende, the eyes are symbolically equated with a woman‘s entire being.

When an initiate‘s eyes of ―deepened discernment‖ are joined with those of the mask she

56 is performing, a woman gains ―a double vision‖, with all the secret power so implied.

Simpler masks of more restrained design are commissioned by older women of the upper ranks of the Sande, to reflect their refined dignity and authority, while more flamboyant masks are chosen by younger women, undoubtedly, the fatuous vanity of youth. The extemporaneous dances of each mask during initiation, and later the ritual, further accentuate a woman‘s self-invention (Phillips, 1993).

All these characteristics reflect Mende concepts of beauty and spirituality. When

Sowo appears dancing into the village, accompanying the young girls, all the Mende spirit and philosophy are incorporated into this creative expressive mask.

3.3. Initiation Rites in Contemporary Societies

Rituals assist people in adjusting to transitions; they provide an opening for letting out tensions and negative feelings. By giving a time and place for emotional expression, feelings or emotions are honored and are not left to random expression. Grimes (2000) cites from The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, that the absence of rites leads to a serious breakdown in a person‘s process of maturing. The citation continues,

The absence of rites of passage, young people are unable to participate in society in a creative manner because societal structures no longer consider it their responsibility to intentionally establish the necessary marks of passing from one age-related social role to another, such as: child to youth, youth to adult, adult to elder. The result is that society has no clear expectation of how people should participate in these roles and therefore individuals do not know what is required by society (p.23).

57 Many modern social ills are being blamed on the absence of attention to rituals.

These ills include ecological crises and lack of respect for our environment, increasing crime rates and some mental illness phenomena, drug and alcohol addictions, membership in gangs and cults, bad manners and rudeness.

Some characteristics and aspects of African initiation rites, such as excision or scarification, have become controversial issues worldwide. In spite of this fact, adulthood rites of passage have given fundamental guidelines to many African people. There is nothing automatic about youth being productive members of society. Transitioning from a child to an adult is not anything particularly easy. This transition to adulthood is extremely difficult in Western societies because there are no systems of adulthood rites to systematically guide and direct the young person through this important stage in his or her life cycle.

Western scholars and researchers of African initiation rites have concluded that these rituals are important for psychologically healthy human life. Some have even agreed that Western societies should revive these practices that have long been lost. The

African American community has created Kwanzaa, an African American harvest celebration. The creation of this ritual has in part come about as the result of the widespread sense of a lack of clear purpose for African Americans that stems for the disruption of a cultural base that dates to slavery. Workshops and classes stressing the importance of ritual are being offered in widespread locations. Books and article are being abundantly published.

Programs have been also created to help preteens safely navigate the difficult stages of United States life. In New York, for instance, the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility

58 in Brooklyn, runs Sisters in Sisterhood, a rites of passage program for girls between the ages of 8 and 19, in which they explore spiritual and family traditions and develop a strong sense of sisterhood - drawn on the African tradition. Experts lead them through workshops on money management, grooming, conflict resolution, career choices, domestic violence, abstinence, AIDS, and meditation. Since 1994, the program has raised over $1.5 million dollars for organization activities and graduated over 280 African

American girls.24

Another African-based coming-of-age ritual that addresses the contemporary needs of youth in the United States has been developed by the Black Humanist

Fellowship, a non-denominational organization dedicated to addressing the cultural and spiritual needs of African Americans. The process is called Unyago, a KiSwahili word that refers to an ethnic-based ritual. The first group of teens (ages 13-17) were all children of Fellowship members, but the Fellowship has already begun forming the next group of initiates and intends to sponsor annual programs for all families willing to participate in the process.

During the three weeks of Unyago, boys and girls are faced together. They deal with identity, interpersonal relationships, spirituality and sexuality issue during the first days. In the second part personal finance, African-American history, and the complicated nature of leadership are dealt with.

As a person from Brazil, both African rites of passage and African American adaptations are of keen interest to the researcher. In Brazil, girls do not have formal procedures to prepare them for womanhood. African-Brazilian female preteens are usually victims of poverty, and violence. They face a complex set of pressures, including

24 Ifetayo Cultural Arts and Facility. http://www.ifetayoculturalarts.org/home.asp

59 cultural standards of womanhood and sexually explicit media images pressuring them to be sexually active. On the other hand, they are pressured to not accept their skin color, their hair texture, and usually adopt a white standard of beauty.

Such successful experiences in the African Diaspora in the United States give support to the researcher belief that African traditional coming-of-age ritual could be a pattern for a creation of a coming-of-age ritual for young girls/women in Bahia/Brazil respecting community values and culture, in order to uplift and aid their self-development, thus facilitating self-knowledge, self-development, and self-esteem.

60 CHAPTER 4. PERFORMANCE ART: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE

As an artistic practice, Performance Art has its origins in the experimental and interdisciplinary exploration of twentieth-century artists, groups and art movements. The term Performance Art has found its way in artistic expressions in the West. Though, the substance is present throughout the world as art is performed as such. More recently, it has been used as an aesthetic strategy to critique matters surrounding class differences, gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Recent expressions of performance, in both theory and practice are so diverse that a complete review of them is almost impossible, and goes beyond the scope of this study. However, this body of analysis and commentary attempt to provide an overview and historical background to explore this creative expression within the context of this research.

4.1. Performance: The Semantic Concepts

The Encarta Dictionary data describes performance as (1) involving artistic presentation, (2) manner, (3) working effectiveness, (4) display of behavior, (5) a thing accomplished or (6) accomplishing of something, and (7) language produced. The intention here is to draw attention to some of the meanings this term covers in order to clarify ‗performance art‘.

The term performance, has always been associated with theater, dance and music, in fact, they are the specific genres that make up the performing arts. At the same time, performance is used to describe a wide range of human activities involving the physical presence of people who demonstrate their abilities to their audience.

61 Usually human agency is necessary for a ‗performance‘, but as Carlson (1996, p.148) points out, ―the public demonstration of particular skills can be offered by non- human ‗performers‘, so that , for example we commonly speak of ‗performing‘ dogs, elephants, horses, or bears.‖

Performance is used also to describe working effectiveness, a thing accomplished, or the act of accomplishing something. In these cases, the usage of performance has emphasis on the general accomplishment of the activity in light of some pattern of achievement. Then, it is common to hear about a performance of children in a school or a sexual performance of someone. Moreover, the task of judging the success of a performance is attributed to the observer. That is a ‗performance‘ not necessarily is a human act; we can talk about a performance of a brand-new automobile or a performance of a student in a particular test.

According to Schechner‘s concept of ‗restored behavior‘, a performance is not exactly linked with a display of abilities, rather it occurs when there is a certain distance between ‗self‘ and behavior, similar to that between an actor and the role the actor plays on stage. A good example of it is when a person pretends to be someone else. In this case,

―even if an action on stage is identical to one in real life, on stage it is considered

‗performed‘ and off stage merely ‗done‘‖ (Carlson, 2002, p. 146).

Aware of such distance between ‗self‘ and behavior, thus that everyone at some time or another is conscious of playing a role socially, that our lives are structured according to repeated and socially authorized forms of behavior, psychotherapists and sociologists developed theories drawing attention to social performances. According to

62 these thoughts, when a person is doing actions thinking about them, this introduces a consciousness giving the actions a quality of performance.

As seen, the term performance encompasses several fields of human activities.

Nevertheless, this research calls attention to one of these concepts closer to some performance art pieces thus closer to the subject of this study. Such concept was first stated by Richard Bauman in International Encyclopedia of Communications25, and it has been largely supported for performance theorists. According to Bauman, performance does not involve a display of skills, but is more centrally concerned with an action carried out for someone, an action that involves consciousness of doubleness, and is placed in association with a model, or a remembered original pattern of that action. A performance is performance for someone, for some audience that recognizes and validates it as performance even when, as is occasionally the case, that the audience is the self.

Many performance art pieces are involved with Bauman‘s concept: an action for someone, in which the artist is aware of the indefinable ‗other‘ that performance is not but which it persistently fights to embody.

In performance, artists present and represent themselves in the process of being and doing, and these acts take place in a cultural context for a public to witness (Stiles, 2003, p.75). (…) performance art there is simultaneously a presentation and a representation, presented and represented in real time. (…) Performance art both is, and is a representation of life itself (Stiles, 2003, p.110).

Performance art as an artistic form based on the performer‘s specific experiences, in their own reflection of the contemporary world, has attracted scholars from various fields of human activities, such as sociology, anthropology, ethnography, linguistic attempting to understand human conditions and activities. On the other hand,

25 Quoted in Carlson, 1998, p.149.

63 performance theorists and practitioners are conscious about these analyses and find in them a source to nourish their studies and creativities. The historical context of this artistic form – performance art –as well as its manifestations will be commented upon in the following sections.

4.2. Performance Art: Historical Background

Earlier in the last century, artists inquired about the function of art and the role of the artist faced with issues of the contemporary world. Concerned about the assumptions of the prevailing traditional art and culture, with the desire to experience and find new aesthetic responses to relevant current cultural conditions, they used interdisciplinary and intercultural exploration in live performance. In the 1970s, mass media was added to these explorations and by the end of the century, electronic imagining and telecommunications and also genetic engineering have been used in live performance as a means to evaluate the art experiences in everyday life.

Although theatrical scholars and theorist have the tendency to attribute the roots of performance art to traditions of avant-garde theatre, regarding Futurism, Dadaism and

Surrealism, it must be kept in mind that these movements were in fact movements in visual arts, structured by non-theatre artists, which extended into performance. However, since this researcher‘s own background is in dance and theatre, and these are important frames to this research, some brief emphasis will be on how thoughts and theories about performance have expanded and enriched those areas of human activity.

At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century,

RoseLee Goldberg (1979) referred to the physical presence of the artist in society as

―esoteric, shamanist, instructive, provocative, or entertaining‖ while not referring

64 specifically to performance, she captured the essence of it. Popular entertainment, such as fights, ‗clown‘ acts, songs, and dumb shows were common in the Elizabethans theatre

(Bradbrook, 1962).

Carlson observes that ―the marketplace, the fairground, the circus – gathering places for a large general public – have been traditionally the favored site of performance and that even displaying their skills for small groups, these performers offered ―a more intimate performance model that has continued up until the present‖ (Carlson, 1998, p.85).

The theatrical tradition in the United States practiced in this period, was centered on this performative orientation, inclined not to formal theater, but to an informal theatre in which the physical presence of the performer prevails.

Bertold Brecht and many other innovators also found in variety-oriented

European cabaret, a new form in the music hall developed in the end of nineteenth century, plenty of corporeal and visual theatricality, another source of inspiration for performance activities. So much so, that a few scholars, despite agreement that avant- garde movements provided influences and models of performances, argue that the beginning of performance art might be found in cabaret rather than in the Futurist movement as most historians and performance theorists attribute. Cabaret was a forum for experiments in dance-pantomime, jazz rhythms, songs, skits, political satire, puppetry, and others expressions in which futurists, dadaists, expressionist found a fertile ground to develop and express their thoughts (Carlson, 1996).

Other models of performance unequaled in their richness and variety were provided at the beginning of this century by the dazzling innovative Russian theatre.

65 Seeking new approaches to art that could address a new and much large base public, artists stressed physicality and spectacle and also sought stimulation in such formerly disdained popular form as the fairground and the circus.

By focusing attention on the natural movement of the body and the individual performer, Isadora Duncan‘s appearance in St. Petersburg in 1904, caused a deep impact on both dance and theatre in Russia. According to Duncan,

The school of the ballet of today, vainly striving against the natural laws of gravitation or the natural will of the individual, and working in discord in its form and movement with the form and movement of nature, produces a sterile movement which gives no birth to future movements, but dies as it is made (Duncan, 1928).

As mentioned above Western European Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism influenced the subsequent artistic experiments. Carlson (1996) remarked that Futurism is actually rather better known for its manifestos than for its concrete artistic accomplishments, although both contributed highly to the performance tradition of this and the past century. The interest of the futurist in physical body and renovation moved their course from the still work of art and gave an important impulsion for the general change in modern artistic interest, turning even painters and sculptors into performance artists.

Usually confrontational, most futurist performances pursued a diverse format, with a sequence of short performance material – sketches, acrobatics, mechanical, lighting, and sound effect; rapid display of movements or objects. Rather than to the performance art of more recent times, this variety is closer to the performances of the cabaret, the vaudeville, and the circus.

66 The interests of Futurism and Dadaism‘s in spontaneous creative actions, in non- musical sound, ‗bruitism‘ or ‗noise music‖ as well as in exploitation of change techniques would be also reflected in the artistic exploration throughout the twentieth century.

The Theater and Its Double by Antonin Artaud was an important contribution to research on the relationship between the surrealist movement to performance, which exerted a huge influence in the 1960s and 1970s. His book argues that the traditional theatre lost contact with the profound and more important sphere of human existence by its emphasis on text and intellectual and psychological concerns. Instead of theatre based on written text, he called for a ―total theatre‖, a spectacle based on ―physical and objective‖ action. He states,

Practically speaking, we want to bring back the idea of total theatre, where theatre will recapture from cinema, music-hall, the circus and life itself, those things that always belonged to it. This division between analytical theatre and a world of movement seems stupid to us. One cannot separate body and mind, nor the senses from the intellect (Artaud, 1938, p. 34).

The Bauhaus, established in Germany in 1919, was the first art school to assume a serious study of performance as an art form, and contributed significantly to the development of both the theory and practice of modern performance. During the 1920s, having Oskar Schlemmer as director and mentor, the Bauhaus attracted attention throughout Europe using the concept of a school for all the arts, through a series of performances, demonstrations, as well as writings and abstract dance pieces by

Schlemmer to the compositional potential of the body in space.

Among important contributions of the Bauhaus figures is the idea of the performer as a creator of art, rather than one who is subjugated by a pre-existent text.

Also important is, the breaking down of traditional boundaries between the plastic and

67 performing arts, between the ‖high arts‖ of theatre, ballet, music, painting, and the ―low arts‖ of circus, and vaudeville. However, futurists, dadaists, e surrealists and the Bauhaus artists also consider the performer presence as simply one single component in a bigger picture.

Such emphasis on the individual performer was first given in the beginning of twentieth century by the pioneering American revolutionary dance approaches of Isadora

Duncan, Loie Fuller and Ruth St. Denis. The followers of St. Denis and her partner Ted

Shawn, leading by Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman defined

―modern dance‖ during the 1930s. In fact, they substituted Duncan‘s romantic style for an expression concerned with abstract allegorical or mythic subjects. The experimental interests of the next generation would be addressed to individual clarity and independence.

Merce Cunningham, the lead dancer of Martha Graham before following his own path, collaborated with many musicians, but not in any conventional way. He thought about music as made separately from the dance. He emphasized that, like other arts, dance can speak for itself. ―It is hard for many people to accept that dancing has nothing in common with music other that the element of time and division of time‖

(Cunningham, 1968, p.167).

John Cage was Cunningham‘s frequent collaborator. Following the futurists‘ interest in improvisation, non-sound, ―bruitism‖, Cage‘s revolutionary ideas on music and aesthetics have deeply influenced modern experimentation in all the arts. He states,

Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating.26

26 Quoted in Carlson, 1998, p. 94.

68 He continues,

At the present stage of revolution, a healthy lawlessness is warranted. Experiment must necessarily be carried on by hitting anything – tin pans, rice bowls, iron pipers – anything we cal lay our hands on. Not only hitting, but rubbing, smashing, making sound in every possible way. In short, we must explore the materials of music (Cage, 2002, p.135).

In 1948, Cage and Cunningham taught and performed at Black Mountain College, a center in North Carolina created in 1933, for experimental artists from all areas with close links to the Bauhaus movement. Together along with others, they produced an event that has been often mentioned as the pattern for the ―fever‖ of happenings and related performance events that took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Cage read a

Dadaist lecture, film clips were projected onto the ceiling, Cunningham danced in the four diagonal narrow corridors that created a square arena followed by an excited and unexpected dog, and pianist David Tutor turned two buckets pouring water from one into another (Goldberg, 1979).

Taken as an experimental model by Cage, this event was in the course on experimental music he started teaching at New York‘s New School for Social Research in 1956. The classes included painters, musicians, poets, and film makers – pioneers of the avant-garde art of the 1960s – such as Allan Kaprow and Dick Higgins among them, who found inspiration in these classes to produce an art scene toward performance.

Many historians and theorists agreed that the pivotal event in the history of modern performance was Allan Kaprow‘s 18 happenings in 6 Parts at the Reuben

Gallery, in 1959. Kaprow decided the term ―happening‖ because he wanted this event to be considered as a spontaneous activity that just happened.

69 Performed simultaneously in all three spaces, in which the chairs were arranged to force the audience to face different directions, Kaprow‘s happenings included slides, reading fragments from hand-held placards, playing of flute and violin, posed scenes, and artists painting on unprimed canvas walls. While the purpose was to give the appearance of spontaneity, 18 Happenings, like many such events, was scripted, rehearsed, and carefully controlled.

Public and press recognized this public presentation as a major new avant-garde activity, so much that the term ―happening‖ started being used to characterize a broad series of performances during the following years, even with the disagreement of many creators of these events. During the following months Kaprow and others created a wide range of performance work, some totally technological, others such as Jim Dine‘s The

Smiling Workman (1960), which involved the activity of a soloist.

Ann Halprin‘s experiments in movement, utilizing everyday activities such as walking, eating, bathing, as well as including natural and artificial noises, and improvisation in her work, have affinities with Isadora Duncan‘s interest in natural movements and Cage‘s sounds experiments. Also sharing Cunningham ideas of movements not restricted by music, Halprin‘s work in the San Francisco Dancer‘s

Workshop Company, formed in 1955, helped to break the conservative artistic organizational strategies, and prepared the way for happenings and other performance activities of the 1960s.

Thus, the 1960s found effervescence in all artistic fields regarding new directions of art: visual arts – especially painting and sculpture, experimental music and dance, the traditions of avant-garde theatre, and the embryonic world of media and modern

70 technology. All these fields offered an enormously diverse mixture of artistic activity.

Centered basically in New York, these activities stressed corporeal presence, actions and events, and regularly broke the limits of art and life, discarding the unity and coherence of much traditional art as well as the use of the narrative in traditional theatre.

4.3 Performance Art: “An open-ended medium with endless variables”

It is at the borders that we also find individuals who are sufficiently free from the tyranny of the normal – the pattern of expectations, obligations and swift sanctions within the core of most disciplines – that they can risk innovation (Kenneth Gergen, 1999, p.5).

Umberto Eco defined performance, as ―an artistic interdisciplinary action that would characterize, eventually, post-modernity‖27. According to him, performance breaks borders between disciplines and languages, which links tradition and contemporary.

Converging with this idea of breaking borders, Brazilian performer Renato Cohen says performance is ―an interface language that transits between interdisciplinary limits‖

(Cohen, 1989. p.116).28 Brazilian scholar Márcia Strazzacapa talks about such plurality of languages in performance, where resources from different arts artistic expressions are at the art‘s disposal:

Therefore, it is not possible to define, anymore, the end of acting and the beginning of dancing, at which moment the dancer plays as a musician, the musician becomes actor, and so on. We do not talk about a play, musical or choreography, but only about a spectacle or performance (Strazzacapa, 1999, p. 66).29

27 Quoted in Bião (1996, p. 16-17). Translated by the researcher from the original in Portuguese. 28 Translated by the researcher from the original text written in Portuguese. 29 Translated by the researcher from the original text written in Portuguese.

71 Performance art came out throughout the 1970s and 1980 in the United States and

Europe, as ―an open-ended medium with endless variables‖, without any strict definitions.

Therefore, a performance might have intimate gestures or large-scale visual theater; be spontaneous or have a prepared script; be an improvisation or a result of month of rehearsals. The nature of the performance can also be esoteric, shamanistic, instructive, provocative or even entertainment, involving political and social concerns, drawing

―freely on any number of disciplines and media - literature, poetry, theater, music, dance, architecture and painting, as well as video, film, slides and narratives‖ (Goldberg, 1988, p.9).

It is not easy to localize a performance as an artistic form itself among others, just because of its ―breaking of borders‖ characteristic, attempting to avoid delimitations and at the same time incorporating elements of several arts. However, generically speaking, performance preserves the paramount characteristics of scene language and at the same time incorporates elements of common expressions. It is necessary to understand that a performance is overall a stage expression: an exhibition of a sculpture; for an audience does not characterize a performance; someone carving this sculpture, alive, could possible characterize it.

Starting with this premise and despite the enormous variety of performance activities, it is possible to understand that to characterize an artwork as performance art, something might be happening in a specific moment, in a specific locale for a specific audience. Thus, four basic elements might be involved to characterize a performance: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience.

72 This relationship might comprehend a body of signs verbal or only images, sounds, shadows, noises, bruits, figures created by lights, and so forth.

In performance the work may be individual or in a group, with lighting, music or visual made by the performers or in collaboration. It is the expression of one individual or a group – a performer (s) – that makes vertical all the processes, giving their own world view, and from it, creating their text, script, and way of acting (Cohen, 1989).

Different from traditional theater, the performers rarely are characters like actors.

They are the artists, and the content rarely follows a traditional scheme or story. Their work is based upon their own bodies, their own life histories, their own particular experiences in a culture or in the world, made performative by their awareness of them and the process of presenting them for the spectators.

In the early 1970s, performance was created by and for a very limited community and had close ties with ―conceptual art‖, an experimental form in which the ideas or concepts embodied by a piece are more important than the means used to create it. Indeed, performance art appeared as one of its manifestations (Goldberg, 1988).

Conceptualists were interested in the perception and the process of making their works, sometimes shifting their surface to address corporeal and psychical space in the external world, sometimes addressing their works to natural environments to state social and political issues. Sometimes, as in Kaprow, Gilbert and George, and Joseph Beuys‘ works, reveling already existing real objects as part of the constructed environment. By the beginning of 1970s, such work had started to be considered not as a sort of conceptual art, but as an art form in its own right (Carlson, 1996). A field concerned with the development of body expressiveness over narrative and speech, and in search of a process

73 of creation and perception rather than content and result, to which the terms ―body art‖ and ―performance art‖ were given.

In its first expressions, performance art was basically interested in physical exploration. Body artists investigated a range of corporeal activities in the early 1970s, including everyday activities—walking, sleeping, eating and drinking, cooking. The

Museum of Conceptual Art, an important center for such experimentation in San

Francisco, founded in 1970, was pivotal in transforming the San Francisco Bay Area into the center of ―life art‖.

However, what really caught the attention of the general public and the media in the 1970s were those performances in which the body was pushed to limits and subject to significant risk or pain. The artists most connected with these manifestations were Chris

Burden (California) and Vito Acconci (New York). In 1971 Burden pushed himself to the extreme by being shot in his arm by a friend, thus entering the national media.

Autobiographical material and the rejection of connections with popular performance were the focus of earlier performances in the United States and Europe.

Since the very beginning, however, several British performance artists deliberately included into their explorative manifestations matters from circus vaudeville and burlesque. Identified collectively as ―performance art Vaudevillians‖, groups such as

Incubus and Caboodle, as well as feminist groups Cunning Stunts and Beryl and Perils used street mime, clown, live music, and variety turns in their spectacles (Goldberg,

1988).

A primary sort of experimental performance in both Europe and the United States throughout the 1970s and the subsequent decade was large-scale outdoor spectacles, often

74 exploiting fireworks, sophisticated costuming and properties. These performances were plenty in visual images and produced in diverse natural and specially created environments. Among these image-oriented companies were British Welfare State,

Dogtroep and International Outlaw University (IOU).

Spectacles involving a great number of participants focusing in site-specific multimedia also were developed during the 1980s in the United States. Despite the anti- theatre orientation of many of these performers who preferred non-traditional spaces for their presentation, the technical needs of such work pushed some of the best-known image and mixed-media performers, such as Richard Foreman, Lee Breuer, and Robert

Wilson to use traditional theatres spaces.

Robert Wilson‘s image-oriented operas of the 1970s, among them Deafman

Glance, (1970), a play without words based on the drawings of his adopted teenager who is deaf-mute, A letter for Queen Victoria (1974), and Einstein on the Beach (1976), established him as one of the most important contemporary experimental theatre artists.

With often long works, plenty of visual images, and full of contrasts and contradictions,

Wilson is a ―total‖ director: performer, dancer, director, playwright, painter, sculptor, video artist, sound designer, lighting designer, and choreographer. He used the stage as a three-dimensional board to mix paints, sound, gesture, movement. Wilson‘s manipulation of time, his blend of visual, his exploitation of collage techniques in construction, his utilization of images as symbols—texts that do not tell a story, all changed ―the way theatre looks and talks‖ (Holmberg, 1996, p.1).

Unlike Foreman and Breuer who worked usually in small, experimental performances spaces, since his early spectacles, Robert Wilson has performed in big

75 spaces. The majority of his large-scale works was performed out of the United States, mainly in Germany, and served as stimulus for various European and Japanese performers who started using theatre-based mixed media in their performances.

Over the last two decades Wilson has addressed his creativity to the standard dramatic and operatic repertoire. He has created and directed operas at traditional theaters such as the Hamburg State Opera La Scala in Milan, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the

Zürich Opera the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Grand Opera, and the

Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Martha Clarke, and Maguy Marin in France, and especially Pina Bauch in

Germany are among those choreographers who developed their works in similar directions. Pina Bauch‘s Tanstheater – produced on the scale of Robert Wilson‘s works – explored the intimacies of life, reflecting how they are socially constructed, ―especially through the analysis and portrayal of gender‖ (Huxley and Witts, 1996, p. 63).

Despite of the development of these elaborated visual spectacles in large scale, it is important to signalize that small-scale individual oriented performance continued being practiced, but took different directions. Instead continuing with body art, several performance artists in Great Britain used their bodies as art by costuming and painting them, and acting as live sculptures or paintings. In these activities, known also as Live

Art, the performers usually include traditional mime, circus skills and clown.

During the 1980s, in the United States, a group collectively known as the ―New

Vaudevillians‖ or simply ―modern clowns‖ or ―comic performers‖ became some of the most popular experimental performers in the country. Among them are Paul Zaloom, the

Big Apple, and the Cirque du Soleil. Despite the use of costuming, these groups were not

76 concerned with a presentation of a particular character as in traditional theatre, but with the display of their physical skills and accomplishments.

Also indifferent to traditional narratives, but embodying a character or ―persona‖, some performers, collectively known as ―walkabout‖, created a series of performances, using improvisation and interacting with the general public in order to make some social or political points. For instance, Paul Nest‘s persona Octavia, revealed stereotyped gender expectations, Antin‘s King of Solona Beach dealt with racial issues, and Lynn

Hershman‘ Roberta Breitmore explored many of the problems and personal conflicts of a woman of the mid-1970s. Another known Walkabout, The Natural Theatre was more concerned with political issues.

In the United States, exploring alternate ―selves‖ seems to be the general approach of Walkabouts as in Whoopi Goldberg‘s dramatic monologues run on Broadway in 1985, in which she focused on her marginalized position as a performing black woman.

Individual electrifying performance is the basis of the work of Laurie Anderson, whose United States is in many aspects a pivotal event that called attention to the wide general public to performance art, as Bonnie Marranca (2006, p. 7) points out:

No ―downtown‖ artist had achieved what Laurie Anderson did, who by mid-career moved by into mainstream culture, bringing performance art values to the rock music world.

United States was an eight hour production in four parts - Transportation, Politics,

Money, and Love, modeled after the structure of a classical opera, in which a variety of media – music, video, storytelling, film clips, projected imagery, sculpture – were combined to portrait a technological society and its people. Anderson‘s performance brought together two previously considered contrasting approaches to performance

77 represented by individual performers displaying the body, and the mixed media ―theatre of images‖.

As Jacki Apple 30 points out in Art Week, the initial general rejection of performance to theatre has gradually changed and many of performance practitioners, even in the early 1970, utilized evident theatrical approaches. Regardless of the great variety of experimental practice, Carlson (1996) groups these more ―theatrical‖ performances into two general types. The first one is characterized by individual performance, with no (or almost never) use of the conventional ―character‖, basically interested in body exploration, sometimes displaying exceptional physical skills or pushing the body to limits and significant risk, sometimes using everyday activities, or turning gradually in the direction of autobiographical exploration.

The second type includes more elaborate performances committed to the exhibition of non-traditional sounds and visual images, often involving spectacle, technology, and mixed media. As said above, both approaches would be finally linked in

Laurie Anderson performances.

The original focus on body and movement shifted progressively to image-oriented performance and to a return of language, frequently with the words revealing the performer. This change is noticeable in recent performance, when it is possible to see performance artists as poet, storyteller, preacher, and rapper.

Political and social concerns, often linked to ecological, are probably the foremost motivation for the larger use of language in both solo and group performance from the mid-1980s onward, particularly in performances involving disempowered individuals or groups without agency.

30 Cited in Carlson, 1996, p. 108.

78 Globalization and the world emergence of HIV and AIDS are also performance themes. In the 1990s, as noted by Stiles (2003), performance artists struggled with philosophical and political dimensions of communication processes and digital manipulation, as well as genetic engineering. Brazilian performance artist Eduardo Kac, for instance, in collaboration with a French lab, utilized in his art work a transgenic albino rabbit named Alba who contains a jellyfish gene that makes it shine green when illuminated with the correct light. His purpose with transgenic mutations is to explore the complex relationships between biology, ethics, and technology, and to challenge received notions of nature and culture.

Political activity directly within impoverished communities has also been the focus of performance, exploring social situations in order to develop leadership and deal with the skills of the audience. Brazilian performer and theatre director Augusto Boal is a good example of these community-reformers. Boal‘s theory and physical exercises in which the spectators become the ―actors‖ of the proposed situation, performing their everyday life, has deeply inspired not only artists but also anthropologists and social- therapists all over the world.

In the last decades, individual performances have also become greatly concerned with social issues, such as gender, race, sexual orientation assumptions, and the association of these to individual identity. Stiles examines this practice in this way,

…women, people of color, and gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals have been especially instrumental in the developing discourses of alterity that emerge from considerations of gender, sexuality, race, class, and nationality. These topics have been explored in performance art more than in any other visual art medium. In fact, performance provides a unique domain wherein the fixed identities dictated by social mores have been challenged (Stiles, 2003, p.94).

79

In the late 1980s and early 1990s for instance, feminist and gay performers such as Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, or Tim Miller dealt with gender. Jamaican performer

Grace Jones also built her performances with references to power, gender, race, and also confronts stereotypes and prejudice. Her appearance in a cage, eating a big piece of meat after a suggested fight with a real tiger, generated controversies among scholars as to whether or not she was combating prejudices or perpetuating stereotypes of the Black as savage and primitive.

These studies state that performance art is a key medium to visualize problems of identity and race in Brazil, as well as develop agency in Brazilian young adults. This will be discussed in Chapter 5, in which a performance art workshop model – that will be applied in that country – is elaborated using performance art as site of agency production.

4.4. Africa Rites and Candomblé as Performance Art

Despite its international diffusion, performance art is a European and fundamentally a United States art form; thus a Western concept. A whole century was needed, in the West, to get to the point that there are many ways to express thoughts, feelings, ideas that a simple surface or an sculpture can reveal; that there are many more languages of the performance experience than a text could provide; or that the performing body, space, sound, objects, and images can also be considered a sort of language or text.

In the 1970s‘ and 1980s‘ such understanding inspired an interdisciplinary approach – performance art – that could encompass theatre, music, dance, painting, photography, video, sculpture, and architecture. Thirty years later, it continues to offer a significant set

80 of artistic values for artists concerned with the development of performance ideas, mainly in the area of new media (Maranca, 2006).

Traditional African art is also an integration of the arts, in which not only the visual sense is involved, but also aural, taste, and touch. African art masks, for instance, are not meant to be viewed in isolation, but within their African contexts that usually involves a whole performance with songs, music, storyteller, dance, smells, and ritual

(Lamp, 2004).

In his book See the Music Hear the Dance (2004), Frederick Lamp approaches

African ceremonies as performance art. In the essays included in his book, several

African ceremonies are reported, in which costuming, music, dancing, masks, sculpture as well the performers presence and their relationship with audience are analyzed through a whole art form perspective. Using the approach that Lamp has proffered, as well as the

Robert Farris Thompson‘s (1974) research on African art from a global perspective, the following questions will be posed for further exploration: What is performance art in

Africa? If costuming, sounds, dances, staging, lighting, storytelling, masks, sculpture are all fluid and integrated in African ceremonial experience, could African ceremonies be defined as performance art? If performance art is interested in searching a process of creation and perception rather than content and result, are the human acts and creative processes involved in African ceremonies performance art?

One can infer that art must not or should not be at the disposal of religion, but as

Roy Sieber points out (1977), it is difficult to discern what art is in many societies, especially in those that do not have the same need to verbalize aesthetics as Western societies do. Sieber also signalizes that the rejection of the concept of art as the

81 handmaiden of religion imposes ―a most inaccurate restriction on the examination of the relationship of art to religion in traditional African societies‖ (p.141). Indeed, it is almost impossible to view traditional art and religions in Africa separately.

One can also state that ritual ceremony and myths could not be considered performance art because they are controlled by rules that maintain traditional structures.

About this issue, Omofolabo Ajayi (1998) observes that in spite of the fact that myths operate within rules and regulation, these rules only ‗frame‖ the ritual process. According to her, rituals have built-in structures to deal with new emergencies and to start and generate new thoughts from that cause. She further notes that,

…the flow of action within the ritual process possesses the capacity to transcend the ritual frame and is able to even generate new symbols and meanings which will be valid enough to be incorporated into subsequent performances (p.46).

According to Lamp, in most African societies costuming and mask are part of the whole performance with different purposes, but all of them orbit around the concept of metaphysical transformation. Sometimes the objective is merely drama, and the mask is used to distance the actor himself from the audience. Sometimes, the actor is an intermediary selected to bear a sacred object. Sometimes the actor does not exist; there is no human agency, but only the appearance of a spiritual ‗other‘. Thus, the mask cannot be associated simply with a singular sculpture; rather it involves dances, sounds, meanings including the spirits that live within it.

In his approaches to African rites as performance art, Lamp (2004) views dance as an important element that identifies a person and incorporates one completely as a member of the society. Converging with the same idea, Robert Farris Thompson (1974)

82 emphasize the importance of movement and dance in the African artistic tradition.

Although some spontaneous and improvisational dances take place, ceremonial dances, especially those during which the performers use masks, costumes and art objects, are usually choreographed either by a well-known member of the society, or by an ancestor, frequently now anonymous. However, dance cannot be viewed in isolation. It is a holistic expression absolutely connected with music as well as costuming, and masks.

Lamp adds that the relationship between musicians and dancers is very close.

Sound can be used to propose action, either in the lack of action or in complementing the movement of the dancer. The advice of a Banyang chief is mentioned in Lamp‘s essay:

The dancer must listen to the drum. When he is really listening he creates within himself an echo of the drum… Once he is seeing the echo, he is dancing with pride (p.97).

Converging with this idea, Margaret Drewal (1992) reported a Yoruba performance in which the drums go together with the masked dancer‘s movements, representing identical action in different expressions, that of music:

Gorilla (Inoki) had naturalistically carved wooden testicles and a penis painted red on the tip. He sneaked up behind unsuspecting women in the performance space, raising his penis as if he were going to rape them. Meanwhile the drums sounded as ideophonic sabala-sabala-sa-o, which represented aurally Gorilla‘s fucking gestures (p. 93).

As the title of Lamp‘s (2004) book suggests, ―see the music, hear the dance‖, in

African performance music is very visual. Sometimes musical instruments are colorful, magnificently carved, or supported by figures and abstract forms. Sometimes drummers and dancers together suggest a unit between sound and movement, such as in the Baga D‘ mba performance in Guinea Bissau, in which the drummers, leading the masked dancer,

83 move around the village plaza in a parade, facing forward, then backward, recreating the space as it was being painted.

Musical instruments are not the only aural medium in African rituals. Percussive rhythms are also created by hand, seeds pod, bells, metal objects, or even ornamental objects, as in the Agbon ceremony among Yoruba people, in which the dancers hold fans in their hands that are used not only to adorn the performance, but also to produce the basic rhythm for the dance.

Actually sound is a very important means of expression as Lamp notes:

Sound can be as revealing and as indicative as sculpture. It can be iconic, iconographical, symbolic, and referential, and it can be a key to cultural and personal thought and understanding about the world or about the moment (Lamp, 2004, p.95).

Sound incorporates feelings, shape, vigor and meaning, and is so effective spiritually that an entire dynamic can be created only by the pronunciation of certain lyrics of songs, names or by the production of some sounds. Sounds also can suggest lyrics as do the talking-drums among the Asante of Ghana that emit tones or rhythms which express complex proverbs and sayings.

Lamps also analyzes the lyrics of the songs themselves that serve various purposes. It can be, for instance, associated with war or trouble and express fear. It can also stimulate courage, pride, or simply amuse. However, the chant lyrics are not the only words present in African performances. Texts, generally presented orally, are often an important aspect of African performance art. Again, the narrative element must always be thought of in collaboration with other elements such as music, movement, smells.

Although an understanding of the narrative is necessary to perceive completely the work, no papers are distributed to an audience; the text is understood. The narrative

84 elucidates as the performance goes on, perhaps explained or reported by a spirit or an ancestor who interacts with the audience, for example.

Some narrative texts are more in the form of a background to a performance, often told several times in different ways, including sequence and histories that is the basis of the religious belief. A good example of the importance of an oral, textual component in African rites is the Ifá divination practice in Yoruba religion,31 a complex system of combined figures (odu) that produce thousands of individual texts that is committed to respond to the problems of those who consult the Babalao. Until being transcribed and published (Bascom 1969) this system relied on the memory of the priests.

Lamp (2004) asserts that a performance ―demands a spectator as well as a performer.‖ However, he observes, ―in Africa the distinction between the two is not usually so clear as it is in the West‖ (p.133), since in African ceremonies the villagers are not merely observers, but important participants in the performance, artistic elements of it.

Even when they are not dancing with the performers, they are not passive in their places, they sing or clap, involved in a call and response, giving their approval, interacting and contributing to the action. Lamp (2004) asks:

Would the mask performance in Africa be an artistic event if the audience were not there to participate? …In effect, there is no ―audience‖; there is, rather, community participation that is integral to the art form (p.133).

He also states that since spirits take part in the ceremony, they should be also considered as audience; they are the others from outside of the physical realm who looks on the ritual and also descend to the earth and attend the event.

31 Ifá divination is also practiced in Candomblé.

85 Lighting is another element considered by Lamp in his examination of African performances. Like in Western performances, light gives meaning and is responsible for the success of the action. Some objects must be seen during the brilliant sunlight, while others must only be shown in the gloom of sunset or sunrise of the ceremonies, or even imprecisely seen at night. That is why such masquerades or headdresses are seen during daytime, and others are only seen at night, usually with torchlight.

The notions of timing, time, and tempo are also considered by Lamp. Timing is tied to the beginning and the end of seasons, late afternoons, night or full moon. On the other hand, some performances occur only in certain period of time. Duration can vary widely. Some actions are meant to be brief other to take hours. Some appear very often, others rarely. Some performers may move very slowly, others very fast. All of these are linked to the balance that the community attempts to maintain between the collective and the individual and between instances of particularity and concepts of ―the eternal‖ (Lamp,

2004, p. 199).

Lamp considers the setting, or staging in Africa performance in terms of ―the space in which the action takes place, in which the stationary objects reside, and on which they depend‖ (Lamp, 2004, p.179). He mentions how different shapes of architecture, pointy of entry, corners, borders, positioning of objects are used in several contexts in African rituals. He draws attention to the fact that (1) an art form is usually related spatially to other objects within the prescribed space, (2) some objects are meant to be enclosed while others are easily seen, (3) the viewers use differently the space and sometimes they are invited to interact closely with the performers, breaking the borders between spectator and dancer, (4) the use of the space is sometimes arbitrary, sometimes

86 prescribed, and (5) in many ceremonies there are natural and fabricated objects marking the space, the entrances, the exits.

Lamp‘s performance art approach concludes with the observation that not only the aural and visual are involved in African performance; all the senses are present.

Usually ordinary human beings cannot see the spirits, but sometimes they can feel the touch of a spirit like a gust of air. The spiritual touch in the audience may be felt through its contact with the performers or sacred objects. Besides, the performers themselves can be absolutely touched by the deities who embodied them.

Moreover, the whole community can be involved in the spiritual realm through their tongues, stomach, noses since they eat sacrificial food, drink beverages, and smell herbs or organic substances in the ceremonies. The sense of all these feeling, through which ―performer and audience become one and share physiological experiences through the medium of spiritual energy is very common in African ritual‖, says Lamp (2004, p.179).

Lamp‘s approach to African performativity is a striking resemblance to

Brazilian Candomblé. There has been such a binary opposition drawn between the west and Africa, that similarities are not noticed. However, his approach clearly shows the parallel worlds of Western practices side by side with African-derived practices of

Candomblé.

This approach has been a turning point of the present research in that it has provided a context to reflect whether or not performance art as it was conceived and is used in western, and more particularly United States art contexts, could be applied in the

Brazilian expression of Candomblé. While this approach would be beyond the scope of

87 this research, it is worthy of general attention, since Candomblé art forms and its respective meanings are conceptually based upon similar art forms that are vital to the efficacy of the procedures of traditional Yoruba religious in West Africa. Here special attention is given to the public ceremonies of Candomblé which is open to everyone, whether they are initiates or not—as these relate more closely to the concept of performance art.

Candomblé public ceremonies encompass aural, visual, and all the other senses involved in African ritual performance presented by Lamp. Such ceremonies involve elaborated costumes and artistic objects of art that highlights the performances; dances operating in tight relationship with rhythms, songs, and claps; texts used to honor and invocate the deity; sacrificial food; herbals smells, and an intense spiritual experience for both performers and audience.

The ritual spectacle, as an opera, involves a first act in which the priest, the dancers, and the audience evocate the deities to come to Earth and give blessings to the living, finishing with the embodiment of the Orixás; an intermezzo in which sacrificial food is served to the audience; and a second act that starts with the splendid entry of the deities appropriately wearing individual attire and holding symbolic elements, followed by their mimetic re-enacting of myths, advice, and blessings to the spectators. The public spectacle finalizes with the deities going back to their spiritual realms leaving the audience now charged with axé.

To this ―opera‖, to use Lamps notion of African spectacle, costuming is fundamental. In its attempt to look at such ceremonies as performance art, this research calls attention to the fact that there is a special costume worn at the beginning of the

88 ceremony that is changed after the initiates‘ embodiment. This attire, together with the symbolic objects of the divinities, appears to make the performers achieve their higher expressiveness, and gives the ceremony a spectacular characteristic that enchants the audience.

In Candomblé, dance is also very important. By dancing, the initiates ―re-connect‖ themselves with the divine, recreate their mythical tradition, and preserve memories that are not written in books. To them, to pray means to dance. Explaining the meaning of dance in Candomblé, Bahian scholar and Babalorixá32 Ruy do Carmo Póvoas (2004) brings out the basic principles of the Orixás. He states,

We dance Africa, dance Brazil, and dance our village. We dance to a man, a woman, a child, and an elder. We dance the male and female principles and also the matrix that extrapolates the limits of these frontiers… We dance to the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. We dance the health and the knowledge that allows cure. We dance love and war, solitude and company, the beginning and the end, life and death… We dance to ask and to thank. We dance because we are alive and know we will dye (p.222). 33

The same African rituals‘ connection between music and dance occurs in

Candomblé‘s ceremonies, in which the sounds of the drummers are meant to guide the performers in their movements. All steps of the dancers have their sound counterparts.

The choreographies depend on the deity that is being celebrated. Connected with the sounds, each dance tells a story of that deity, revealing his/her purposes and actions in their living life, at the same time engages the audience. Bastide (2001) observes that ―the songs are not only sung, but also ‗danced‘, since they consist in fragments of myths, and

32 The priests of a Candomblé are named Yalorixá (female) or Babalorixá (male). 33 Translated by the researcher from the original text written in Portuguese.

89 the myth must be represented and told at the same time to acquire its whole evocate power‖ (p.36).34

Texts used to honor and invocate the deities are also not only sung but also spoken. For instance, in the Xirê—a public event that opens the annual ceremonial season honoring the Orixás—the Yalorixá or Babalorixá, on bent knees, pays tribute to an Orixá by reciting the appropriate prayers (orikis), accompanied by hand claps, rattles, agogôs

(metal bells), or gourds.

There is a theatrical characteristic in the Orixás’ dances during a religious trance.

The gestures tell stories since they refer to myths. This could be observed, for instance, in

Obá’s performance. The myth states that Xangô had three wives: Obá, Yansã (Oiá) and

Oxum. Obá was the oldest and Oxum his favorite. Once, the former asked the latter what secret power she used to enchant their husband. Oxum covering her ear with a head wrapping, scheming, told Obá that she had cut her ear and put it in a caruru, Xangô‘s favorite meal. This made him very attracted to her. Obá followed this suggestion. When

Xangô ate the caruru he was terrified at the horrible taste and looked for Obá. When she came with her transfigured bleeding face and told him what she did, he became furious and banished her from his house. In Candomblé, each time Obá embodies an initiate, she dances covering her ear as a reminder of the myth. Whenever she finds Oxum in the sacred room, there is a fight between them, and many times it is necessary to separate them from each other. In this dramatic myth the human characteristics of the deities are shown, and it is clear that even Oxum, the Goddess of love, can be jealous and malicious.

34 Translated by the researcher from the original text written in Portuguese.

90 As in Africa, although some improvisation occurs, often the forms are codified and the initiate learns all the traditional codes with requires disciplined training just as in many Western performances.

Most public ritual ceremonies usually take place in the evening, extending and last throughout the night within a brilliant lightning barracão.35 However, certain public rituals occur during the daylight. For instance, the Águas de Oxalá (Waters of Oxalá), a ceremony to honor Oxalá, takes place on Friday‘s dawn out of the barracão . In contrast, in Egungun ceremonies, the elaborate costumes of the deceased ancestors are seen in the darkness of the night, which provokes an atmosphere of fear or a frightening atmosphere.

The use of the space in Candomblé and the art used in worship depends on a variety of aspects such as social status and the position of an individual in the hierarchy of a particular Orixá cult. During the days of the ceremonies the physical space of the barracão, specially decorated with paper flags and sometimes flowers with the color of the deity, is divided in three parts: the central part, in which the initiates of axé, in a ritual circle, have their transition moment; the sacred space that comprises the place where the percussion instruments and the drummers are, the big chair of the house‘s priest, and several chairs reserved for Ogans36 and special guests; and finally the profane space reserved for the spectators, separated by gender; left side for women, right side for men.

The two essential elements of a Performance Art piece, the spectator and the performer are present in Candomblé public performances. As in Africa, there is an interaction between the two. Together with the dancers and the priestess, the audience – here formed by people from different races, nationalities, and genders – sings, claps and

35 Name of the place where most of ceremonies take place. 36 Ogan is a title given to men who are wealthy, famous, or distinguished and who are committed to support an Ilê Axé (a house of Candomblé) financially.

91 evocates the deities. After the trance, from time to time, the performers stop their dance to bless someone by giving him/her a double sided hug. Sometimes, their axé combined with the power of the rhythms make the hugged person‘s body jerk and stumble, signalizing that probably her/his Orixá is breaking the borders of the spiritual realm and coming to Earth. If who receives the unexpected deity is an initiate, he/she may dance in the sacred ―roda‖. Then, in between dances, she/he probably stops to greet the sacred percussion instruments, intermediaries between the deities and the living. Delighted, the audience, revering the deities, may loudly exclaim ―Ogun ieê!‖ if it is Ogun or ―Atotoô!‖ if it is Omolu who dances.

Specifically talking about the notions of timing, time, and tempo, Candomblé has its own calendar, its annual ceremonial season. Moreover, each Orixá has a preferred day of the week, and the ceremonies in honor of that Orixá need to be on that day. At the start of the ceremony the performers start dancing slowly and methodically around the pillar. The movements are faster when the drummers honor Xangô, Ogum, or Yansã; slowly when Oxum, Oxalá, or Yemanjá are worshiped. After the trance, the deities are honored separately. Although the drummers honor each one with the three chants, the dance timing is given by the deity.

In conclusion, Candomblé public performances involve and break borders between different artistic languages and at the same time preserve the principal characteristics of scene language. The four basic elements involved to characterize a performance: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience are all present. The performances are also a means of transformation, as well as an intense spiritual experience for both performers and audience. By being involved in

92 the beats of the drummers, the chants, responding to the music, or receiving the blessing of the Orixás, the audience is charged with divine energy. On the other hand, dancing, dramatizing the myths, and being involved with the communication between the sounds and the deities, the performers open their heads to allow the sacred entry in their bodies, being deeply touched by the Orixás.

Thus, considering that the principal elements present in the concept of the western performance art concept are present in Candomblé public performances, can one conclude that they can be categorized as performance art?

An important observation might be considered before proposing that Candomblé ceremonies can be considered performance art. Although in Candomblé ceremonies the performers know, in advance, that after the evocation of the deities by the rhythms, songs and dance, they will perform the deity‘s myths, during the trance they have no self- consciousness of their acts. Looking back to Schechner‘s concept of ‗restored behavior‘, mentioned in the first part of this section, in those performances there is a certain distance between ‗self‘ and behavior, but there is no self-control of the performer‘s acts such as between an actor and the role the actor plays on stage. Here, the initiates are acting for someone, in association with a model, or a remembered original pattern of that action.

However, these actions do not involve the needed ―consciousness of doubleness‖, already mentioned in the opening section of this chapter, to a performance art taken place. This observation might discard the idea of religious ceremonies or performance as performance art.

However, as seen throughout this chapter, performance art by its essence avoids conclusions, definitions, borders and limits that are generally useful to other academic

93 disciplines. It may be helpful then, to consider these observations as a sort of anti- conclusion to a study of this discipline, framed in the mode of self-reflexivity.

Ending this section, the researcher has two more considerations. The first one is that, although the general themes and inquiries related to performance can be and are being applied to a series of human activities, as the anterior sections demonstrate, this study clearly gives particular focus to ―theatrical‖ performance and to ―performance art‖, since it informs the exploratory model discussed in the next chapter. It is fundamental to clarify that, despite the fact that the model has Candomblé mythology as the basis, the sacred aspect of such religious will not be used in it.

The last consideration is in fact a sort of reflexive consciousness to the process of this study. Amid the process of writing and rereading this chapter, the researcher imagines that she has felt some uneasiness while attempting to understand and describe a term so complex as performance art. Doubts and conflicts were frequent in her mind from the very beginning to the end of the process. However, she discovered also a pleasure in recognizing the range of aesthetic possibilities of expression a performance within the arts promotes, as well as that, in a fundamental way, performance art can be a powerful transformation process experienced by an individual that can also provide an opportunity for a community to reflect upon itself.

94 CHAPTER 5. THE MODEL

A theoretical question posed at the beginning of the thesis asked: To what extent may an African-derived notion of self be contextualized within a Bahian environment to develop agency? To problematize this question the thesis research was informed by two

African-based systems: rites of passage and Yoruba/Candomblé mythology. A second theoretical question asks: To what extent does creative energy through performance enhance a positive sense of self, thus creating agency? As a performance artist the researcher locates the site of agency production within performance art. Thus, the concluding chapter will be towards the exploration of a model drawing from chapters two, three, and four. Three components will form the Oxum Performance Art Workshop

Model.

1. Initiation Rites of Passage

2. Yoruba Religious and Candomblé Mythology

3. Performance art

5.1. Initiation Rites of Passage

Within traditional African contexts, initiation rites are a developmental and transformational process that marks children‘s entry into the adult realm, in which they learn how to contribute to their community. As discussed in Chapter 3, the loss of this sort of ritual contributes to many modern societal ills. The need youth have for some kind of initiation is so strong that it will happen with or without a healthy support system

(Grimes, 2000).

95 As highlighted in Chapter 1, Brazilian adolescents usually do not have a social context to bring about identity and sense of self that has been generated from their past history. During the time that one is believed to be making the critical transition through puberty into maturity by searching for and developing their identity, young Afro-

Brazilian women often experience an internalization of inferiority and the absorption of negative black stereotypes, due to the dominant Euro-centered standards and rules of a white-dominated society. They feel pressured to not accept their skin color, their hair texture, and adopt a white standard of beauty.

Besides, they do not have the opportunity to learn how to deal with their biological changes, and handle responsibilities and expectations of adulthood that influence their emotional, social, and political competencies in order to be productive contributors of society. In impoverished communities of Salvador, some young teenagers use drugs, make adult decisions regarding their sexual behavior, and are usually involved in delinquency. All this leads to low self-esteem and consequently the vicious circle of being unable to say no to drugs, pregnancy, and criminal behavior. Rites of passage are viewed in this research as processes that promote successful entry into a new life situation; as a process to help youth grow out of an undesirable way of life or a disturbing life crisis.

5.2. Yoruba Religion and Candomblé Mythology

The exploratory model uses Yoruba Ifá and Candomblé mythology focusing specifically on the collective experiences of Oxum as myth, seeking to make her presence live in a contemporary context to give inspiration, to serve as a model and reference for

96 Afro-Bahian young women, at the same time connecting them to their African heritage.

Oxum‘s attributes of sensuality, beauty, vanity, dynamism, as well as her multidimensional powers: political, economic, insightful, natural, maternal, and healing, are features that suggest power, affirmation, and assertiveness. The thesis proffers that the use of Oxum mythology on the basis of performance art may be used as a tool for young women in developing a sense of self-love, self-worth, and identity, and creates a contemporary political, artistic context related to their everyday experiences.

5.3. Performance Art

The objective of this research is to provide a creative instrument for self- expression. Because of its holistic characteristic, performance art is an effective means to allow performers to express deeply their creativity at the intersection of several artistic languages. In addition, performance art has been often used to visualize problems of identity, race, and gender, as well as serve as a medium of autobiographical exploration; thus it works very well in an environment where the participants may role-play, use spontaneous, self-reflexive activities to express feelings and experiences. Moreover, the researcher has been using this creative expression in her own stage work as well as in her pedagogy with her students in Bahia.

Thus, the exploratory model, Oxum Performance Art Workshop Model utilizes

African initiation rites to work with at-risk adolescents, seeking to give them grounded support through a performance art workshop based on Oxum performativity and her features as a powerful woman. It is believed that the model may encourage young women to explore their individual and collective histories, their identity, and the moral

97 and ethical challenges that they face. At the same time, the model aims to support these youngsters to discover their creative skills and find ways to develop them.

5.4. Oxum Performance Art Workshop Model

A model is defined as ―a simplified version of something complex used, for example, to analyze and solve problems or make predictions….an interpretation of a theory arrived at by assigning referents in such a way as to make the theory true.‖37

Drawing from this definition, the proposed model – Oxum Performance Art Workshop

Model – is exploratory in that it attempts, probes, investigates, and examines concepts and ideas to solve the problem that was posed as an initial theoretical question. Moreover, the model serves to test the hypothesis: that through performance art, agency and subjectivity may be generated.

The Oxum Performance Art Workshop Model is an artistic creative component of a larger project to be applied at various venues in Bahia.38 The project will bring on board not only performance artists such as the researcher, but also art educators, social workers,

Candomblé initiates, and community leaders.

The model‘s structure will be framed around a female initiation and rites-of- passage program in which performance art is the medium of expression informed by

Oxum mythology. The model has two organizing principles. The first one it to enable the

37 Encarta World English Dictionary. Online Source. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/model.html 38 Initially the Márcia Méccia School, a public school in Mata Escura, Bahia, will be the workshop site with other locations designated later. The workshop might be set up for one or two years, working three days a week for three hours. However, the workshop may be adapted to other areas in Bahia or even other Brazilian cities, considering the needs of the group and community. Moreover, parts of the program may be applied as short workshops in other schools, in which the emphasis must be on Oxum‘s principles of self- love and confidence.

98 young women to better understand the role of creative expression in contemporary culture, in their lives, and how they may use this creative force as active players in society.

The second principle is to supply the young women with the historical, social and aesthetic fundamentals of creative expression, which include developing artistic skills, creating art work, and performing art pieces. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the model is informed by ethnographic, political, social, and technological strategies of performance art; thus encouraging the students to challenge preexisting assumptions about themselves, their black and female identities, and also about discourses and practices of art and culture.

The proposed exercises include training in self-directional skills in decision- making, goal-setting, planning, problem-solving, and self-evaluation. Oxum mythology is the material for these exercises, structured to enhance a positive sense of self and create agency in young women by (1) challenges that allow the discovering of their hidden potential, (2) freedom to create, (3) collaborative work, (4) active involvement in causes in which they deeply believe, (5) creativity, (6) responsibility, and (8) self-discipline.

The following are three elements that will be analyzed in order to provide a better understanding of the model:

1. The overall structure as an initiation rites of passage model

2. The general concepts that inform the exercises

3. The performance art program

99 5.4.1. The Overall Structure as an Initiation Rites of Passage Model

This sub-section analyzes four basic components that frame the initiation rites structure of the model: The rituals, parent‘s participation, and commitments/agreements.

The Rituals

Ngozi Onwurah‘s Monday’s Girls 39 (1993) a documentary film about the

Waikiriki‘s initiation ceremony as well as Sylvia Boone‘s Radiances from the Waters 40

(1986) emphasize the importance of the seclusion of girls during initiation rites of passages. Often, the day that the girls go into isolation is celebrated with a ceremony.

Similarly, a symbolic public ceremony introduced in a workshop environment may signal the beginning of a new phase that is composed of different challenges, such as a contact with a new environment, new teachers, new rules, and new routine. 41

When the initiates of some African rites of passage have completed their graduation, they are presented to the community followed by a vigorous dancing and singing ceremony as new community members, fully mature women. In the same way, at the end of the workshop, a very elaborate public ceremony takes part to emphasize the end of a stage and the beginning of another phase in their lives. 42

39 Monday's Girls explores the conflict between modern individualism and traditional communities in today's Africa, through the eyes of two young Waikiriki women from the Niger delta. Although both come from important families in the same town, Florence sees the iria women's initiation ceremony as an honor, while Azikiwe, who has lived in the city for ten years, looks at it as an indignity. See Chapter 3. 40 Sylvia Boone analyzes the Sande Society of the Mende people of Sierra Leone – a secret female regulatory society that both guards and transmits the ideals of feminine beauty so fundamental to the aesthetic criteria in Mende culture. 41 On the first day of the workshop, parents may present their children to the leaders. All of the community witness the event and give their affirmation. The girls are then taken to another room and receive the instructions from the leaders who let them know that now they have a creative space in which they are allowed to be and express themselves. After the instructions, the leaders and students return to the room and together with parents and guests celebrate with music, dance and performances. 42 In this ceremony, parents, friends, neighbors, everybody in the community that wants to come are invited to see the girls presenting the result of their learning process, their performance art pieces created during the workshop. The performance could be extended to the streets as a gesture of community involvement in the celebration.

100 Parents Participation

As noted in Monday’s Girls (1993), the importance of parental participation in the program is fundamental, as adults are the models for the future generations to follow.

Short workshops, in collaboration with social workers, might be created especially for parents who enroll their children in an on-going rite-of-passage workshop.43

As the tradition of respect for elders is fundamental to society, the significance of parents, the community, and the elders should be emphasized. However, the rights and respect of the girls must be guaranteed. Many young Brazilian girls have been physically and sexually abused by their own fathers and brothers, keeping this fact in silence even to their mothers; thus the importance of the parental awareness and participation.

The girls must be stimulated to transform these kinds of painful experiences— which were kept in silence in the past—into creative expressions, through autobiographical performance. As elaborated in Chapter 4, autobiographical performance has proven to be an effective means to deal with issues relating to negative autobiographical experiences. In the early 1970s, the rise of the women‘s movement of the early 1970s, in the United States and Europe, provided a favorable climate for performance work created by women and concerned with their private and public experiences as women. Powerful pieces with authentic feelings were created by performers using autobiographical material to exorcise personal grief. Linda Montano‘s

Mitchell’s Death (1978) performed in the United States, for instance, dealt with the performer sorrow at the loss of her ex-husband and friend Mitchell Payne, and a piece created by Barbara Smith in 1979, also presented in the United States, explored her

43 The parents might be totally aware of what will be done, because for both children and parents this will be something new; something different. The parents might know they can come any time to see exactly what the leaders or facilitators do in their work with their children.

101 feelings and observations upon the death of her mother. Similarly, the model takes into consideration that the adolescents‘ negative experiences may be explored within autobiographical performances allowing them to expel the harmful effects of their painful memories.

Commitments and Agreements

Female rites of initiation are established in many African societies to systematically guide and direct young girls through the important stage in life that is the transition from childhood to adulthood. During the seclusion period, they learn community principles, values, and laws. They also learn from painful experiences and how to deal with certain difficulties in life. The immobilized legs in copper impala rings, worn during initiation ceremony among Waikiriki in Nigeria, are an example of it.44 The rings cause skin irritation, and make it difficult to walk. The purpose is symbolic and is done to develop a sense of endurance of societal expectations of the girls as adults.

Programs, such as Ifetayo, Unyago, The Journey, and A-Men are based on the same principles, and have been created to help preteens securely navigate the difficult stages of

United States life.45 These programs have established commitments for the participants, to make them aw are that the adult world has rules and responsibilities.

Following both the principles of African initiation rites and American rites programs, as well as the researcher teaching experience with impoverished youngsters in

Brazil, some standards, commitments and admission requirements are suggested when

44 The Waikiriki ceremony was discussed in Chapter 3. 45 The African Male Educational Network – A-Men is a nonprofit organization from Chicago that runs a rites of passage program to promote, encourage, and assist in the improvement of the social and economic conditions of African American young men and women. The Journey is another program developed for adolescents of many different backgrounds and circumstances, created for The Center for Creative Imagination in Washington D.C. To learn more about Ifetayo and Unyago, two other initiation programs, see Chapter 3.

102 establishing this model. In this model these commitments are important not only to make the youth aware of their rules and responsibilities, but also to make possible the performance art work, since it requires concentration, discipline, and working collaboratively with groups.46 For instance, if a youth wants to attend the workshop, she must make a commitment to meet certain challenges. She must frequent a regular school, maintain a good academic average; she must refuse to be involved with drugs or gangs; she must take care of her personal hygiene; she must arrive on time. 47

5.4.2 The General Concepts that Inform the Exercises

Oxum mythology is seen in this sub-section as theoretical material to inform the exercises and creation proposed in this model. As stated in Chapters 1 and 2, there are several reasons for choosing this particular Orixá as matter for this model. First, her multidimensional powers—political, economic, perceptive, maternal, and healing; second, her attributes of sensuality, beauty, confidence, self-esteem, vanity, dynamism, warmth—all characteristics that imply power, affirmation, and assertiveness; and third is the fact that she is one of the most worshiped Orixás in Salvador and has her presence assured in all Bahian life.

Following, Oxum will be explored as myth and representations of self-love beauty, and confidence to inform the model‘s exercises and performance art pieces.

46 It is suggested that social workers work on these issues together with the performance art leaders. 47 A report of a girl from Projeto Axé – an artistic project created especially to work with impoverished street children of Bahia in a interview given to Ana Bianchi (2000) highlights the importance of these commitments: ―When I arrived here, I thought the discipline was too strict, but now I think this is wonderful. I made a commitment to dedicate myself, to learn things, to obey the rules, to brush my teeth, to take a shower, and lots of things. [I think the rules are important because if they hadn‘t existed I wouldn‘t have stopped to use drugs]‖ (p.216).

103 Oxum as Myth

Chapter 2 highlights the importance of myths to every society and calls attention to the fact that all societies on earth have their own hero myths and that in Yoruba religion and Candomblé mythology is a powerful teaching tool. That chapter also asserts that myths have two important functions. First, it is to provide patterns of behavior.

Looking at what happens to the myths or heroes and to how they overcome their odds, one can take them as examples to overcome one‘s own difficulties.

The second important function of hero myth, according to Oldfield (1988), is

―that they tell us what to expect out of life‖ (p.152). Girls from impoverished communities often know that sometimes life hurts deeply. Nguessi Ngonda‘s Contes d'Initiation Féminine du Pays Bassa (1982) highlights the important place that the storytelling of traditional myths has in the initiation rites process. These myths also recount the coming of age of the characters and how they endure and persevere in the face of adversity and misfortune. It is important to let the participants understand that part of ones life is learning to face life‘s sorrows as well as to embrace its joys.

Most of heroic myths begin with a call to adventure that is negative or there is a sense of lack or omission that members of the group seek to complete or fulfill. Often, the hero is called away because something has failed. This person then takes off on a series of adventures, to recover what has been lost. For instance, in the myth of Oxum and the terrible battle in the Village of Women, after the Orixás‘ failed attempts to solve the conflict, Oxum received her ―call of adventure‖, and trusting in her own creativity and capacity of maintaining balance and harmony, she found a way to end the battle. She took a calabash of water and danced from Orum to Ayê. As she approaches the village, using

104 the calabash as a drum, singing, and dancing, the women, amazed at this spectacle, stop fighting and beginning to dance and sing with her (Fatumbi, 1993).

Applying the Oxum myth to this model means working with the youthful imagination of the girls. Here, through guided imagery, the girls can explore their imagination creatively and embody the powerful aspects of Oxum. By performing and creating objects of art and installations, in which they explore the amorous character of that Orixá, as well as her capacity to face difficulties with calm, love, diplomacy, and wisdom, the girls can grow in the conviction that they are competent and worthy of happiness; therefore able to face life with confidence, compassion and optimism. 48

Oxum: Beauty, Self-love, and Confidence

Concerns with self, self-image and the social self were central to the women‘s movements of the early 1970s in the United States and Europe. These movements found in performance an important field for its expression, in which social, political and psychological questions about what it means to be women in a particular society were considered (Carlson, 1996). As elaborated in the previous chapter, one of the first manifestations of self-exploratory performance that is still an important approach utilized specific autobiographical material. For instance, Rachel Rosenthal‘s autobiographical performance work, dealing with her childhood personal fears and obsessions in Paris, was an exploration of a specific self in a historical context.

48 In the same way, Oxum solved the conflict in Village of Women, the teachers or leaders, compare their actions in the workshop to life within the community, thus encouraging the girls to imagine themselves as a hero or a mythical character that receives her ―call to adventure‖ on a journey in which they have to use their personal beliefs, desires, and values to find solutions to the difficulties they will face, and discover their hidden potential.

105 Other self exploratory performances well established during the 1970s were often called ―persona‖ performance art. This did not deal with autobiographical or ―real life‖ experiences, but with the exploration through performance of alternative, imaginary selves. Lynn Hershman‘s ―Roberta Breitmore‖, for instance, explored many of the problems and personal conflicts of a woman of the mid-1970s (Carlson, 1996).

Dealing with self, the model uses the imagery of Oxum‘s mirror 49 – that represents beauty, vanity, self-love, and self-confidence – with improvisational and technical performance exercises to enhance a sense of positive self, confidence, and self- love, which is defined by Robert Schuller (1978) as the greatest sense of self-worth, self- respect, and consciousness of personal dignity.

As seen in Chapter 2, the myths consistently portray Oxum as humanity‘s last hope. She is always portrayed as self-confident with a definite belief in herself to accomplish even the most impossible tasks. It can be noticed in the aforementioned myth of the battle in the Village of Women. 50 Oxum‘s symbolic mirror reflects her self- confidence, her belief that she can always trust in her personal efforts. It also reflects her self-love represented by her infinitive love for humanity, and her great availability to act on behalf of others, since one only can love others when one loves oneself first.

Symbolically, a mirror has served as a reflective instrument of self-love and self examination. Etymologically, reflection is a term implying the turning back of the image of another object. Since the term reflection was mostly used to see oneself with mirrors, it

49 As seen in Chapter 2, a fan with a mirror in the middle (abêbê) is a symbol of Oxum. 50 Another myth that portrays Oxum as the human last hope is the one that narrates the consequences when the sky abandoned the earth discussed in Chapter 2.

106 has come to mean applying to oneself the capacity to exercise introspection to learn more about one‘s fundamental nature, purpose and essence.

Oxum‘s mirror symbolism is important to the exercise in introspection and confidence building in that it provides a tool for reflexivity where one may see herself through the object of the mirror. In the case of an improvisational exercise two people would pair to mutually provide the reflection for the other.51 This game inevitably leads to much eye contact and helps establish the basis for interpersonal trust. The leader is guided to move as Oxum with all her confidence, self-love, sensuality, and beauty.

Playing the role Oxum, the participants are stimulated to rid themselves of doubt and to see themselves as people with self-worth and valuable contributors to their community.

Dominant notions of beauty within Brazil‘s cultures are related directly to facial features, hair texture, and the shape of noses and lips. These features are associated to white females and males as the standard ideal of beauty and as such, do not correspond to

Afro-Brazilian‘s. Therefore in order for black Brazilians to see themselves as beautiful, and project this beauty for others to accept, there needs to be cultural and social re- enforcement.

Following the example of female adulthood rites among Mende people of Sierra

Leone52, in which beauty is strongly emphasized, the workshop includes a mirror exercise called ―the ugly-face of the Oxum‘s mirror‖ to stress the need to confront notions of

―perfect beauty‖. In such exercises, the participants are invited to explore expressions

51 Two people work in pairs; one is the leader and the other is the mirror. The job of the girl who is the mirror is to flush her own personality out of her feet so that she is nothing more than a reflection of the person who is looking at her. The job of the person who is looking into the mirror is to move in such a way that the ―mirror‖ can stay with her at all times. This exercise in detailed in the Appendix A. 52 Chapter 3 gives special attention to the importance of beauty in African female initiation rites especially among Mende people of Sierra Leone, in which the word for beauty is also used to describe a exquisite woman.

107 considered ―ugly‖; thus looking differently at their own features in the mirror, recognizing stereotypical notions of beauty, and feeling freedom to see themselves as unique individuals.

The model also encompasses technical and improvisational performance exercises that are part of the students‘ corporal training and development of self-discipline. The major objective is again to enhance a sense of positive self esteem and self confidence. In these exercises, the girls, using Oxum’s myth as reference, learn how to acquire a physical appearance of confidence and how to articulate their body to creatively express their own ideas of beauty, confidence and self-love. 53 This understanding of the articulation of the body connected with the attributes of Oxum instill confidence in the girls – confidence in knowing that they come into the world with certain qualities – derived from African experiences – which make them unique individuals.

5.4.3. The Performance Art Program

Chapter 3 analyzes the creative expressions of female initiation rites. Masks, beautification techniques, dancing, songs, dolls, scarifications and body painting are all incorporated in these rites. As noted in Chapter 4, performance art is a type of creative expression that encompasses several artistic languages. This model embodies the common aspects of both aforementioned experiences utilizing performance art and its multi-lingual nature as a medium and employing the varied creative expressions of mime,

53 In these exercises, the girls are invited to perform ―confident presence‖ and ―self-love‖ using Oxum myth as reference. The exercises depart from a posture in which the spine is curved, giving the body the appearance of absolutely lack of confidence, to reach another posture with the complete alignment of the spine that gives the body total confidence form. Then, the students train in isolating each section of the torso (head, neck, bust, waist, and trunk), and learn how they can interact and affect each other and express self-love and confidence.

108 dance, music, masks, visual, dolls-making, installations, and acting. This sub-section analyzes the performance art program as a learning process and explains how these artistic languages are brought together to create a rites of passage program designed to explore agency in young Bahian women.

Garoian‘s Performing Pedagogy54 emphasizes the interaction between teachers and students as part of the learning process. In this pedagogy, performance art is used to critique dominant social and political standards, starting with the perspective of students‘ individual memories and cultural histories. Based on the same principles, the model‘s performance art learning process is divided into six different stages – that sometimes operate together rather than in a sequential order, in which teachers and students are engaged in: (1) development of body skills, (2) development of writing skills, (3) working collaboratively in groups, (4) making use of mechanic and electronic devices in their performances, (5) organization and production of public performances, and (6) live public performance.

5.4.3.1. Development of Body skills

As elaborated in the previous chapter, performers have affirmed the necessity of training their bodies for their spectacles, since performance art is an interdisciplinary scene language and, as such, the performer‘s physical presence is very important. Since the very beginning, several British performance artists, identified collectively as

―performance art Vaudevillians‖, included circus vaudeville techniques into their spectacles. Groups such as Incubus, Caboodle, and feminist groups Cunning Stunts and

Beryl and Perils used street mime and clown in their performances. Visual spectacles in

54 Garoian‘s Performing Pedagogy is elaborated in Chapter 1.

109 large scale such as those of Robert Wilson or theatrical performance used artists with exceptional physical skills.

The purpose of training is to overcome the corporal limits, control and direct the body with confidence in order to acquire what Nicola Savarese (1991) calls ―physical intelligence‖ (p.250). Converging with this idea, the first stage of the performance art program engages students in training to prepare them physically to express their feelings and opinions through performance.

The model also considers that training is necessary to develop the performers‘ skills to allow improvisation; another important performance art instrument of interaction between performers and spectators that is also part of all kinds of Yoruba performance.55

Discussing improvisation, Albright and Gere (2003) argue that it is something that neither originates from the unconscious nor from rational choice. Rather, they argue, it comes from a collection of learned knowledge about the social world in which the improvisers operate. Considering this argument, the model takes the development of body skill also as an essential tool to deploy the participants‘ social world knowledge and liberate their imagination and creativity through improvisation.

As Afro-defined culture heritage is at the forefront of this model, Afro-Brazilian dance and capoeira, two techniques that highlight African-derived creative expressions will be used to develop the participants‘ skills. Two other techniques will be also

55 In Yoruba improvisatory performances, it is common that spectators interrupt the performance to become part of the show, sometimes leading the dance for brief periods of time (Cooper and Gere, 2003). Despite the improvisational character of those performances, most performers – maskers, dancers, diviners, singers, and drummers – have been trained from infancy in specific technique which enables them to play spontaneously with the body, which confirms the statement of the importance of training for performances.

110 incorporated: corporeal dramatic mime, a contemporary Western technique, and mask that is present in both Africa and the West.

Dramatic Mime

The model includes a technique drawn from the Etienne Decroux dramatic corporeal mime techniques. According to Eugenio Barba (1991), Etienne Decroux is, perhaps, the only European master who elaborated a system of rules for performer training comparable to that of an Oriental tradition. Indeed, his technique as a teaching process incorporates a vocabulary of movements which intends to give the performer control of presence on stage, of placements, and dislocations. Besides, it integrates in the body all principles of an action or a dramatic situation – balance, instability, causalities, and rhythms. 56 Since this technique requires dedication and determination, it will benefit the participants not only physically, but also will help to deal with their discipline and perseverance.

Dance and Music

The importance of music and dance for African rituals and Candomblé was elaborated in Chapter 4, which discussed how these two artistic languages are connected to each other and that they cannot be seen in isolation. It was also stated that in

Candomblé, dance and music are means the initiates use to recreate their mythical tradition and preserve memories that are not written in books. Music and dance are also important elements of African female rites of passage. During seclusion, most of the training for girls is in the form of songs. Their lyrics have some useful information, and reinforce the community‘s laws, costumes and traditions. In these rites, dance – that is

56 The researcher studied this corporeal dramatic mime in France with Decroux‘s assistants Steven Wasson and Courrine Soum. From these studies she developed her technique based on the same principles, which will be used when applying the model.

111 directly related to beauty and vitality – is also a teaching tool of traditions and an important means of seduction that stresses sexual fertility.57

Similarly, this model encompasses Afro-Brazilian dance and music to preserve the historical artistic heritage that has deeply influenced all Brazilian culture. Here music and dance also operate together, in order to make the students understand the musical structure and phrasing of the drums, and match their stepping to their rhythms. The participants may also comprehend the meaning that is beyond the rhythms cells, recreating their historical tradition.

Besides, music and dance will be used to provide the students an understanding and information about the roots of all Brazilian‘s popular dance and music that are basically found in African heritage.58 Oxum‘s rhythm ijexá, for instance, is often used in popular songs of Bahia, especially in carnival. Highlighting this may make the participants proud of their Black heritage.

Capoeira

The roots of capoeira are found in the slavery period, in communities formed by fugitive slaves that would become known as Quilombos. In these Quilombos, the slaves created a style of self-defense, using their feet that would stand against weapons and fire.59

The use of capoeira to this model operates as an instrument of personal defense, providing flexibility, agility, balance and motor coordination, and as an art language,

57 Source Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-66344 58 Some of the most know Brazilian popular rhythms, such as Samba, bossa-nova, maracatu, and samba- reggae are all Afro-derived. 59 This style of fighting created in the slavery period was called capoeira Angola. Nowadays, capoeira is divided in two styles: Angola and Regional. They bring different approaches to the body development, and this model includes both styles.

112 involving singing, rhythms, playing musical instruments, and corporeal expressivities.

Besides, capoeira’s philosophy highlights the importance of the respect to the elders, since they are masters thus having more knowledge than the learners. Moreover, capoeira is a genuine Brazilian expression which roots are found in the African heritage; thus it is an important instrument for the development of a Black identity.

Yet, using capoeira in this model means helping the young girls overcome fear, resistance, and limits, giving them the opportunity to test their control. These exercises later become a means of finding ways to fall without hurting oneself, and of controlling uncontrollable energies.

Mask

As discussed in Chapters 2 and 4, the use of the mask in some African societies allows the performers to face different body limits when striving for a more thoroughly integrated dancing image that represents the mask spirit. Although masks are not very common in female initiation rites, Mende-speaking peoples from Sierra Leone and

Liberia uses a holy mask Sowo 60 that embodies concepts of beauty through its iconography, costuming, and choreography. The leaders of the women‘s societies, who perform the mask, must be physically prepared to represent the ideal of a Mende women: elegant, wise and calm.

Mask is also a performance art training tool in the West to provide a better expressiveness of the body. The model encompasses the activity of mask as a training tool, using neutral and expressive masks.61

60 Chapter 3 draws special attention to Mende societies and Sowo mask. 61 The Neutral Mask was introduced in the France in the beginning of the twentieth century by Jacques Copeau, as a means to allow his students to act physically. (The researcher has worked with neutral mask for many years and also taught this activity at Theater Department of Federal University of Bahia).

113 Neutral mask does not express anything; it does not tell a story. It can be male or female. The performers are silent—their words are not spoken but conveyed through the mask itself—which allows body expressiveness. The model considers that the neutral mask is an excellent tool to develop corporeal expression, since the students cannot rely on facial expressions to show emotion, thus having to learn using other parts of their bodies to communicate. It effectively erases the actor's ego and puts in its place a being that can only express itself by means of physical action. At the same time, hiding their faces, students feel freedom to express their own feelings.

Expressive masks focuses on one central character, such as a warrior, a poor or wealthy person, a president, god, or a beautiful woman. It is a powerful tool for body training and at the same time for development of social critical thoughts.62

Creating their own mask with their own characteristics, wearing, and performing each other‘s masks, make the participants realize that they are not the center of the universe, a typical teenage approach or attitude towards life. On the other hand, playing characters found in their societies, the participants learn how to critique social and political structures, which is very important to the development of the students‘ agency.

Since the most important element in a mask is its property of transformation, the mask will sometimes be substituted for Oxum symbolic elements as the crown, mirror, sword, and costuming. These elements operate here like a mask that makes possible the

Expressive masks are often used in traditional oriental performances such as Japanese Noh theatre and in Western theatre, especially in Commedia dell‘Arte. In recent years, the activity of expressive masks has also been adopted by contemporary performers to develop their physical abilities. 62 In this activity, the students design and create expressive masks giving them emotional qualities – joy, sadness, anger, and despair. The also create a costume ensemble that characterizes age, social status, and highlights the emotional state given by the mask.

114 participant‘s transformation into her elegant, charming, sensual, and powerful features, thus experiencing a sense of positive self and confidence.

5.4.3.2. Development of Writing Skills and Black Women in Visual Culture Studies

As elaborated in the previous chapter, very often performers create – individually or in group – their own text, script, visual elements and way of acting. The previous stage is about development of skills related to physically acting. This one is about conception of ideas, images, and creation of texts for performances that involves the development of writing skill and incorporates.

Development of Writing Skills

This model considers that it is important that the texts used in performances come from the girls‘ experiences, rather than have someone writing for them, thus giving an outside vision of their histories. Here, they are stimulated to create poems, lyrics of songs, and texts about their experience with failures, difficulties, achievements, and successes, in order to materialize the body‘s cultural memory. Through story telling, they are then invited to establish a parallel with Oxum‘s mythology giving the texts a ―fictional‖ characteristic. This playing with the language combined with Oxum mythology and the physical engagement of their writings enable the students to create jokes, paradoxes, conceptual bipolarities to critique the dominant culture and the social context they live.

Black Women in Visual Culture

Visual Culture is an interdisciplinary field that is concerned with the ordinary, everyday practices of seeing, with the way different people see the world and how they mediate it through various forms of representation, and how images come into being.

Visual Culture has given a new dimension to the traditional history of art, by analyzing

115 images that have not been considered art, such as film, television, photography, and graphic design.

Considering that the expression of Visual Culture (especially TV, internet, films, magazines, interactive software) is very significant in Brazilian society 63 , and that

Brazilian female youngsters have been negatively influenced by this expression that always reinforces white patterns of beauty and localizes black women as symbol of poverty and exotic sexual symbols, the model includes Visual Culture studies to critically discuss the media that influences young girls‘ minds within a historical, political and cultural context, and gives the youngsters agency when writing their texts, as well as when creating their performance art pieces.

These studies will incorporate Oxum representations – therefore a Black female myth reference – in the discussions. By bringing Oxum representations of feminine power, beauty, sensuality, fertility, and maternity to contemporary Brazilian society, the model aims to establish comparisons between her symbolism and Brazilian Black women representations on those medias, and discuss beauty, black stereotypes, sexuality, identity, and gender. This way, the youngsters may learn how to respect themselves and claim for a different perspective of their places in Brazilian society.

5.4.3.3. Creating Installations

In Chapter Four, it was stated that performers very often, working individually or collaboratively with others, think and create their own sceneries, object of scenes,

63 According to Ana Mae Barbosa (2006), the concept of Visual Culture was introduced in Brazil in 1998. Since then, Visual Culture studies started being part of art-educators‘ vocabulary, due to the impact of the expression of visual culture in Brazilian society. Recently the University of Goiânia – a public university in a central State of Brazil – created a Visual Culture Masters Degree program.

116 installations, thus bringing their personal experiences to the whole performance art piece.

Through this perspective, the stage explores the creation of installations for performances and visual representations of Oxum to allow visual and conceptual research on the myth; thus providing a better understanding of her significance.64

The stage progress with an overview of technologies and approaches useful for creating interactive installations and performance systems, primarily use video projection, environmental sensors, networking, and visual programming. While images, videos, and web sites illustrating different approaches will be demonstrated throughout the workshop, participants will learn primarily by creating and experimenting with their own projects, which will enable them to create their final performances.65

5.4.3.4. Working Collaboratively in Groups

Working collaboratively in groups, the forth stage, goes directly to the core of performance as social action, since the participants learn how to participate as part of a group of people where personal ideas, beliefs, and principles must be taken in consideration in relationship to the community as whole. This stage cannot be viewed as a sequential phase; rather it must be elaborated throughout the whole workshop. It aims to give the participants a sense of belonging and empower them to develop a community

64 A good example of visual representations of traditional myths is the dolls used in initiation rites during seclusion that have different functions, such as to guarantee girls‘ fertility and to emphasize the interaction between a woman and her lover. 65 The researcher had similar experience during her Masters degree matriculation at Howard University. Although she had had no skills in visual arts since she came from a different artistic background that only involved the performing arts. Under Professor Sorrells-Adewale coordination in Experimental Studio courses, I and II, she created some artworks and installations based on Oxum. These courses gave her the opportunity to work with conceptual artwork, connecting tradition and contemporary, to have a better understanding of Oxum genuine essence, and make her rethink her lack of abilities in visual art as well as work positively with her self-esteem and confidence.

117 of support in their struggle to solve the issues of the contemporary Black female in their neighborhoods, city, and country.

The model considers some other specific benefits that working collaboratively in group brings. First, working on a scenic space makes one face certain limits that help the development of tolerance, understanding, acceptance, and diplomacy that are all Oxum‘s attributes. It also exercises the control of egocentrism, since each performer has the right to be seen and listened to, when performing. Besides, working cooperatively in a group is an effective means for ―teaching/learning‖ artistic languages since very often one is required to teach her/his peers, which increases ones own depth of understanding.

Moreover, sometimes the group has a common experience that makes a great historical and cultural memory association that will inform the group‘s performance, bringing benefits for all group members. Finally, involvement in group work when it is done effectively, with respect and consideration of the ideas, thoughts, and desires of each member of the group, and stimulate personal interests, increases confidence and capacity of making meaning within the group which are some of the most important concerns of this model.

5.4.3.5. Creation of Public Performance

Performing an art piece that expresses one‘s feelings and thoughts is the final objective of performers. The model encompasses the creation of mini-performances throughout the workshop. These performances serve different general purposes: (1) to follow the development of the participants during the process; (2) to help the participants acquire confidence when exposing themselves to others; (3) to give the participants an

118 opportunity to develop concepts that express their feelings and emotions and their own aesthetic sensitivities.

The fifth stage, however, teaches the young women how to organize and produce their ―final‖ performance art pieces that will be displayed to their community in a public space. In this phase the participants undergo an intensive process of research experimentation, and rehearsal. Here they are asked to focus on the discoveries they made all the way through the workshop that can now be translated into individual or group performance art expression to share their unique vision of life.

By creating public performances, the participants develop skills to make decisions.

In Bahia society there is a huge display of options in lifestyle, work, dress, relationships, politics, and so on and success in one‘s life depends on the ability to make appropriate choices. When creating their own performances, the participants have to make their own decisions about the theme, colors, forms, material and schemes for their installations.

They have to think about their costuming and decide the corporeal and artistic elements to be used in the performance art piece.

Creating one‘s own performances also allows for a more complete realization of one‘s personal and creative vision. It opens the source of creative energy, which the participants can canalize into the blurring of diverse artistic languages. Here the material or source of creativity comes from personal memories associated with Oxum. Relating

Oxum mythology to their lives, and expressing it in their performances, allows the participants to use the myths of their African-heritage as a point of departure to deal with their own issues, identities, gender, sexuality; thus learning how to take responsibility for resolving problems by themselves. As the air Oxum blows with her fan to purify the air

119 one breathes, neutralizing its negative contents, creating performances based on her footsteps must neutralize the negative contents of the participants‘ lives.

5.4.3.6. Final Presentation: Live Public Performances

Among most African initiation rites, a presentation ceremony that includes drums, songs, and dance marks the young girls return from seclusion to their community. This ceremony is extremely important for both the young girls and the community. The girls change their individual social status, becoming ―the new adult members‖, and the latter affirm their beliefs and philosophy through the ceremony‘s rituals. Similarly, a day, in which a public display of the performance art pieces takes place, is very important to the participants who attend the workshop. It marks the end of a growing process in which they learned about themselves, their identities, their African cultural heritage, nature, people, racism, and community laws and expectations. What is more important, they learn how to use memory and cultural history to critique social and cultural assumptions through performance art production.

As in all performance art pieces in which several artistic languages operate together to better express the performer‘s creativity, the participants‘ performances may bring together the artistic languages they learned during the workshop, integrated in such a way that it is not possible to see each language isolated. Acting, dancing, music, mime, installations, capoeira, and mask are only the means to better express the female thoughts and feelings and give the participants voice and agency.

Chapter 4 highlights the fact that usually performers are not ―characters‖ as in traditional theater. They are the artists, and the content rarely follows a traditional scheme or story. Rather, they are based upon their own bodies, their own life histories,

120 their own particular experiences in a culture or in the world. Rather than be subjugated by a pre-existent text, the performers‘ performance pieces may show texts and scripts that they have written, using Oxum mythology as reference and source, and as a means of positive transformation.

It is important to remember that performance art is as an open-ended medium with endless possibilities. Thus, the nature of the participants‘ performances can be ritualistic, mythical, instructive, provocative, dramatic, or humoristic. The young performers are stimulated to choose their own way to express their thoughts and also, choose whether they want to work individually or in groups. Lighting and staging are two other elements that give meaning to the performances and must be carefully studied, collaboratively in groups, to better express the desires of the young participants.

The participants are stimulated to create spatial opportunities to include spectators in their spectacles, repositioning them from passive observers to active participants. In doing so, they allow the audience members to return their testimony, and at the same time explore a traditional practice of African performances in which there is almost no distinction between performers and spectators. Inclusion of the audience in the spectacles is also a practice explored by many performance artists since the very beginning of performance history, and is still an important approach.

The display of performances ends the workshops. However, after the show, a public ceremony with music and dance, involving the participants, the workshop leaders, parents, friends, and the audience takes place. This ceremony is not a celebration of the end of an artistic educational process, but a beginning of a new phase in the participants‘

121 lives. They are now prepared to see themselves differently, to believe in their own capacities and values, and to make meaning within the social context they live.

122 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION

In these last considerations, the research looks at the very beginning of Chapter 1, when Nilma Bentes (1993) calls attention to the fact that, in Brazil, Blacks are considered inferior, ignorant, malodorous and violent; which explains why they do not want to be identified as Black. These assumptions inherited in Brazilian societies have been re- enforced in popular culture by television, movies, and magazines that often depict Black people negatively and stereotypically while projecting white people as the standard ideal of beauty.

The aim of the model proposed in the thesis was to enable young girls to challenge and resist the public assumptions of beauty patterns and Black stereotypes of mass media. By discussing images of Black women in the media, the participants learn that those representations usually are carriers of White ideology of social exclusion, and frequently reinforce negative Black stereotypes. They learn to refuse the two images usually associated with Black women. The first one is of a maid, extremely humble and poor, without a private life, always relying on her white bosses‘ lives. The second image is of a seductive and sexual woman who often appears naked and dancing, serving as men‘s sexual object. They also learn that a Black, intelligent, modern, productive woman, such as doctors, scientists, lawyers, and professors are almost never present in the media.

Even mothers and lovers are always white.

Discussing media representations of Black women in the media, Oxum‘s features and attributes must be used as a comparative Black model of successful a political woman; a woman who is independent, wealthy, dynamic, beautiful, and self-confident.

Other images of successful Black African, African-American and African-Disapora

123 women may be also be shown to give the young girls other models of successful behavior and beauty. In doing so, they may learn to recognize and critique the codes of mass media.

In addition, they learn to employ their critical knowledge in the creation of performance art pieces that resist these destructive media representations.

This research takes into consideration that one understands the world through a series of already existing discourses and that traditional practices allow reflection of one‘s own insertion in the world history. This study discussed two aspects of African tradition – mythology and rites of passage combined with a contemporary interdisciplinary artistic language – performance art. Here, these three experiences were contextualized within Bahia contemporary society to elaborate an exploratory model for an on-going performance art workshop, which enables young Bahian women to creatively use memory and cultural history to critique dominant cultural assumptions, to construct identity, and to attain political agency.

The material used as reference to the workshop, Oxum mythology, comes from traditional Yoruba Ifá and Candomblé‘s religions. This Orixá, who symbolizes the spiritual force of the river and the love Goddess, is used as the model of powerful women.

Her attributes of beauty, dynamism, confidence, self-love, and her political, economic, and transformative powers are a source for an exercise in building confidence and self- love. Oxum mythology is combined with storytelling exercises to enable young Bahian girls to construct stories and actions that represent their respective cultural experiences.

The five stages of the performance art program discussed here are in fact strategies created to develop the young participants artistic skills for performance, to help them build a sense of belonging through collaborative group works, and to give them

124 support to develop a positive sense of self. Moreover, the strategies aim to provide knowledge of their cultural and historical African heritage often absent in Brazilian school curricula, which helps the participants in their struggle towards a positive Black identity.

As a result, it is hoped that the young girls finish this ―rites of passage‖ workshop with artistic skills to continue their exploratory experiences as performance artists if they so desire, and become aware of their iwa66, take pride in their African heritage and of being Black. A desired result is the development of a stronger sense of self-worth and self-respect, and an ability to make meaning in the society they live; thus they will be able to positively exert their axé (life force, the blend of power and knowledge to make things happen).

The Márcia Méccia public school in Mata Escura, Bahia, will be the initial site of the Oxum Performance Art Workshop. In Mata Escura, like any other poor neighborhood in Salvador, poverty is at the forefront of the problems related to transportation, health, security, sanitation, and education. Although the area includes natural water resources, they are highly polluted due to poor conditions endured by the migrants from the rural centers who live in the area. The area also includes one of the few remaining natural forest reserves of Salvador. The community that lives there, however, is not yet aware of the possibilities that a preserved Atlantic ecosystem can offer. This area could be used to promote local sustainable development, including practice and incentives for effective environmental preservation and technological development. This forest area could also be

66 As elaborated in Chapter 2, in Yoruba thought, everything has iwa which is related to beauty. It is also related to the essential nature of a thing or a person that express its own axé. In other words, everybody has its uniqueness, its own beauty that is better expressed when one is conscious of and exerts one‘s own axé or essential nature.

125 transformed into a social area that provides professional qualification and cultural development for the 46,000 inhabitants who live there.

Mata Escura is also a site of one of the most important and traditional terreiros of

Salvador‘s Candomblés - Bate Folha. This terreiro is legally represented by a non-profit organization that protects and preserves the religious tradition of the Angola nation.

Márcia Méccia School operates near Bate Folha, and they both have worked collaboratively. Since 1999, Márcia Méccia has been working for the development of the local culture and has been witnessing a very positive social impact on the community.

This work was acknowledged by UNESCO as one of the most successful innovative programs for the development of the Culture of Peace.67

For the Yoruba who arrived in Brazil as slaves in the nineteenth century, remembering those who came before them was a sacred obligation. By creating

Candomblé, they took responsibility for passing forward the wisdom of their past.

Coming from a culture that had always made an effort to live in harmony with nature, dissemination of ancestral wisdom was the foundation of the methodology used to guide children along the path leading to maturity and self-understanding. Following the steps of her African ancestors, the researcher assumes that it is her responsibility to disseminate her cultural heritage. She also believes that by showing the example of model behavior, one initiates the journey towards self-discovery and individualization. She chose Oxum as an ancestral pattern of behavior to empower young, black Bahian women, because of this

Orixás‘s many characteristics that suggest power, affirmation, and assertiveness. The means selected to disseminate Oxum‘s traditional wisdom is performance art, a

67 This school invited the researcher to first apply the model developed in this thesis with its students, as a result of a workshop she conducted there in December 2005.

126 contemporary artistic discipline that has successfully given voice and agency to oppressed groups. She hopes that this research helps young Bahian girls from Mata

Escura – and that it can be extended to other Bahian areas – to effectively complete their lifetime journey, making meaning in their community, and becoming a revered ancestor in the collective memory of future generations.

127 APPENDIX A. THE MODEL EXPLORATORY CLASS

To provide a better understanding of the model‘s application, this appendix presents an introductory class that is part of the researcher‘s exploratory experience using

Oxum mythology as material for performance art pedagogy. As in her previous teaching experiences, the class consists of sequential physical activities that enable students to construct actions and perform ―self-confidence‖ and ―self-love‖ using Oxum’s characteristics as well as their respective cultural experiences as the point of departure.

In the class, the researcher includes rhythms played by live drummers.

Before the class starts, the facilitator introduces Oxum to the students as a dazzling Yoruba/ Candomblé Goddess, who is the spirit of the river. She explains that during the whole class they will play the role Oxum. The facilitator reinforces Oxum‘s attributes of beauty, sensuality, vanity, love, dynamics, as well as her multidimensional powers: political, economic, insightful, natural, and maternal. Afterwards, the students are asked to think of some women in their community that have the same characteristics as Oxum and how they present themselves corporally. Then, they are invited to create three still images of a woman that has Oxum‘s characteristics. The last image of each student is reproduced by all, and the facilitator photographs it.68

ACTIVITY 1 – The Performance of Confident Presence

In a small circle, in silence, the facilitator and students together honor Oxum with a greeting named paó, which consists of a clapping of hands that starts slowly, then

68 These pictures taken in class are useful to show the students their skills progress.

128 accelerates and decelerates to a complete stop. The facilitator sings an Oxum song. Sing with me. Let us honor the spirit of the river with our singing.

Part 1

Stand in a circle. Close your eyes, relax, listen, and keep your mind open and alert.

Rub your hands. Put one of them on your center and the other on your chest. Pay attention to your breath. Do it again. When you inhale, imagine you are inhaling confidence, when you exhale, imagine that you are exhaling all that you do not need: insecurity, tension, and doubt.

Keep your legs together with your heels touching and your toes pointing outwards to the left and right.69 Bend your knees a little bit. Let your body be in a ―buffoon‖ position, making a letter C with your trunk. Keep your eyes almost closed and your mouth opened, relaxed. Inhale. While inhaling, round up your back departing from your body‘s center (stomach). In doing so, open your eyes like a very active person.

Remember: inhale ―confidence‖ and exhale all ―negative feelings‖.

Come back to the ―buffoon‖ position. Look at it. Are you showing self- confidence? This exercise makes you come from a state of no confidence to a very present position. Do it again. Now, when you inhale, align your trunk and go with your balance to the right, making a diagonal in the space with your body. Do the same to the left side.

Open your legs a little bit (closed second position of classic ballet) and come from the ―buffoon‖ to your own position, giving you‘re a confident presence. Engage all your body to do it, from your toes to your head.

69 Similar to the first position of classic ballet, but more naturally closed.

129 Sing Oxum‘s song again. Let your chest move in waves, as water moves. Let the singing move the water that is your chest. How does it move? Is this movement easy for you? Let the head follow the chest‘s movement. Let the arms come together.

(The movements are now bigger and the whole group turns to the mirror). Think about Oxum. Slowly move your chest to a position you believe your body shows her powerful and elegant presence. Look at the mirror. See your present Oxum in it.

Part II

Stand facing the mirror. Walk without dislocating your body in the space.70 This walk is the basis of this exercise. You can move your chest as you want, rotate, give little impulses, and move your chest, but keep your body in the same space. Let the chest conduct your movement. You can use your arms, but watch your chest. We are working with the upper body because this is the body part that really shows our presence, our confidence, our self-love.

Working in pairs, you send your partner an imaginary ball with an impulse from a part of your body. She pretends she receives it on the same part you sent it. Then, she moves the imaginary ball she received and sends it to another part of her body. She moves this other part feeling this ball now located there, and after a few seconds, sends the ball back to you. For instance, if you send the imaginary ball with an impulse from your head, your partner receives it with her head, moves the head as though the ball is inside of it, and sends the ball to her chest. Then, she moves the chest as the ball is inside of it and sends the ball back to you with an impulse of her chest. You receive it with your chest and so on. Sound the gesture as you do it. Make the sound and movement occur

70 This walk as well as the ―buffoon‖ position (lapin) are part of Decroux‘s mime technique.

130 simultaneously, exist for the same amount of time, and be of the same texture and quality.

Explore your body‘s articulations. Your body is alive. Feel the presence of all parts of it.71

Now that your body is articulated and you can feel all its parts present and alive, think about Oxum‘s presence and take a walk in space. How does she move? How does she show her presence to other people? Show me her presence. Show me the Oxum who lives inside of you.

ACTIVITY 2 – Creation of a scene

Imagine that you are a river that runs, flows, falls. Find different ways to express this going up and down on the floor. Let your chest guide the movement or your hips guide them. Articulate your body. Use contrasting movements. Use the same dynamic you began with. Change dynamics. Start quickly and continue slowly, smoothly, and quietly or start slowly and speed up your movements, etc. Like a river that has different manifestations. Engage your movements in a sequence that can be repeated. Memorize it.

Now, play the role of Oxum talking on a telephone using this sequence of movements.

Use dynamics to create a dramatic scene in which Oxum receives good or bad news, without losing your sequence of movements. Show in your scene who that woman is and how she solves your dramatic scene. Use sounds, explore and repeat some words. You have 10 minutes to create this and present it to your colleagues.

71 This exercise help the students use and articulate all parts of their bodies, making each one of them alive and present, which usually we do not do.

131 ACTIVITY 3 – The Mirror: The Performance of Self-Love

Part I

A mirror is an important symbol of Oxum. When she embodies an initiate in

Candomblé, she always appears holding a fan with a mirror in the middle. In her performance, she takes a bath, puts on a necklace and bracelets, and looks at the mirror.

She symbolizes beauty. Indeed, she is beauty.

Stand face to face with a partner, looking directly into each other‘s eyes. You are the leader, and your partner is the mirror. Look at your eyes in your ―mirror‖. The task of the person acting as your mirror is to be a reflection of you. So, move slowly enough to allow your follower to mirror you exactly and stay with you all the time.

Sometimes you look at the mirror and think you are not beautiful. You do not like your hair, your nose shape, your look, and your expressions. Make movements that show your worst images in the mirror; images that when that when viewed in photographs you want to tear to pieces. Explore those images with your mirror. See what you consider ugly in yourself reflected in your partner. Do you feel comfortable? Exchange places.

You are now the mirror.

Repeat the exercise. Rather than prompting you to change places, you decide when to take the leadership away from each other.72

72 Leading and following usually affect people‘s emotions. It is difficult enter the mirroring game, especially using ―ugly‖ images, and set aside our judgments about the actions we carry out. Following has often connotations of being passive or demeaning. Thus, people usually feel more comfortable leading. However, leading is usually associated with being demanding or egotistical. Therefore, this exercise is not only useful to confront beauty stereotypes, but also to deal with leadership difficulties. When the person is concentrated enough in this exercise, what is important is the activity that she is doing and not the position that she is taking as a leader or a follower. Thus, when she is able to sense the exact moment that she should either follow or lead, she feels comfortable in this action while not being influenced by either position.

132 Part II

(The facilitator leaves a fan on the floor beside each one of the girls).

Now, leave your partner and bring your attention to the fan that is on the floor.

This is now your mirror. Contrary to the other exercise, look at it and move while appreciating the image you see. You are beautiful. Nobody has your characteristics. You are unique in this world. Explore your beauty. Engage all your body on it. Articulate it as you learned from the other exercise. Express your body. Use sounds, explore the space.

Leave the fan. Let your eyes focus appropriately onto whatever it is you are experiencing. Think that the mirror is everywhere. It is on the ceiling, on the walls, before you, behind you. And you are beautiful. You are beauty. Show the ―mirrors‖ who you are. Let your body be conducted by the rhythm of the drummers. Add the voice and make all actions into sound and sound into action.

When the rhythm stops, keep moving slowly. Return to the beginning of the class, when you role-play the image of Oxum. Slowly freeze as a picture; giving the image of the most beautiful of all. Thus, show the best Oxum who lives inside of you. Stay in this position. Let me take a picture! (When taking pictures, the facilitator sings an Oxum song). Come back to your neutral position. Keep it in your mind: Oxum: confidence presence and self-love.

133 APPENDIX B. VISUALS THAT EXPLORE THE METHODOLOGY

Source: Boone (1986). Figure B.1. Initiation of Mende Girls. Initiates wearing kaolin, porcelain clay in their bodies and face while learning how to sit in a good corporal posture.

Source: Boone (1986). Figure B.2. Mende Girls Practicing Dance.

134

Source: Boone (1986). Figure B.3. Sowo Mask in Sande Society. It represents all that a woman should be: wise, elegant, and serene.

Source: Cameron (1996)

Figure B.4. African Initiation Rite Doll. Dolls are used during some African rites of passage for different functions, such as fertility or in intimate relationships.

135

Photo by Clécia Queiroz

Figure B.5. Oxum Doll. Drawing from dolls in initiation African rites, this doll made by the researcher is an example that can be used in workshops for young girls.

Photo by Clécia Queiroz

Figure B.6. Oxum Installation. Figure A.6, A.7, and A.8 are art pieces made by the researcher that exemplify how Oxum can be used as basis for installations in workshops.

136

Photo by Clécia Queiroz

Figure B.7. The Face of Oxum Installation.

Photo by Clécia Queiroz

Figure B.8. Oxum and Xangô Installation.

137

Source: Prandi (2001)

Figure B.9. A Daughter of Oxum.

Source: Prandi (2001)

Figure B.10. Three Daughters of Oxum in Candomblé Ceremony. Crown, dress, mirror and fan (abêbê) are objects used in the mythological representation of Oxum.

Source: Prandi (2001)

Figure B.11. Abêbê.

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