The influence of Nigerian Bata Dance on Cuban Salsa

BY

Olorunjuwon, Emmanuel Oloruntoba

(MATRIC NO: RUN06-07/507)

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE

ARTS, SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, REDEEMER’S

UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR

THE AWARD OF MASTERS OF ARTS (M.A) IN THEATRE ARTS

JUNE 2016

CERTIFICATION

I certify that this project/long essay titled “THE INFLUENCE OF NIGERIAN BATA

DANCE ON CUBAN SALSA” is an original work of mine and that it has not been submitted elsewhere for any degree award or certification.

OLORUNJUWON EMMANUEL OLORUNTOBA

(RUN 06-07/507)

……………………………………..

CERTIFICATION

I certify that this long essay was carried out by Olorunjuwon Emmanuel Oloruntoba with matriculation number RUN 06-07/507 of the Department Of Theatre Arts,

Redeemer‟s University, Osun State.

------

Supervisor Date

Dr. John Iwuh

……………………………… ……………………………

Head of Department Date

Prof. Ahmed Yerima

……………………… ……………………

External Examiner Date

Prof. Ojo Bakare

DEDICATION

I dedicate this project to God Almighty for giving me the strength and wisdom to carry out this research. My parents Mr. and Mrs. S.K Oloruntoba and my siblings Bamidele

Oloruntoba, Christiana Oloruntoba and Dr. Ife Oloruntoba .My Mentor and guardian

Prof. Ahmed Yerima. God bless you all.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To God almighty my strength, wisdom, creativity, rhythm and flexibility I am most grateful to you.

I must thank the Head of Department, Prof Ahmed Yerima who has been a father to me.

You were there for me and cared for me like your own biological son. You gave me shelter, clothes and you fed me. You never stopped making sense out of my nonsense and you encouraged me to write while others were sleeping.

To my Supervisor, Dr. John Iwuh ( Papa Chizo), you have loved me right from when I was an undergraduate, you believed so much in me and you got me my first lecturing job at Lead City University. You taught me how to be patient and carry out a quality research and this helped me finish this research work with confidence.

To my ever loving Departmental mother Dr. Eunice Uwadinma. As an undergraduate you fed me and guided me, You showed me the true love a son deserves from a good mother. You kept on disturbing me to come back for my masters programme and you gave me your office to stay for months. I say thank you.

To my Lecturer, Dr. Julius -Adeoye who made sure he carried on with the dream of his late wife Mrs. Bunmi Obasa Julius-Adeoye who will say to me “ Juwon, you must come back to this school and guide this students the way I have done to you”.

To all my lecturers Mr. peter Bello my dance Lecturer, Ms. Susan Badeji, Mr. Damilola

Babarinde,Mr. Kunle Abogunloko and Mr. Niji Akanni, I am forever grateful to you all.

To my good friends Dapo Adimula (UMC) ,Adedayo Debo (Mr. Macaroni), Julie

Akhere and Jerome Adie God bless you for all your supports.

ABSTRACT

The Yoruba traditional cultural practices has influenced other cultural practices in some parts of the world such as; Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago. This study discovered that the Yoruba bata dance had some influences on the Cuban salsa in; performance, costume, music and drums.

The study adopts a deep historical approach into existing literatures for history to advance a theoretical framework, while two performances; Cuban Salsa and Nigerian bata dances were studied for comparative analysis to determine the extent of the influence of bata dance on Cuban salsa. Findings reveal that the Yoruba slaves never parted with Sango worship and bata dance even in the plantations.. Cuban salsa became a hybrid bata dance form due to their desire for variation and contemporary flavor. The study recognized other influences of dance traditions in what later became Cuban salsa such as the ballet from Europe and other socio cultural dances of spain.

Using existing materials, studies and observing salsa dance in practical forms, the study ended by recommending further and intense research into the hidden treasures of bata dance among its custodians so as to evolve new variants and creative flavours like the

Cuban salsa.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Certification page…………………………………………………………….. i - ii

Dedication……………………………………………………………………. iii

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………..... iv

Abstract……………………………………………………………………….. v

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Background to study……………………………………………………… 1- 4

1.2 Statement of problem……………………………………………………… 4

1.3 Objective of study…………………………………………………………. 4-5

1.4 Significance of study………………………………………………………..5

1.5 Scope of study………………………………………………………………6

1.6 Methodology………………………………………………………………...6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Development of Dance in Cuba …………………… ………………….7-15

2.2 Black Dance…………………………………... ……………………………15-22

2.3 Modern Dance……………………………………………………………….22-23

2.4 African American Modern Dance…………………………………………...23-25

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Historicism…………………………………………………………………...26-30

3.2 Slavery: Transportation of Culture…………………………………………..31-35

3.3 Dance: Inadvertent Export…………………………………………………...35-36

Dance As a Reflection of Life………………………… ……………………..37-43

The Santeria Worship In Cuba………………………………………………...43-46

CHAPTR FOUR

4.1 History of Bata Dance………………………………………………………. 47-52

4.2 Origin of Cuban Salsa………………………………………………………...52-53

4.3 Sango in Nigeria, Chango in Cuba: One God Two Faces

History of Sango………………………………………………………………53-58

History of Chango……………………………………………………………..58-62

4.4 Analysis of Cuban Salsa……………………………………………………….62-79

4.5 Adaptive Influence of Bata and Cuban Salsa…………………………………79-93

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………….94

5.2 Findings………………………………………………………………………...94-95

5.3 Recommendation……………………………………………………………….95-96

5.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………96

Work Cited……………………………………………………………………..….97-100

PICTURE TABLE

Fig 1.1: Yoruba representation of Sango

Fig 1.2: Cuban representation of Sango (Chango)

Fig 1.3: picture of the Yoruba bata drums

Fig 1.4: Picture of the Cuban bata drums

Fig 1.5: Yoruba bata drums

Fig 1.6: Cuban bata drums

Fig 1.7: Picture of Yoruba bata drums

Fig 1.8: Picture of Cuban salsa dancers

Fig 1.9: Ayansina Khalid Ikeoluwa and his partner doing the gbamu bata dance style

Fig 2.0: Johnny Vazquez and his partner doing the back rock basic step.

Fig 2.1: Floor Movement of the legs

Fig 2.2: Ayansina Khalid Ikeoluwa and his partner doing the gbamu bata dance style

Fig 2.3: Johnny Vazquez and Ramark doing the side rock step

Fig 2.4: Picture showing Chango turning a lady in a spot turn movement during Chango festival

Fig 2.5: Bata dancers taking off to perform a spot turn

Fig 2.6: Bata dancers performing a spot turn

Fig 2.7: Johnny Vazquez ready to take off to perform a spot turn

Fig 2.8: Johnny Vazquez performing the spot turn

Fig 2.9: Bata dancers dancing the gbamu bata dance crossing the right leg over the left

(exaggerated step)

Fig 3.0: Johnny Vaquez and partner dancing the Cuban Salsa, crossing the right leg over the left (hybridized step)

Fig 3.1: Picture showing a female and male bata dancers wearing Aso-oke

Fig 3.2: Picture showing a bata dancer with bata drummers wearing Aso-oke

Fig 3.3: Picture showing a female and male Cuban Dancer wearing the bata cubana and guayabera.

Fig 3.4: Bata dancers seating on their waist and jerking their shoulders (ji ja bata)

Fig 3.5: Cuban dancers doing the shoulder movement while standing

Fig 3.6: Cuban male salsa dancer jerking his shoulder

Fig 3.7: Female bata dancers jerking their shoulders

Fig 3.8: Female bata dancers whining and jerking the buttocks while dancing

Fig 3.9: Female Cuban dancer whining and jerking her buttocks while dancing

Fig 4.0: Male bata dancers bending and swinging their arms

Fig 4.1: Cuban salsa dancers dancing with backs bent while dancing

Fig 4.2: Cuban salsa dancers with their backs bent and arms stretched

Fig 4.3: Bata dancers lifting from the ground

Fig 4.4: Cuban dancer lifting from the ground

Fig 4.5: Bata dancers communicating with the opposite sex while performing.

Fig 4.6: Cuban salsa dancers holding each other while dancing

Fig 4.7: Cuban salsa dancers holding and communicating while dancing

Fig 4.8 & 4.9: Cuban salsa dancers in a frame posture

Fig 5.0: Cuban salsa dancers in a frame posture

Fig 5.1: A female Cuban salsa dancer performing a split

Fig 5.2: A male Cuban salsa dancer performing a split

Fig 5.3: Dip movement

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO STUDY

…people who truly dance are those who never bartered the fierce freedom of their souls, never strangled their hunger for rhythmic movement nor frustrated their joyous physical response to music and song. When such beings dance, for them all time stops… (Welshe-Ashante: 3). Dance is the temporal art form, which consist of selected sequence of body movements.

These body movements have aesthetic and symbolic values that go along with a particular rhythm that becomes acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture. Thus the dance of a group of people is the reflection of their culture.

The African dance is polycentric in nature, which makes it very different from other dances 0around the world. The dancers‟ body is always segmented into different areas of movement with each part dedicated to different movements in what is also known as

„isolation‟ in choreographic terms. This distinct assignment makes African dances very difficult to master and notate.

Most African dances are learnt at a tender age because most of them are performed during storytelling, rituals, rites and among age grades. While these dances are polycentric in nature, different areas of Africa have different dances. For example, the

Masais are known for high leaps when dancing, the Calabaris uses their hips and the

Yoruba‟s uses more of their shoulders and legs.

In African dance, drumming sets the mood and it brings everyone together as a community. However many other instruments such as gong, dundun, djembe, clapping, stamping of feet and most of all singing which creates the ultimate rhythm for African dances.

Different countries have been identified with particular types of dance which then serves as their identity whenever those dances are performed. However, there are some similarities in some of these dances either in steps, movements or body alignment.

Some dances are attributed to some particular occupations and some are best performed with storytelling. Legendary tales and histories are told with dance and songs. Dance in

Africa takes a larger percentage of our culture even healers and herbalists are trained to excel in dance. Some special dances are done to celebrate manhood and some to honour women. Welshe-Ashante, a dance scholar explains in African Dance: An Artistic,

Historical, and Philosophical Inquiry that:

The African dancer uses the earth as if it were extension of the dancer‟s own feet, as if it were a stage of rubber from which he can bounce to the skies, as if it were a soft bed upon which he could roll and be protected. This love and respect for the earth is one of the main factors of African dance. It gives it certain vitality and dynamic strength, for it draws up into the dancer the unlimited force and ecstasy of the earth. (6-7) Different ethnic groups in Nigeria can also be associated with a particular type of dance. Among the Yoruba people, Bata dance if not the oldest, is one of the oldest forms of dance. The bata dance of the Yoruba people is associated with Sango the god of thunder and a bata dancer dances to the beat of the bata drum. It is important to note

that bata dance is a significant aspect of sango worship, thus most of the traditional bata dancers are Sango worshipers. Welsh-Asante corroborates:

The particularity of Africa‟s cultural heritage does not, however rule out the universality of its dance, as colonial anthropology once led Europe and the rest of the world (including Africa itself), to believe . As with the art forms emanating from other civilized or cultural complexes, it merely means that viewers of African dance need to understand Africa‟s cultural heritage if they are to understand and critically appreciate in any depth the true meaning and aesthetics authority of what is being seen. (xiv)

African dances are unique dances that are formed mostly from culture. However, it has been observed that the Cuban salsa has a lot of bata steps in it. Though some of the steps have been tampered with while some maintain their original form.

Welshe-Ashante also confirms that:

We must add to these the rich continuities of African dance and music to be found in Brazilian candomble, Cuban Santeria, Trinidad‟s Shango, Haiti‟s Vodum, Guyana‟s cumfa, Jamaica‟s kumina and all of the Caribbean and latin and Southern America‟s creolized festival Arts. (xvi) Therefore, in order to discover the link between these two dances (bata and Cuban salsa), there is a need to look at how bata dance was exported to Cuba, at what point does bata dance become popular in Cuba and at what point was the dance accepted in

Cuba. In order to achieve this, it is important to look at culture because dance forms a vibrant part of a people‟s culture and because of the entertaining and communicative

nature of African dance it becomes very easy for African dance to penetrate any given culture.

Geertz defines culture as „thick description‟ and used it to refer to the entire way of life of a society; its values, practices, symbols, institutions and human relationship.(Harrison and Huntington:xv)

The above definition of culture sees culture as the entire way of life of a society. This shows that even while the slaves were displaced geographically, it was hard to take their cultures away from them since it is a part of them. Paddington defines culture as

“the sum total of the material and intellectual equipment whereby they satisfy their biological and social needs and adapt themselves to their environment”. (1)

In this research work, we will look at how Africans most especially the Yoruba‟s were able to adapt to their environment and therefore making the bata dance become popular and also influencing the Cuban salsa.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The Cuban salsa is a dance associated with the South Americans. However,

whenever the Cuban salsa is performed, there are some very unique and undiluted

Nigerian bata dance steps that are seen each time the dance is done. Therefore it has

been a major concern to trace the influence of the Nigerian Bata dance on the Cuban

salsa because there was no dance such as Cuban salsa not until Africans were taken

into slavery in Cuba.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

The objective of this study will explore the Nigerian Bata dance and Cuban salsa dance in order to identify how the Nigerian bata dance has influenced the Cuban salsa and delineate the differences and similarities.

Also, the point at which bata dance became prominent in Cuba shall be traced and at what point does the worship of Sango became prominent in Cuba. This study examines how the Nigerian bata dance was exported via the Trans Atlantic slave trade and how cultural change has affected its subsequent hybrid known as Cuban salsa. Even though

Africans were subjected to a lot of hardship and torture during the period, they still created for fun and entertainment as a way of personal and group liberation. According to Welsh-Asante:

It is by way of dance and music (the human body and human voice belong to the human person however bonded or socially oppressed, after all), that Africa continued and still continues to „rule‟ while others „govern‟ through the importation of a conquerors language, religion and formal intellectual systems for both perceiving the world and acting (or dancing) in it. (xvi)

Bata dance is one of the most important and representative traditional dance among the

Yoruba people of Nigeria and it has been learnt, taught and performed around the world but little attention has been paid to how the dance has influenced other dances most especially in other parts of the world such as Cuba. Unlike This study distinguishes the close similarities and the undiluted steps in both dances. Here by showing the close relationship between the two dances. It will trace back the origin of bata dance to its influence on the Cuban salsa, the spiritual impact of the Nigerian Bata dance and that of

the Cuban salsa and how its musical instruments have been a major part of the afro

Cuban beat.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study will help in documenting how bata dance contributed to the formation and development of the Cuban salsa., the relationships and differences between the Nigerian

Sango and Cuban Chango, the similarities between both dance in movement and performance, it will also highlight the unique dance steps in both dances and how they have been tampered with. Finally it will explore the relationships between the Nigerian bata drums and Cuban bata drums especially, the language of the drums.

1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY

This study will limit its research to the origin of both dances and analyze the two dances in order to show the similarities and differences and also examine the point at which the

Nigerian Bata was accepted in Cuba thereby becoming a dance to reckon with.

1.6 METHODOLOGY

This section involves the methodologies that will be used in carrying out this research from participant observation, experiences during performances of both dances and drawing of parallelisms between the two dances. The primary sources will draw from

Oral Interviews with selected groups who have interacted through workshops on dance in Cuba.

The secondary sources will include literary materials on ballroom European dances, dance, bata dance, Cuban dance, Trans Atlantic slavery and books relevant to the study.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1: DEVELOPMENT OF DANCE IN CUBA

The origin of ballet dance can be traced to the Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th and

16th centuries, but it was Catherine de‟ Medici who took ballet dance from Italy to

France. The first court dance was performed in 1573 and it was commissioned by

Catherine in honour of the visiting Polish ambassador upon the ascension of Henry of

Anjou to the throne of Poland.

In the late 17th century, the Academie Royale de Musique was founded by Louis XIV to mark the first professional theatrical ballet company. The theatrical ballet became an independent form of art and spread from Europe to Other nations. After the colonization of Cuba by Spain, some European dances were introduced such as contredanse which later became the Cuban contradanza. Other ballroom dances were to emerge from contrandanze these are; Mambo, danzo and cha-cha-cha. The Africans also had their influence on Cuban dances, numerous dance traditions were introduced by the slaves from West Africa such as the Yuka and Santeria.

The Spanish and African settlers were responsible for the formation of music and dance in Cuba. Through the years, these music and dance forms evolved into different dance techniques that became distinctly Cuban. There are different types of ballroom dances that were introduced into Cuba such as; Bolero, Tango, Congo, Cha-cha-cha, Mambo meringue, belly dance and ballet.

Some believed that the ballet had more influence on Cuban salsa than African dances.

However, the Cuban national ballet dance company was founded in 1948 after slavery was abolished in Cuba in October 7, 1886. But the black slaves were taken to Cuba between 1820 and 1886 meaning that the Cuban ballet dance company kicked off sixty- two years after the abolishment of slave trade. Pietrobuno in Salsa and its

Transnational moves believe that:

Whites learnt the African body movements which were perpetuated by the dance practices of the neo- African nations. Only after African derived corporeal moves seeped into the choreographic structure of European social dances. This process created dance forms such as the dazon of the late 1800s an ancestor of contemporary salsa (15) As rightly said by Petrobuno, danzon is a mixture of African and European steps, and since Cuban salsa is formed out of danzon, then both African dance styles and

European dance styles formed Cuban salsa. Rachel Thomas in Cuban Dance History:

Part 1 explains the point at which modern dance was introduced in Cuba:

After the 1953-59 revolution, a group of avante- garde performers who had previously been underground came together under dance / choreographer company Ramiro Gueira to form the National Dance company of Havana known for their integration of the percussive movements and rippling hips of Afro-Cuban dance styles with influences from American modern dance. (www.roh.org) With this influence, the habanera dance also emerged in Cuba and it was named after the first place it was performed in Havana in the nineteenth century. Habanera is a slow and graceful dance which has its roots in the English contradanza performed in ball

room dances. However, Matt Becht in The History of Dance in Cuba claimed that

“mambo dance became popular in the nineteenth century” he believes that “this up- tempo dance became popular during the 1940‟s among North American vacationers to

Cuba. Mambo utilizes the same diamond pattern of foot movements on the rumba”.(www.ehow.com)

Becht‟s claim shows that Rumba, Cha-cha-cha and Son which were the popular ballroom dances in Cuba evolved after slavery meaning that their influence might have come after Yoruba bata dance influence on the Cuban salsa. The Cuban culture and tradition is mostly mixed from the Spanish and African descent with the native language as Spanish. In terms of clothing, the Spanish culture had a huge influence on

Cuban womens clothing most especially the rumba dresses which takes the colour and zest of the Spanish culture. Most of the costumes used in performing during this period were made of light cotton or linen material, while some were made of Satin with beads and embroideries attached to the clothes.

Tracing the development of dance culture in Cuba, it has been observed that the change in Cuba‟s societal structure is a major factor responsible for such changes in her dances.

Daniel in Rumba: Dance and Social Change in contemporary Cuba corroborates:

In examining this important Cuban folkloric dance, I focus on social, economic, political and religious conditions that shape its structure and meaning. My guiding hypothesis is that social change can generate change in dance and conversely that change in dance can be identified, analyzed and understood in terms of social currents and societal conditions. (1) Before the introduction of modern dances in Cuba, there were some folkdances such as

Guaracha, danzon and casino, it is discovered that all theses dances have a common

polyrhythmic pattern common to African dances which is the polyrhythmic pattern.

Since Cuban salsa is a mixture of African dance styles and western dance styles, some of its movements have been seen to have its origin in the ballroom dance. Craine and

Mackrell in Marions Ballroom: Culture and Costume in Competitive Dance defined ballroom dance as:

...social dance usually performed by couples in dance halls or at social gatherings during the 20th century. These dances came to be performed widely in competitions, which flourished in Britain and America following the first world war. (19) While performing the ballroom dance, couples hold each other in what is known as the frame, and picture. The male dancer is seen as the frame and the lady becomes the picture in which the frame holds. The function of a frame is to hold a picture, beautify it and showcase it to the world. This is also the interpretation given to the frame posture in ballroom dancing and while the male ballroom dancer holds the lady, he handles her with care and showcases her to the audience. The frame is the shape of the upper body of the dancers relative to the rest of the dancer‟s body and the body of the dancers partner. The frame is a means of connection between the dancers thereby making the leading and the following possible. It is also referred to as “open frame and closed frame”. In Cuban salsa, the arms are held more loosely while in waltz the arms are held more closely. The frame is also the first posture of the dancers before they start dancing the ballroom. Marion quoting Radler in Ballroom: Culture and Costume in Competitive dance explain that “posture makes dancers look elegant and exude confidence” (46).

Posture is one of the qualities of dance movement which helps the dancer assume the right posture, beautifies the dance and makes the dancer comfortable. Marion elaborates:

Dancers are not of course born with superior posture, but in the course of learning ballroom dancing, the alignment of one‟s body, back „blocks‟- head, shoulder, torso and hips-are mechanical fundamentals (40) We can rightly say that the Cuban salsa got its frame movement from ballroom and both dancers do not assume this posture for long in Cuban salsa but rather they hold hands (connecting) while they switch positions. This step allow for intimacy and communication while dancing. With the combination of African and Eoropean culture in Cuban Salsa, the dance can then been seen as an act of taming cultures. Delgado and

Munoz in Everynight Life: Culture and Dance in Latino/ America further explain that:

Translating the motion of bodies into speech, the gestures of dance into a kind of political theatrical grammer, we risk what contributor Mayra Santos Febres has called in “Salsa as Translocation” Complicity in the process of taming culture (4) In theorizing culture and dance, we must put into consideration the location where the dance exists. Cuban salsa as a dance is influenced by European and African dance forms. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that the folk dances of Cuba also influenced Cuban salsa irrespective of the great influence of Nigerian bata dance.

Africans are known for sitting on their waist even with the highly polyrhythmic movement dictated by their set of drums. Whenever the Cuban salsa is performed, the dancers also sit on their waist at intervals and perform some jerks with the shoulders just like in bata dance which is known as (jija bata). Ojuade and authority on bata dance in The Secularization of Nigerian bata Dance expatiates:

This involves quick light footed leg movement coupled with extensive use of jerks (jija bata) which involves shoulder jerks once, twice or thrice

depending on the drummers instructions...it is the most popular of the bata movements variants and widely used in bata dance performances in Yoruba land. (14) The dip is another ballroom dance move that is found in Cuban salsa and it is believed that this dance move is a common feature of ballroom dance before it was introduced to

Cuban salsa. In this dance move, the flyer balances herself, her body may be horizontal or vertical in posture. The base (the male dancer) uses one hand to grip the flyer while performing this dance move. Another way this move can be performed is when the dancer turns her torso sideways towards the audience or to the base. In most cases, the flyer turns her torso to the base to the male dancer which enables him grip her properly.

This dance move can be found in other dances such as; waltz, tango, lindy hop and ballroom dances. Malnig in Dance Till Dawn: A Century of Exhibition Ballroom Dance expatiates:

An outgrowth of the Boston was a step known as Boston dip, a quick, sinking movement made in unison by both partners. A late nineteenth- century dance periodical described the dip as “simply an exaggeration of the glide more like a chase”, each glide being accompanied by a considerable bend of the knees, causing the whole body to sink or dip at constantly recurring intervals (5) Boston in the above quotation refers to the American Waltz that was originally called the Boston. The reason for this name is because the dance was first introduced and performed in Boston by Lorenzo Papatino. At intervals, a Cuban salsa dancer and his partner performs this dance move and in most cases, it is used to end a dance performance. Corroborating this, Mcmains in Spinning Mambo into Salsa: Caribbean

Dance in Global Commerce adds:

Agrey haired man in a double Suit flashes a smile as he punctuates a series of rapid foot showing off and clings with slow turn, showing his playful interpretation of Charanga America‟s love rendition of their little song. In a club catering to younger patrons, a pair of would be lovers are entwined in the middle of a crowded dance floor, interrupting their smooth turns to indulge in a succulent dip as the disk jockey (DJ) fades out the last notes of romantic tune by Gilberto Sante Rosa. (1) Here, Mcmains confirms that the dip movement is mostly used to end a dance. The

Charanga is a traditional ensemble of Cuban dance music made popular in the 1940s and performed on European instruments. Many would wonder why Cuban dance is characterized by so many dance steps reflecting Africa and Europe. This is because

Cuba had a lot of immigrants settling down and practicing their culture and any superior culture superior would normally dominate the other at some point.

Some of the African steps found in Cuban Salsa can be traced to slavery and they became popular through the santaria worship. Taylor quoting Wenti in Nation Dance:

Religion, Identity, and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean confirm that:

African Caribbean religion also incorporates aspects of Christianity as taught by Europeans. As has often observed, African deities share altars with Christian Saints in Haiti, Cuba, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. (3) The Santeria worship in Cuba is a mixture of Catholicism and the worship of African deities which comprises of Yoruba and Bantu people in Southern Nigeria, Senegal and

Guinea coast. The slaves preserved the elements of their religion by systematically equating each of their deities with a corresponding Christian Saint which made theme

liken Sango to Saint Barbara the controller of thunder, lightning and fire. In worshipping these deities, gods were referred to as Olorun or Olodumare meaning the owner of heaven, he is seen as the supreme deity and the creator of the universe who watches over the lesser gods (Orisha). Each of these deities had colours used associated with them. Sango shares red and white with Saint Barbara.

While they worshiped, rituals would begin with invocation and drumming which provides the African rhythm that takes them into trance. Each of the deities have a particular rhythm associated with him and the rhythms change to that deity that is being invoked. Suki in Contemporary Dance in Cuba: Tecnica Cubana as Revolutionary movement added that:

Members of the Yoruba tribe exerted a strong influence over the developing Afro-Cuban culture when African traditions were syncretized, Yoruba names were often used for the deities for whom dance was an essential form of worship (65) One would wonder why this study focuses on the Yoruba bata dance influencing the

Cuban salsa and the how the population of the Yoruba slaves affected the Cuban

Culture. Before hegemony can take place, one culture must be stronger than the other.

The Yoruba culture became stronger than that of the Cubans through worship which was later referred to as syncreticism. Desmangles in Taylors Nation Dance: Religion,

Identity and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean argued that:

Recent scholarship argues, however that the term “symbiosis” is more applicable to Caribbean religions than is either “syncreticism” or “creolization”, in that it accommodates the dance of difference that characterizes them. According to Desmangles, “symbiosis refers to the spatial

juxtaposition of diverse religious traditions from two continents, which co-exists without fusing with one another” (3) Africans that were taken to Cuba against their will and forced to work as chattel slaves looked back at their continent Africa, saw it as the source of their culture, religion and identity. Each nation tried as much as possible to preserve their culture and traditions.

Though the Cubans tried to stop the rate at which the Africans were making head way with their religion and culture but because Africans are known to be dedicated and steadfast at what they love doing, it was difficult for the Cubans to stop them. Taylor adds:

Despite the external orientation in Caribbean culture, religion played an important role in the processes leading toward the development of new natural cultures and national independence. The ethnic nationalism in which religion expressed itself constantly provided a site of opposition to the European colonial order. The colonial authorities quickly learned the dangers of allowing the slaves to dance, drum and “have fun”, and aspects of slave culture were forbidden. (4) Going further, the slave also resisted the Cubans but continued with their culture and tradition. The Cubans then came to a point of recognition and found out that both cultures could exist and still carry on their day to day activities without the slaves being distracted because the major reason why they were bought was to make them work on the plantations. Taylor continues:

The modern nation, whether in the Caribbean or outside of it is the site of difference, plurality, and transformation. In the nation dance, the dispersed nations dance their separate dances in the same yard. They borrow from and influenced each other but the dancing of the different nations does not stop. The

dance of nations is not ultimately about the dialectic of ethnicity on the stage of History; nor is it simply the immanent expression of a monotheistic God‟s strange and polymorphous ways. It is about spirit as it manifests itself in the individual community; and it is about the relations between living communities in a modern globalized world. (12) 2.2 BLACK DANCE

the particularity of Africa‟s cultural heritage does

not, however rule out the universality of its dance as

colonial anthropology once led. Europe and the rest

of the colonized world (including Africa itself), to

believe. As with the art forms emanating from other

civilization of cultural complexes, it merely means

that viewers of African dance need to understand

Africa‟s cultural heritage if they are to understand

and critically appreciate in any depth the true

meaning and aesthetics authority of what is being

seen. (Welsh-Asante:xiv)

Through slavery and colonialism, Africans became vast in Europe‟s cultural heritage but Europeans referred to African dance as savage and licentious. The Europeans referred to dances that are usually cantered on folk and social dance as black dance.

Through cultural integration while some Africans were in slavery, the whites were able to force some of their customs on them such as; religion, dance and dressing which brought about a hybridized form of culture that later affected some of their dances.

African dances are deeply rooted in their culture and traditions and some of their

movements are based on cultural practices or vocations. Learning the white mans way of doing things, the slaves learnt new ways of creating dances which gave their dances structure and form. The typical way of bending, using of the hips and waist gave way to a more upright posture. Other preferences such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, polyrhythms and multiple body rhythms were added to their dances. An example of black dance is the stick dance which developed on the American plantation during the slavery era. This dance was used to practice secret military drills among the slaves when slaves will pick sticks as a form of weapon and dance with it. Some of the dances referred to as black dance were majorly occupational dances.

According to Emery in Black Dance from 1619 to Today:

The black slaves of the Caribbean danced there is no doubt. Nearly every author writing of life in the West Indies before 1900 mentioned the dance. Many of these discriptions are scanty, but it is certain that the blacks did dance. (20) The blacks moved from pure native dances to dances with technicalities that were created to suit their new environment. In this new era, new dances were created to entertain the plantation owners. But it did give the new African dances new forms and these forms were referred to as „black dances‟. They are; Calenda, Chica, Juba and

Bamboula.

The calenda dance originated from Guinea and it is performed by couples in a ring of other dancers who sang and clapped in accompaniment. The dancers shuffle and stamp their feets originating from the hips while dancing. The couples strike their tighs against each other, sometimes they will lock their arms, spin and kiss each other at intervals while they perform. Emery quoting Labat confirms that:

The calenda seemed to be the favourite of the favourites of the blacks. Most white observers thought it indecent. Labat believed that the calenda came “from the coast of Guinea” and by all indications from the kingdom of Arda. By 1724, when Labat‟s book was published, the slave owners had banned the calenda, partly because they feared uprisings among large gatherings of blacks. (21) The whites considered the striking of tighs and kissing as highly suggestive and indecent. Knowles in Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing adds:

In 1964, French monk Jean Baptiste Labat described the dance as dishonest and lascivious, and suggested that slaves should instead be taught minuets “which would satisfy their love of dancing in an innocent way” (29) Despite Labats suggestion, the blacks continued to perform the calenda from the young to the old. The blacks enjoyed this dance so much that they will perform and dance for hours and when a partner gets tired another stands to join the dance. Emery corroborates:

Even though the dance was considered indecent by some , it was adopted by Spanish. Creoles and provided to be one of their favourite pastimes. (22) This dance became so popular that it was given different names such as Kalenda, jo-and

Johnny and joan –and –johnny. At some point other dances such as black bottom, fox trot, the shimmy, the charlestron and the American rhumba took some of its steps and added it to theirs.

The Chica dance on the other hand originated from Congo, the Negroes cherished it and carried it along with them to the Antilles where it was later neutralized. This dance became popular in the West Indies and South America, the nuns loved it so much that

they performed it at Christmas Eve but they were unable to dance it the way the African women danced it. Quoting St.-Mery, Emery adds:

It is difficult to conceive of the refinement which

they have applied to the dance. They go so far that

their breasts seem to be independent of their chest,

which they shake with such vigour that it is tiring

even to watch. (25)

The above quotation shows the extent to which blacks love their dances and the passion in which they use in performing such dances. Going further, Emery quoting St.- Mery explains the zest used by the Negroes to be:

So strong that a negro no matter how tired he may

be from his work, always finds the strength to dance

and even to travel several leagues to satisfy his

passion. (21)

The main characteristics of the Chica dance is the rotation of the hips with an immobile upper part of the body. This dance is a highly seductive dance in which the women dance in flirtatious manner and the men will pursue them round the dance floor. Watson in Streeswing observes:

These Creole women would stand firmly in one

place and shimmy shake their booty, all the while

undulating the body and handkerchief held by the tip

ends waving above her head. The male would move

in the same way but with more aggression, showing

his excitement and stamina, sorta moving in a

stalking pattern, circling around her.

(www.streetswing.com)

The bamboula drum is the major instrument used in accompanying this dance and some aspects of the chica dance was later incorporated into the mambo and rhumba dance. In

Emery‟s words “perhaps elements of the chic appeared in the much later Rumba and

Mambo”. (26)

The juba dance is sometimes called Jumba was majorly used for competitive purposes during which a dancer challenges the skills of the other in a series of bravula solos. The dance was coined out from the African step dance called the giouba having a similar footwork to the Irish jig. This dance is usually performed by two male dancers in a circle of other performers. The juba dance was performed without instruments because the whites feared that slaves could use drums to communicate which then made the spectators clap and beat their tighs. Knowles added that:

As they performed increasingly difficult and intricate steps, they were accompanied by the others in the circle who clapped, stamped and slapped their tighs as they kept time and encouraged the competitors in verse and song. (30)

This style of clapping and slapping of tighs was later used in many other dances in the

United States. An example is the Patting Juba which makes use of striking of the hands against the body. Knowles continues:

The use of slapping and clapping as a form of accompaniment was also later used in many dances in the united states called patting Juba, this method of making music by striking the hands against the body was also incorporated in early tap

performances, such as those of America‟s first real tap dancer William Henry Lane. (30).

Agreeing with Knowles, Emery quoting Edwards agree that:

Charles Edwards wrote of the same type of dance performed in the Bahamas, except that his account dealt with a dance done by men only. “Some expert dancer „sleep off‟ his speciality in a challenging way” while the rest of the men keep time by clapping, stamping and slapping their tighs (this accompaniment was called “patting Juba” in the United States (29)

The three dances explained above are just three out of the numerous black dances in the

West Indies. Blacks who were taken to the colonies of Spain, Portugal, South America and the Caribbean were given much freedom to dance than those who were enslaved in

North America. In North America, slave owners stopped Africans from dancing but they found ways to continue dancing. Since lifting of legs was prohibited, they shuffled their legs and use more of hip and torso movement. In the 1800s, dances moved from the plantation to the stage through minstrel shows, and black dances were formally introduced to the audience. Both black and whites performed these dances because they were loved by both cultures. At first, the blacks were dressed in a funny way and they looked like caricatures that were often ridiculed.

In the Calenda, Chica and Juba dance, one will find elements of ballroom dances in them, this is because African slaves found American dances inadequate and lacking the creativity and energy required to dance. The slaves were not comfortable with the new dances introduced to them so they refused their own steps into the new dances introduced to them. Knowles points out:

African slaves often found the dances of white colonial Americans inadequate and lacking in creativity. Accustomed to elaborate and complex dance rituals that required improvisational skills, slaves viewed the rigidly codified dances that were learned from European dancing manuals as inhibiting freedom of expression. As they struggled to adapt to their new surroundings, slaves were often forced to accept these Europeans forms. When they did so, however, they infused them with their own rhythms, steps and style. In this way, European dances were Africanized and therefore transformed. (39)

While new slaves were taken to Europe, they helped to perpetuate the African influence upon the American dance forms, as early as the beginning of the 18th century. Through worship, African dances became more secularized and less connected to their roots in dance as a form of worship. Knowles notes that “ceremonial contexts were dropped although the dance vocabulary drawn from African culture was still used” (39)

International slave trade was abolished in 1807 and the importation of slaves was banned. This reduced the number of slaves taken to Europe, though some were still illegally taken to Europe. With less contact with indigenous Africans, the cultural values of the African slaves decreased and the European culture dominated the African culture. Knowles concludes:

Dances from the multiplicity of different African tribes that had been thrown together on the plantations blended and mutated even more, and a distinct African-American culture began to emerge. White slaves owner believed that the ability to dance added to the financial value of the slave. Even the

auction block was called the “banjo table” because slaves were forced to dance as they were being sold. (41)

The above quotation shows that at some point, slaves were not only used for plantation purposes but they were also used as objects of entertainment such that a slave who could dance more become more expensive than the ones who couldn‟t dance

2.3 MODERN DANCE

Modern dance developed in the early twentieth century as a reaction to classical ballet and it focuses on a dancers own interpretations instead of structured and stereotyped steps. Modern dance is performed based on the dancers inner feelings. In 1900,

European dancers began a rebellion against rigid classical ballet rules which made them turn against its structured techniques, shoes and costumes. Carter quoting Tomko in

Rethinking Dance History: A Reader argued that:

The characteristics of identifiable periods evolve from conditions of possibility constructed by social networks and systems. Arguing that we need to explore both approaches. Tomko suggest that the social conditions of the „separate sphere‟ ideology of men and women in the late nineteenth century enabled middle-and upper class women to construct their own social networks and become custodians of culture. It was within the conditions that practitioners of early modern dance operated (6)

The origin of modern dance can be traced to the United states and Germany when modern dance was pioneered by great dancers like; Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Dens,

Loie Fuller, Rudolf Von Laban and Mary Wigman in Germany. Each of these dancers rebelled against the rigid formalism and superficiality of classical ballet. These set of

dancers were mostly moved by the mood created from the music, tapping into their emotions and creativity which makes them perform unrehearsed steps. Columbia

Electronic Encyclopedia recalls that:

Isadora Duncan shocked or delighted audiences by baring her body and soul in what she called "free dance." Wearing only a simple tunic like the Greek vase figures that inspired many of her dances, she weaved and whirled in flowing natural movements that emanated, she said, from the solar plexus. She aimed to idealize abstractly the emotions induced by the music that was her motivating force... (www.infoplease.com)

2.4 AFRICAN AMERICAN MODERN DANCE

The dance styles of hundreds of African ethnic groups and culture merged with

European dances formed the African American modern dance. Folk materials contributed to the principles of modern dance composition. DeFrantz in Dancing

Revelation: Alvin Ailey‟s Embodiment of African American Culture Corroborates:

For years, American modern dance had searched for ways to connect with an expanded general audience. Ailey‟s dance confirmed that folk materials, carefully mediated by principles of modern dance composition, could retain the immediacy of their resources in the transformation to concert dance: (3)

These dances are centred on folk and social dance practice placing great value on improvisation and emotions. Captured Africans from different societies in different regions in the 17th and 18th centuries started dancing together as couples. Obviously this

is learnt from the western dances forced on them. However, some did not see these dances as good work works of art because they came from Africans. Defrantz in

Dancing Many Drums: Excarvations in African American Dance argued that:

For some critics, “black dance” came to be signified simply by the presence of African dancers. Other critics and artists, including Ailey, realized that little could be accomplished by labelling works made by all African American as something intrinsically beyond the mainstream of modern dance, even if those artists‟ off stage lives remained bound by inescapable. Everyday American racism (10)

Racism affected the black dances of this era which prevented African Americans to perform the way they wanted. With this, their dances gained less popularity. Defrantz add that:

Where Emery often reduces the history of racial disenfranchisement and victimization at the hands of powerful white audiences, including themselves, denies a relationship of dance performance to political strategy. (13)

Because of the racism experienced, black dancers began to infuse steps to show their anger and reactions to the society. Most of their performances were motivated by their present conditions. Defrantz corroborates:

Each of these attributes could also be discerned in concert work made by artists involved in the Black Arts movement, although the final attributes- the songs and dances of derision-most clearly encompassed the political dimension of “black dance” performance. In this category, movement

provokes metacommetary and suggests narratives outside the physical frame of performance (14)

While still trying to preserve their culture in dance, Africans had to look for their own audience so that they can keep performing. They kept working on their dances, creating new techniques and forms in order to be able to keep the little audience they had.

Manning in Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion agrees that:

Although modern dance and Negro dance emerged in tandem, the interrelated practices developed unevenly. This resulted partly from differences in patronage. While modern dancers managed to create a sustained network for training and production, this network extended few opportunities to Negro dancers. Hence Negro dancers had to improvise patronage of their own at the interstices of existing networks. (4)

During the late twentieth century, distinctions among ballet, modern dance and show dancing were not rigid as they were. Ballet maintained a formal choreographing technique than those of modern dances but their themes and stage effects were often similar.

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 HISTORICISM

What is to offer an historical explanation of an event or action? History and aesthetics do seem to have vital fact in common that they are concerned with events which are particular and individual rather than instances of the application of a scientific law (Hamilton:14) In defining historicism, the following words are very important; history, event and action. For history to happen, certain events must have taken place which can also be said to be actions. These actions can then be narrated or retold and the act of attaching importance to these events can also be called historicism

In his book of the same title, Hamilton defines Historicism as “a critical movement insisting on the prime importance of historical context to the interpretation of texts of all kinds”. (1-2). He further explains that:

While human beings have generally tried to understand themselves historically, they have not always done so as historicist. Historicism emerges

in reaction to the practice of deducing from first principle truths about how people are obliged to organize themselves socially and politically. (2) Hamilton emphasizes the word “movement” to mean the moving of things, people or objects from one place to the other. Colebrook reacting to Hamilton‟s definition of

Historicism in his book New Literary Histories: New Historicism and contemporary criticism as “a critically self- aware form of histography which took on board a sense of history as a narrative, anecdote, power or discourse” (vi). Since Colebrook has also seen historicism as a form of narration. Historicism then is the narration of historical event in a performance medium in order to show the points at which changes occurred in history.

Slavery in America began in 1619 when the African slaves were taken to the North

American colony of James town, Virginia in order to aid production of tobacco. From then, slavery spread throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. In an attempt to go into agriculture, the Americans discovered that it will require a large workforce to cultivate crops such as tobacco, sugar cane and cotton required to ensure timely production for the European market. Therefore, there was the need to come down to Africa to kidnap or buy slaves arose.

The major reason for slavery was because the Americans wanted to grow economically but lacked the man power and energy required to do manual farm works, they came to the shores of Africa and bought slaves with little expense.

The invention of cotton gin intensified the vital need for slave labour to the south‟s economy. In 1803, the ships that carried the refugees who were white people and free black people from Saint Domingue reached the shores of Cuba. Even though all the passengers in the ship had been legally free but upon their arrival, the Cubans classified

the blacks as slaves. The whites were allowed to go but those who were Africans or

Mullattos (people of mixed races) were detained. The ship then became a form of floating prison. Immediately some, of the whites declared the blacks as slaves.

The events that happened between 1442 and 1886 which is to today called the Trans

Atlantic slave trade did not without reason. Slavery in Nigeria started in 1472 when the

Portuguese adventurers sailed southwest along the gulf of Guinea and they landed on the west coast (Nigeria). People of different cultures were found and they discovered that all these people were ruled by kings and monarchs which gave them an easy penetration because there was no form of strong government. They also discovered that not all African societies were developed and some enjoyed village existence in primeval forests. The first set of African slaves landed in the Portuguese port of Lagos. However, the discourse on the Trans Atlantic slave trade shall be limited to that of Cuba to

Nigeria.

The sugar cane plantations existed in the territory of the island of Cuba from the 16th century until its abolishment by royal decree on October 7, 1886. During this period, more than a million African slaves were brought to Cuba as slaves. Consequently, cultural transformation took place and some traditional values were lost, and which also gave birth to new cultural values which then became the hybridized culture.

After slave trade was abolished in 1808, the domestic slave trade from the upper South became the principal source of expansion of slavery. By 1850, 1.8 million of the 2.5 million enslaved Africans employed in agriculture in the united state were working on cotton plantation. However each plantation economy was part of a larger national political economy. As the cotton plantation economy expanded throughout the southern region, banks and financial houses supplied capital to purchase more slaves.

After Kurtrice and tobacco was established in Cuba, the island supported Hispaniola as the prime Spanish base in the Caribbean and more field labour was required. This brought about the need for more African slaves to work on the plantations. After some years, the Cuban sugar plantations became the most important world producer of sugar.

This attributed to slave labour who were subjected to work for twenty hours a day. With the boom Cubas sugar in the 19th century, the country became developed in no time and planters needed safe and efficient ways to transport the sugar from the plantation to the ports. The slaves were also used in constructing the railways and roads.

These series of events that happened in America at different times would have been left only in narration, but to further understand and appreciate the aesthetics in performance while retelling stories, Colebrook also agrees that… “no event or text is meaningful in isolation-alongside an anxiety regarding generality. No overall totality, explanation or term can be set „outside‟ events…” (viii). Using performance to narrate history brings the audience closer to the event. Since they cannot see it the way it happened, rather than just reading it in texts, performance gives it a close re-enactment. The whites came to Africa and went away with slaves. Right from when the slaves were on board different things happened to the abolishment of slave trade. It‟s true that all this can be read in texts but with performance there comes a level of emotional attachment.

Colebrook continues:

But if history is no longer a non-textual or pre- textual outside what takes the form of ideology, then interpretation many no longer be the revealing of the meaning of a given text so much as a production (viii). In order for a production or performance to take place, a venue is needed which is the theatre where the theatrical activities are carried out. Since Colebrook as also agreed

that historicism should not be judged based on ideas and text alone but also from a performance point of view, then theatricalizing becomes imperative. In agreement with the above statement, Gallagher and Greenblatt in Practicing New Historicism add: If an entire culture is regarded as a text, then everything is at least potentially in play both at the level of representation and at the level of event. Indeed it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a clear, unambiguous boundary between what is representation and what is event... (15). In order to narrate the events in a performance medium, a theatrical process must follow through a re-arrangement of past history into a new idea and format. In most cases, ideas are usually seen as a mental representation of images of objects, which can also be in an abstract form. The ability to think and understand the meaning of ides is seen as a distinctive feature of man. Furthermore, in order to narrate the events that took place during the Trans Atlantic slave trade in a performance medium, there must have been an idea and it is the sole responsibility of the owner of that idea to build it up having in mind the scope of what is to be done

It is incumbent on performance to device the best style to convey the plot, sometimes to a particular space. Therefore, it is important to consider the era which the event that is to be narrated took place. Audiences differ and this will determine to a large extent the performances styles to adopt symbolism, naturalism, realism, absurdism, modernism, have their different impacts. The plot is the story itself. These are events that make up a story and the events must relate to each other, meaning that the story must flow. The appropriate links must be created and the highpoints of the story must be carefully guided so as not reveal the suspense before time. The plot helps in drawing the reader into the lives of characters and further helps the reader to understand the choices that the characters make.

Characterization is the systematic way of creating and building up characters for a narrative. In characterization, the writer reveals the personality of a character directly or indirectly. The reader or the audience is introduced to the character and the writer must be conscious enough to make sure that the audience will be able to relate with the characters.

It is during performance that the history or story comes to live. The performance is made up of the events in the history that is to be narrated. Without performance, my definition of historicism is not complete because it is with performance that the events can be see as they unfold.

3.2 SLAVERY: TRANSPORTATION OF CULTURE

The African diaspora had a major demographic and cultured impact on all areas of Latin America, from Mexico to the Bahamas to Chile and Brazil. Although it is unusual today to observe African features among the populations of many Latin American nations, it should not be assumed that the genetic contributions was slight. In some parts of colonial Latin America, Africans outnumbered Europeans by a margin of 15 to 1 (Davis: xi) Slavery is defined here as a condition that warrants individuals to own others, and these set of individuals control how slaves live and where they work. In this situation, human beings are classed as properties and they are forced to work for little or no gain.

Between 1619 and 1800, the most common form of slavery was the chattel form of slavery where an enslaved person is forever owned by his owner and all his children are

automatically enslaved. These set of slaves are treated completely as properties to be bought and sold.

Slave trade or forced migration in America can be classified into three groups.

 A forced migration from the shores of Africa to America also known as the

transatlantic slave trade.

 The second type of forced migration is the intra or internal slave trade. In this

group, slaves were transported from the Atlantic coast to the interior of south

America.

 The third form of forced migration was when African Americans carried black

people from the rural south to the urban North.

In African culture, song, music and dance are forms of entertainment. It will be very difficult to separate an African from these because even while an African works he sings, when he is happy he sings and dances, in times of tribulation he expresses his feelings and emotions through songs. While Africans were is slavery, even though they were displaced geographically and forced out of their countries, it was very difficult to take away their cultures and traditions from them. As Eyerman observed in Cultural

Trauma: Slavery and the formation of African American Identity also agree that “it was in this context that recollection of slavery was articulated as cultural trauma” (16). The

Americans in an attempt to make Africans work for them and understand them to an extent tampered with their culture and by so doing they had to guard the little of their culture left with them jealously. In other to do this, while working on plantations, they sing and dance as practiced in Africa. The Americans couldn‟t take this away from them because to an extent it made them work faster in addition the Americans needed to be entertained as well. So Africans were not only used as slaves but they were also used as a form of entertainment.

Eyerman further explains that:

…the idea of an African American was one result of this identity struggle. It is important to keep in mind the notion „African American‟ is not itself a natural category but an historically formed collective identity which first of all required articulation and then acceptance on the part of those it was meant to incorporate. It was here, in this identity-formation that the memory of slavery would be central, not so much as individual experience, but as collective memory. (16) Africans slaves had to survive by adapting to their new environment, though it was not easy for them to settle down because they were subjected to learning a new way of life.

The morning to greet and play with them was taking away, the moon light tales, festivals and rituals were all gone but instead they wake up in the morning with just four hours of sleep to go and work on the plantation. They were forced to learn new manners like greeting their masters. They were flogged when they do things the wrong way and even forced to wear clothes they were not comfortable with. Davis in Slavery and Beyond: The African impact on Latin American and the Caribbean confirms that:

The Africans survival depended on his or her ability to resist or manipulate, collectively and individually a common institutional structure. Many slaves resisted their European oppressors through suicide, escape, sabotage and defiance of the laws of social conduct and religion. Others sought to preserve their own culture while accommodating themselves to the new social and cultural order. (xiii) While the American economy grew, the Americans kept on coming to the shores of

African to acquire more slaves. On their arrival, parents were separated for their

children, the slaves will be prepared for sale like animals, and they will be washed and shaved. In some cases their bodies will be oiled to make them look good and appear healthy in order to increase their offer price. The conditions in the plantation which the slaves worked were deplorable, the heat in the boiling baracoons and the number of working hours most especially during the harvest period was between eighteen to twenty hours per day. Because of the harsh conditions, the death rate on the plantations increased and the two major causes were; brutality and diseases. Despite all these, the slaves still practiced their culture.

Different varieties of ethnic groups were taken to Cuba over the period of hundred years. Approximately, hundred million people were taken into slavery. Many of these slaves died during slave related wars while some died on transit. During the whole trade period in Cuba, approximately 1.5 million Africans landed in the America. Lopez

Valdez, an ethnologist from the Cuban academy of sciences on Cuban History,

Architecture and culture, records that:

The number of slaves landing alive in Cuba over the whole period (1521-1870s) was about 1.3 million, almost one tenth of all slaves in the Americas. They were brought mostly in the 1800s:

Years Number of Africans landing alive in Cuba per year 1521-1762 500 1763-1789 600 1790-1820 8,300

1821-1870s 16,700

There were four major ethnic groups that accounted for most of the Africans brought to Cuba: Bantu, Yoruba, Ibo/Ibibio/Ijaw, and Ewe/Fon. The numbers of these peoples introduced to Cuba were: Group Number of Africans landed in Cuba during slave trade Bantu 400,000 Yoruba 275,000 Ibo/Ibibio/Ijaw 240,000 Ewe/Fon 200,000 Others 185,000

(www.cubaheritage.org) With this great number of different ethnic groups from Africa being taken into slavery in Cuba, in one way or the other, the Africans would have influenced that culture. On the effect of African culture on the Americans, Hill explains that:

Herskorits applied the concept of culture area of Africa, which he divided into regions of similar culture. But he spent most of his career establishing a theory that would explain under what conditions African Cultural traits could be retained in the America, what conditions would lead to a loss of

African culture, and what conditions would lead to a mix of African and European (as well as, perhaps Native American) cultures in the Americas. He thought most African retentions would occur in those areas of culture that were least affected by slavery, such as folklore (including some aspects of religion, magic, belief and music) most changed - that is, elements of European culture in the Americas that were adopted by people of African descent in the Caribbean would be agricultural practices, political and legal systems and trade. That is the parts of culture most important to the slave owners needs. (91) After the abolition of slave trade in Cuba, Christianity was no longer the religion practiced in Cuba, the local version of Catholicism which was enriched with the African influences became a popular religion among the whites and creole Cubans. Santeria is also a religious syncreticism. Santeria is a religious system of the Yoruba people of

Nigeria who were taken into slavery in Cuba. This religious practice gained more prominence in the eastern region. The religion is based on the maintenance of relationships between people and deities (Orisas). The orisa‟s were interchangeable used as catholic saints. The slaves had looked for a means to worship their gods so what they did was to put on the face of a catholic piety while worshipping their own gods.

3.3 DANCE: INADVERTENT EXPORT

Dance is the temporal art form, which consist of selected sequence of body movements.

This body movement has aesthetic and symbolic values that goes along with a particular rhythm acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a

particular culture. That is to say, the dance of a group of people is the reflection of their culture.

The history of dance closely follows the development of human race. Dance can be said to be as old as man because it is the movement of the body to any given rhythm and there is no way a man will walk that parts of his body would not move. These movements of several parts of his body at one point or the other are in line with the rhythm his body has also created. Therefore man‟s body becomes the producer of the rhythm and some parts of his body dances to the rhythm created by him. Welsh, et.al in

African Dance explains the profundity of dance:

Dance is central to the human beings expression of emotion. Every time we shake someone‟s hand, lift a glass in a toast, wave good-bye or applaud a performer. We are doing a form of dance. We live in a universe of time and space, and dance is an art form invented by human beings to express and convey emotions. Dance is profound (9) When a man listens to music, two moods are created; the happy and the sad. Some melodies will cause the heart to drop with sadness while some will lift the soul and man finds himself tapping his foot in an accompanying rhythm, seemingly beyond control.

The body has been programmed to express emotions and feelings. Dance serves as an important method for communicating human thought and feeling as mans progresses went through centuries. Dance was changed to the point of being typical method for expression, wellbeing, communication and competition. Dance then becomes an art form that involves movement of the body; it may be participatory, social, performed or ceremonial. Over time, dance has become an important part of rituals, celebrations, entertainment and ceremonies. It can also be used to tell stories either true life stories or

fictions. Today, different people dance in order to express a variety of emotion, be it happiness, sadness, excitement, joy, love or appreciation. Different countries have dances that can be identified with a region and its culture. For example, in Africa, the

Ghanaians are known for their kpalongo dance. Throughout history every country is noted for one traditional dance.

DANCE AS A REFLECTION OF LIFE

Africa is made up of fifty-four countries and it is the second largest continent in the world. African people and their cultures represent diversity of economic and social structures with different beliefs, religion and arts. For so many decades now, the

African cultures have captured the spirit of life events, community and spiritual beliefs.

Dance in Africa is a reflection of day to day activities. African dances vary but the mostly fall under the following categories; stilt dances, military or war dances, mask dances, rites of passage or initiation dances, harvest dances, story and myth dances and ethnic dances (cultural dances). The stilt dance is a very common dance throughout

Africa. The dancer balances on a wooden stilt of different heights. The stilts are covered with the same type of fabric the dancer is wearing. This is done in order to give the illusion that the dancer has extremely long legs.

The war dances are mostly performed by men. In some ethnic groups women are allowed to participate and there are some special war dances for women. The dance is choreographed to depict war and conquest and the major dance steps used in this type of dance are strong and athletic movement with one major principle of choreography used in achieving this dance which is climax. This has to do with repetition of steps and high tempo. The mask dance is a type of dance that is performed in different ways to

ward off evil spirits, storytelling and honouring African deities. Dancers disguise with a painted face and parts of their bodies are covered. In some cases real masks are used.

The initiation dances on the other hand represents a child‟s or adolescent transition or even transformation into manhood. The major part of the body used for this type of dance is the hip and wriggling of waist. However, the interpretation varies greatly between ethnic groups. Virtually all African dances can be used as transcendence and transformation purposes. In other words these dances are associated with possession and trance. In a dance of trance, the initiate or practitioner travels through several altered states and he is able to communicate with the ancestors or deities thereby receiving important information which he relays back to the community. The choreographic technique used mainly is the retrograde known for performing the reverse of initial steps. Following its sharp display and ritual touch. The greater the level of intensity, the closer the dancer gets to the designated point. Welsh et.al see:

African dance as a collection of dances that are imbued with meaning infused purposely with rhythm and connected to the ritual events, occasions and mythologies of a specific people. African dance is theatre in that it involves song, drama, masquerade traditions and music. (16) In looking at African dances, there is need to understand the styles in which they are grouped; traditional, neotraditional and stylized.

TRADITIONAL: talking about traditional dances, they are dances that embodies the cultural values of a particular society. These dances are from that society and they are also a means of identification. These dances adhere to specific customs and rituals.

NEOTRADITIONAL: Neo means „ new or revived from‟. These are dances that are created in the likeness of traditional dances but do not come from a particular society and are not bound to all the ethics and cultural rules of that particular society.

STYLIZED: This type of dance is used to represent the aesthetics ideals of a given society. The beauty of the society is represented in the dance either in shapes or formations. This type of dance is generational. The Odunde dance from Nigeria is an example.

Dance has always been an effective means of communication and it is the same in

Africa. Therefore dance becomes a universal language. Thus:

The ability to express oneself without speaking is treasured in many traditional societies in Africa. Ideas can be conveyed that the entire community can understand and appreciate in such a way that dance affirms the community and its culture and history. Through dance, a group can regulate or monitor the social behavior of individuals by expressing approval or disapproval. The dance is part of cultural expression (Welsh, et.al 18). African dance is participatory in nature; the spectators are a part of the performance.

Most times, performances are done in open spaces which makes it a form of theatre in the round. Therefore, there are no barriers between dancers and the spectators unless the performance is religious or spiritual. In most cases, the spectators become the dancer and the dancers become the spectator in a social dance. This allows for unity in the community/ these dances can be entertaining and enjoyable, but this is not always the main reason. It depends on the reason why the dance is performed. Asante rightly observes that:

When people truly dance, there can be no observers for those who seek to watch soon join one or two groups. Either numbed, bewildered, or frightened by the intensity of their own emotions they subconsciously remove themselves back to their comfortable living rooms and shut out the scene that their eyes unseeingly follow or they are snatched, plucked up by an invisible force hurled into the ring of the dance, their own heartbeat matching the crescendo of pulsing sound, their bodies becoming one with the sweating dancers (3) To adequately understand the African dance, some knowledge of African religions and their practices are necessary. In the ecstasy of a religious dance, the dancer becomes a god-form and his/her body frees itself of all structural limitations. In this state, the legs, bodies, arms, heads at this point move to achieve seemingly impossible counterpoint.

Drums have been an essential part of African life. Drums play an important role in virtually all aspects of African life, which includes the physical, emotional and spiritual.

These drums are played to communicate, mourn, inspire and celebrate. They are also played during harvest, death, birth, peace and war. Drums are inseparable from the

African culture because it is part of their whole existence. Virtually everything Africans do is within a particular rhythm. Drumming helps define the African culture so much that during the slave trade and Africans were scattered throughout the world, the skill of drumming taken along with them irrevocably altered the world of music and it is at this point percussion instruments was introduced into the American music. Asante adds that:

It is believed that the greatest drummer musicians are not those who “learn” to play the instrument but those “born for the purpose” divinely inspired. In their hands the drum becomes a voice, sweet

soothing, teasing, laughing or sharp, commanding and powerful. The great drummers say “we do not play the drum. We are the drum.” The investigator believes that somebody that will come and inspire artist musician who will listen to the thousand sounds in Africa and capture them for posterity is a great symphony. (10) Asante continues: there is rhythm in the winning and pounding of grains, there is rhythm in the gait of our women folk, there is highly developed rhythm in coition, there is rhythm in the groan of a sick person, there is complex rhythm in the milking of a cow, there is rhythm that beggars description in the beat of our tomtoms, there is rhythm in almost everything we do (10)

This simply means that an average African is born with a great sense of rhythm and right from his childhood he is introduced to rhythm. While they baby cries, an African woman backs the child and stamps her feet in rhythm. The way the baby shakes on her back is to a particular rhythm, even while the baby cries and she stamps her feet in order to calm the baby. The break in the baby‟s voice while she cries follows a particular rhythm. Clearly, dance in Africa cannot stand alone but accompanied by drumming which complements its whole existence. Furthermore Sublette in Cuba and its Music from the First drums to the Mambo adds that…

It is easy to believe that the origin of the dance pulse must be in the human heartbeat, or the even gait of two legs walking but the urge to talk its fundamentally human, and drums in west Africa-the motherland of drums-are not only rhythmic but

discursive. Inspired by the Yoruba drumming of Cuba, percussionist I know in New York went to Nigeria and lived for a month in a house with bata drummers. Upon arriving he told them he wanted to “learn the rhythm”. Anyone can learn rhythms they scoffed. You have to learn how to speak with the drum. When the big festivals come you need to be able to defend yourself against the drummed jabs from the rival groups. The drummer who talks most gets the most respect. (44) Bata drumming and other aspects of African culture were taken to Cuba through the slave trade at different times. During this period of hundred years, the Yoruba tribe became the second most influential ethnic group because from the statistics given by

Valdez earlier in this chapter, the Bantu‟s were 400,000 and the Bantu‟s are made up of between 300 to 600 ethnic groups, the Ibo/Ibibio/Ijaw were 240,000, the Ewe/fon were

200,000, others were 185,000 but the Yoruba‟s were 275,000. The Yoruba people are from the western part of Nigeria and they arrived mostly in Cuba during 1820-1860. In

Cuba, yorubas introduced religious practices which were incorporated into the religion called santeria. These Yorubas were mostly of the Ijesha People taken into slavery. The

Ijesha people introduced bata dance and music in Cuba and up till now their music is called Iyesa. Till date when the Cubans sing, crumbs of Ijesha language is heard. Since dance compliments music, while these Africans work on plantations they sing and dance. The whites became interested in their form of entertainment but because they did not want to associate with the slaves they looked for means to watch and learn these dances. In confirmation to this statement, Pietrobuno in Salsa and its Transnational

Moves confirms:

The black dances of Cuba maintained and presumed in the neo-African nations in Cabildos representing distinct ethnic groups, were rarely performed by whites. Instead whites observed these dances only at public events featuring the dancing of African nations. Such as the black day of kings celebration, which was abolished with the end of slavery in 1887. Whites learnt the African body movements, which were perpetuated by the dance practices of the neo-African nations. Only after African –derived corporeal moves seeped into the choreographic structure of European social dances. This process created dance forms such as the danzon of the late 1800s an ancestor of contemporary salsa. (5) In Cuba, four major African dance tradition have survived; Yoruba, Kongo-Angolan,

Arara and Carabali. The dances of the African tribes mingled and evolved in the world, becoming something new. These dances are linked to tradition but separate in identity and practice. The reason why Yoruba music and dances in Cuba have retentive elements is because the Yoruba‟s were among the last to arrive in Cuba during the slave trade and they were larger than virtually all other ethnic groups while in slavery.

Therefore, the Yoruba tribe became a strong influence over the Afro-Cuban culture.

Suki corroborates in Contemporary Dance in Cuba: Tecnica Cubana as Revolutionary movement agrees that:

Members of the Yoruba tribe exerted a strong influence over the developing Afro-Cuban Culture. When African traditions were syncretized, Yoruba names were often used for the deities for whom dance was an essential form of worship. (65)

For the Yoruba dance (bata) to be an essential form of worship during this period, available records show that it found its way through religion.

THE SANTARIA WORSHIP IN CUBA

The origin of Santaria in Cuba can be traced to Nigeria. Santaria means cult of the saints and it is the traditional religion of the Yoruba people in Cuba. Due to the richness in the culture and deep sense of ethics of the Yoruba people while in slavery, they still worshipped their gods and performed their traditions. While the Catholics baptized the

African slaves into Catholicism, the Yorubas maintained their beliefs and hid behind a façade of Catholicism with the Orisa‟s represented by various saints. They kneel down most times to pray in pretence as if they were worshipping saint Barbara but unknowingly to the plantation owners, they were actually praying to Sango (Chango) the god of lightning, fire and dance.

This act brought about the syncretism (union or fusion of two religions) of the catholic religion and the Yoruba religion. Therefore, the Yoruba slaves identified each saint with a Yoruba god according to their similarities.

Yoruba God Catholic Saint What they do

Las Mercedes Deity responsible for Obatala Jesus of Nazareth human creation

Lonely soul, Opens the doors of the Eleggua Saint Antony World Nino de Atocha

Saint Peter, Saint Oggun Owner of metal, and War Juan

Divine justice, horses, Ochosi Saint Norberto hunting

Takes care of the mind of Osun Saint Juan Batista the believer

god of fire, god of lightning Chango Santa Barbara of dancing

Virgin Mother of the world, Owner Yemalla of menstruation of salty waters

Deity of sweetness, of

Ochun Caridad del Cobre beauty, of gold, of sexuality

and love

Owner of lakes and lagoons.

Obba Saint Rita de Casia It forms the trilogy of saints

who live in the cemetery

Possesses the secrets of Ifa, Saint Francisco Orula interpreted by the babalos de Asis (high priest)

To the Cubans, Chango ( Sango) is the god of fire, lightning, thunder and war. He is also seen as the patron of music, drumming and dancing and he is associated with the bata drum. Chango represents the male beauty and virility, passion and power. His colour is red; he wears his eleke (ileke) a white and red bead normally tied around his neck. In Cuba, it is believed that Sango‟s day of the week is Friday and he is worshiped

on the fourth day of every month and celebrated on the fourth of December every year.

This is one of the most important festival days in Cuba. Raboteau in Slave Religion:

The “invisible” institution in the Antebellum South confirms that…

A combination of fidelity of African religious traditions and divergence from them has also been characteristic of the Afro-Cuban cult of santaria. As in Candomble and Shango, Yoruba influences have been significant. Members of the cult refers to them as Lucumi, from the Yoruba greeting “Oluki mi” (my friend); many of the Yoruba gods, identified with the Santo‟s, are worshiped; possession by the gods occur in the African manner; animal sacrifice, the ifa system of divination, Shango‟s thunder stones, Yoruba hymns, all figure prominently in Lucumi worship. (21) Drumming and dancing in the worship of Santeria are not just for entertainment purposes. They are done for ritual purposes. They are performed for ritual purposes to honour the Oricha‟s (Orisa‟s) and to entice them to interact with humans through trance possessions. During the ceremony, the sacred bata drums are played. These drums are always prepared and charged with the spirit of the drum called Aria and they are only used for the purpose of worship. The drums are seen as holy objects because of the purpose in which they are used.

The drummers on the other hand undergo intensive trainings and special rites in order to have the right to play the drums. These set of drums reproduce the tonal language of the

Yoruba people. In their characteristics:

The largest drum is called the Iya, or mother drum. This is the leader, and calls for changes in rhythms and songs as the ceremony progresses. The middle

sized drum is the okonkolu, and this maintains the underlying beat o the syncopated rhythms. For those unfamiliar with African style of drumming, the complexity of the rhythms can be astounding. They reproduce the tonal language of the Yoruba people, speaking to the Oricha‟s (Orisa‟s) in their native tongue. aboutsanteria.com During the Santeria worship, the lead drummer called Olubata leads the other two drummers playing the rhythms of the different Orichas (orisas) to call them down. The lead singer called akpowon chants the liturgy of the saints and the ankori (chorus) answers. The three bata drums is the medium in which worshippers connect to the

Orichas (orisas) during the worship. However, these drums were introduced by the

Yoruba slaves in Cuba. Even while in slavery, the Yoruba slaves still found a way to worship their gods and entertain themselves.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 HISTORY OF BATA DANCE

The emergence of bata dance is associated with religious worships, which is most commonly known with Sango the god of thunder and lightning. He is also known as

Oba koso, some believed that his magical powers dwell in the sky thereby making him hurl thunder stones to earth and killing those who cross his path and setting their houses on fire. Sango‟s symbol is the twin-stone ax (Oshe Sango). This ax is believed to possess some magical and protective powers. His symbolic animal is ram and his favourite colours are red and white. Sango‟s special drum is the bata drum and his favourite food includes bitter Kola nut, yam and porridge.

Sango ruled as the fourth Alaafin of Oyo and he is said to have succeeded his father

Oranmiyan and while he ruled as king, he was feared because his words are uttered with fire. While he reigned, Sango had three wives; Oya his favourite whom he gave his magical secrets, Osun the river goddess whose culinary prowess made Sango prefer her to the others in terms of cooking and Oba who tried to win his love by offering her ear for him to eat. This made Sango send her away. Out of anger, she turned into a river and it is believed that whenever the Osun river meets with the Oba river they become turbulent.

Most of his acolytes claimed and believed that Sango did not die. According to myth,

Sango died by hanging himself because he couldn‟t stand the shame of his kingdom being defeated. Therefore, his acolytes and worshippers claimed that Sango didn‟t die

by hanging and that is why they call him Oba koso. Quoting Oladosu in The

Secularization of Bata dance in Nigeria, Ojuade explained that:

Sango, who was referred to as Oba Koso was once a traditional king in old Oyo called Ajaka. During his reign, Timi and Gbonka were his warriors. He noted that Sango and Egungun were friends, but Egungun was the eldest. Sango was masculine and powerful and emitted fire from his mouth whenever he spoke. Interestingly, bata music accompanied both of them on social occasions. After the death of Egungun, Batas full attention as accompaniment now shifted to Sango (8)

Some accounts claimed that at some point, Sango and Bata had a misunderstanding which made people believed that bata is a human being. This misunderstanding was caused by Esu. Because Sango is used to drums accompanying him, he called dundun to be his new friend. But dundun could not fill the gap of Bata because he was too slow.

Thus Sango had to make peace with Bata. Contrary to this statement, some accounts claimed that Bata is just a drum but Sango once had an ace-drummer known as Saate, who was Sango‟s favourite drummer. Quoting Adebisi, Ojuade clarifies:

It was one ace drummer known as Saate who made an innovation in the musical instruments used in Bata music and dance. it is also to him that we owe the information on Bata koto an original form of bata instruments. This consisted of a set of calabashes, each covered with animal membrane and each having a cloth strap by which it was hung around the drummer‟s neck with the drum resting in front of him. Bata koto was beaten with one hand and a stick. The flat of the right hand is used to hit

the membrane while the stick in the left was used to beat on the other side of the calabash. (9)

This account establishes the origin of bata drums in Yoruba land from its crudest form.

Ojuade adds, “Sango was a beautiful drummer and Saate an expert drummer. The acquaintance blossomed into a beautiful relationship and interdependence. They always performed together at festivals and other ceremonies so much that people came to associate them with each other and always looked out for their performance together”.

(9)

From the above statement the beginning of bata dance has been established. It can be said that Sango is the founder of the bata dance such that after his death, his worshippers celebrate him with the dance and bata drum adopted as a sacred musical instrument. However, when ever Sango is angry, the bata drum is beaten to calm him down. Bata drum then became an integral part of Sango‟s life. When is his happy, angry and preparing for war, the bata drum is beaten. Ojuade explains:

It was as if the bata rhythms put him in tune of war. Sango used to call for a drum (music) that could stimulate him and suit his purpose. At the initial stage, Gangan (hour-glass) was brought for him to dance but he rejected it, for it was too slow. Also dun dun was brought but failed the test too. It was only bata that satisfied his demands in the end with omelet ako playing the lead role. He was highly moved and danced to his satisfaction. That was how he accepted Bata as his accompaniment to date. For it suited with his fiery and tempestuous nature. (12)

His worshippers have a song when praising him. “Sango ma pa mi, mo di oje la bi” meaning, Sango please do not kill me, I am from the lineage of bata dancers. This shows how much Sango loves bata dance and his soft spot for bata dancers. Though bata dance became a sacred dance for the worship of Sango who was later deified, His worshippers and bata dance lovers began to perform the dance at different occasions so bata dance took off from being a form of worship to sec being secularized which then gave birth to other types of bata dance styles different from gbamu known to Sango.

Ojuade an authority on bata dance and its teachings identifies the forms of bata dance styles and their differences:

To the general observers of Bàtá dance, the belief is that there are two types of Bàtá dances. These are the fast-tempo dance known as Gbamu, with the sharp shoulder and head movements, and the very slow, soft mid-tempo dance known as Ego. Al- though, the two types of Bàtá dance exist, there are many other types that are based on experience, or the limits of the lead drummer or dancer‟s knowledge of Bàtá. They can be identified based on the rhythm of the drum and dance movements that accompany them. Some of the existing Bàtá dance types are as follows: Ewo: a type of dance movement, that involves various degrees of body movement in a subtle manner without the usual jerking of the body. It is the transition from this movement to another form of mid-tempo dance that is known as Ego. Gbamu: this involves quick light footed leg- movement coupled with extensive use of jerks (Jija Bàtá) which involves shoulder jerks once, twice or thrice depending on the drummers instruction. All

these can be interpreted by the dancers movement of the heads, shoulders, and hands or by jumping up and landing on their feet. It is the most popular of the Bàtá movements‟ variants, and widely used in Bàtá dance performances in Yoruba land. Esa: the movement here involves dancers wriggling their bodies at the same time interpreting the drum language with alternating toe-foot movement. Kogba: is a variation of Gbamu, which is also a dignified movement. It is usually slower in tempo, than Gbamu. Arabitiko: the movement here are full of beauty and funfare. It usually serves as entrance dance movements for younger dancers, which they usually perform with delight. Elekoto: this is basically a female dance, with astonishing jerks that develop into sets of three as the dance progresses. Ijo Oge: another female variety. In this particular dance, it is the Omele Abo that does a lot of work. The dancer wriggles her waist to the dance. Abida: it is purely a male dance style. It is a movement in which the dancer makes use of his hands jerking them in sets of two or three depending on the instruction of the lead drummer. Woro: this is a soft, gentle, mid-tempo Bàtá dance performed by both male and female dancers. Here, the leg movements are generally slow and the dancers gravitate towards the earth. It is a replica of Ija-fafa-ti-fafa (rhythm of the drum). Afasegbejo and Salaja Koko: these are fast tempoed, faster dancer movements which can be danced in varying ways.

Elesee: in fact, oral evidence shows that an Oba (King) in Igbaja, a Yoruba town in the present Kwara State, wasadept with the art of dancing this particular Bàtá dance style. It is related that after the towns people might have entertained the Oba with series of Bàtá dance movements, the lead drummer use to call on the Oba on his drum that it is His Royal Majesty‟s turn to entertain his subjects too, saying:

Elésèé dìde k‟óojó Ajíjolá dìde k‟óojó Oba k‟óojó Dìde k‟óojó Oba Ìgbàjà [Elesee stand up and dance Ajijola stand up and dance King of Igbaja Stand up and dance King of Igbaja] The Oba would start his movements right from his sitting position on the throne and rise up thrilling the audience with slow, regal and dignified movements. Some other Bàtá dances are Jalasin, Etiketi, Siko, Gbandikan, which are not too energetic and are created out of contemporary innovations of the dance. (13-16)

4.2 ORIGIN OF CUBAN SALSA

Cuban music is a melting pot of African and European harmonies, melodies, rhythms and musical instruments. The fusion of these elements

since the 16th century has resulted in a complex and fascinating myriad of musical forms, giving salsa a variety of aspects including instrumentation, dance steps, poetic forms, structural device, rhythmic and melodic phrases. A major factor in salsa‟s development stem from its deep connections to numerous drumming styles, most prominently in Cuba where enslaved African peoples were able to maintain their sacred and secular drumming traditions (chapter 1)

African musical instruments form a larger part of Cuban music. Though these instruments were not taken to cuba with slave trade but rather, Africans re created the instruments with the available materials they could get on the island and through this the hybridized form of those instruments were produced because the slaves could not get the original materials. The four major African derived instruments of cuba which came from the African cultures were; the Yoruba, Congolese, Abakua and Dahomean.

Another factor leading to the development of salsa is the African rhythms which were mostly used by the slaves for their religious rites and this was possible because of the syncretization that took place when Africans worshipped their gods (orisa‟s) using the image of catholic saints. The most prominent was the worship of Sango by the Yorubas using Saint Baraba. A look at some Peuto Rican music documents reveals that:

Another major component of salsa is the ritual music associated with the practice of santeria, including their use of "bata" drums. These are heard in Orquesta Harlow's "Silencio", on their "Salsa" album. Yoruba drums, melodies, and rhythms were also included into salsa, as in the music of Irakere and Los Papines. (musicofpuertorico.com)

However, Mauleon noted that:

Africans from different nations played an important role in the musical development of the new world. Some of the most influential include; the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the Bantu of the Congo and Ajola, the Ewe-fon and the Fanti-Ashanti of Dahomey and the male or Mandiga of Sudan. (Chapter 1 sic) He went further to list the Yoruba instruments that formed the major part of salsa

rhythms …

YORUBA INSTRUMENTS The instruments originating in Ngeria and recreated by the Yoruba (or Lucumi) people in Cuba include; Bata drums- a set of sacred, two –headed drums played in cuba in a set of three, with the iya being the largest, the itotele in the middle, and small okonkolo. The bata may be accompanied by a small metal shakter called atchere. Agbes (agues/agives) or guiros (also known as Chekere)- beaded gourd instruments played in sets of three or more, usually divided into parts called the kachimbo or golpe, the Segundo and the caja. The agbes may be played together with an iron bell called a guateca or agogo. Bembe drums – a set of three drums made from palm tree logs with nailed – on skins ( turned with heat) Iyesa drums - a set of sacred , cylindrical, two headed drums of hand carved cedar, played with sticks. The Iyesa are divided as caja, Segundo,tercero and bajo( which is played with

hands) the iyesa drums are accompanied by two agogo bells and a guiro (Chapter1 sic)

The Cubans agree that clave forms the basis of their salsa music and it is from this music that salsa dance is formed. Clave is the rhythmic pattern used as a tool for temporal organization of Afro-Cuban music which is present in a variety of genres such as Abakua music, Rumba, Conga, Son, Mambo, Salsa, Songo, timba and Afro-cuban

Jazz. It is however important to trace the root of clave. Washburne in Clave: The

African Roots of Salsa claim:

Clave. …To us the word goes beyond explanations and definitions. It means life, salsa, the food of our leisure time, the motion of intense rhythm, the emotion of 20,000 people simultaneously grooving to the natural sounds of life. It‟s being in beat, on key, on clave… It means to be on top of things, to be playing it right… “Clave is history, it‟s culture. African drums from far off places like Nigeria, Dahomey, and Ghana married the Spanish guitar to bring us clave. The seeds were planted in the Caribbean and now their grandchild is Salsa… (Mambo city-2013)

In a write up on Chango dance in Havana (Sango dance in Havana) the term Afro cuban music was defined and the influence of the Yoruba (bata dance) and his drum was clearly stated:

The term Afrocuban-Music includes music of ritual, festive-religious as well as secular events. These are directly tied to the musical cultures of Africa. These African musical traditions were all included in one

form or another when Cuban music was in its development. Four major influences are the musical culture of the Yoruba (including theIyesá), the Arará, the Congo, and the Carabalí (generically used to identify the Ibibio slaves).

The Cabildos de Nación Lucumí or Yoruba were where the music and dance of the Yorubas and their descendants were performed. These were exclusive societies known simply as Cabildos, and they were very abundant in the main urban centers of central- western Cuba. They were also in the Casas de Santo, or houses of the saints, or Ilé-ocha even today.

Cuban Santería is the most popular cult among the Cuban population and blends both traditional Yoruban religion (Lukumi) and Catholicism. Composed of two liturgical systems: the Regla Ocha (Rule of the Orisha) and the Oráculo de Ifá. This Ocha-Ifá religious complex contains both the religious and festive practices. These take place in the Casas de Santo and Cabilidos.

In the case of religious festivities, the instrumental ensemble formats are dictated by tradition and what is “correct” for this particular type of celebration. The sacred drums known as batás are the dominant instrument in the ritual hierarchy. (salsablanca.com)

Wong-Xoquic‟s History of Salsa music and Dance dedicated to Yemaya (Yemoja) the

Orisha of the sea, throws more light on how the gorgeous rhythms of modern salsa came into being:

The Yoruba Afro-Cuban religion became known as 'Lucumí' or 'Santería' (the latter named for what the Spanish saw as an excessive attention to the Catholic saints). The Yoruba pantheon of deities, called 'Orisha', lived on behind a façade of Catholicism that was used as a camouflage for the continuation of their religious practices. Each saint was twinned with an Orisha of likeness. Lucumí ceremonies use drums to invoke the Orishas (each Orisha has a complex set of rhythms). The dancers embody the spirit of each Orisha, honoring the Gods and Goddesses by presenting the appropriate dances. The most important type of drum, the batá, which sings the songs of the African slaves, until recently was only played by the 'Balabao' (priest). Some batá drums are hundreds of years old, still protected as holy relics in temples in Cuba. The gorgeous rhythms of Modern Salsa music come (in part) from these sacred Lucumí drums. (yemayasalsa.com)

4.3 SANGO IN NIGERIA, CHANGO IN CUBA: ONE GOD TWO FACES.

HISTORY OF SANGO

History has it that Sango ruled as the fourth Alaafin of Oyo and he was said succeeded his father Oranmiyan the founder of Oyo empire and the youngest of the grandsons of

Oduduwa. Sango ruled as a brave and powerful king, he inherited most of his powers from Nupe where his mothers relatives lived. While Alaafin Ajaka ruled, Oyo empire was under a regular threat from Owu kingdom until Ajaka was captured. In a bid to rescue Alaafin Ajaka, the council of chiefs (Oyomesi) sent for Sango in Nupe land

where he lived with his mother‟s relatives. Sango rescued Alaafin Ajaka and he was crowned king while Alaafin Ajaka was sent into exile.

Oba is his first wife, she is seen as the legitimate wife traditionally, Osun the second and Oya the third who was his concubine before he took her home. Oya was a spirit who had the powers to transform into animals and also summon rain. The two other wives became so jealous of Oya and while they showed jealousy, Sango became closer to Oya. Due to their closeness, Sango gave her assess to his thunderbolt (edun-ara) which he uses in striking thunder.

During his reign, he had two generals; Timi Agbale Olofa-Ina (also known as Olu-Ode) who had the powers to shoot arrows of fire and Gbonka (known as Eliri) who was also powerful. Both of them disobeyed Sango and matched Owu in a battle. Oya advised

Sango to get rid of them by sending them to govern the border towns of the empire.

Timi obeyed and left for Ede while Gbonka refused and stayed back in Oyo to pose further threat. Sango in his scheme to destroy them sent Gbonka to Ede to capture Timi, which he did. While Gbonka returned, he didn‟t believe that Gbonka could capture

Timi and so he asked for a rematch in Oyo. Again, Gbonka defeated Timi. Angrily, he ordered that Gbonka should be burnt. After three days, Gbonka reappeared and he gave sango an ultimatum to vacate the throne. In anger Sango went to Oya and requested for his thunderbolt (edun-ara) he found it to be wet and stained with blood from her period.

Still in anger, he left the palace to a high rock facing the palace to re-affirm the potency of his thunderbolt. The thunder he created struck the palace and burnt it down. Oba and

Oshun; after losing everything to the inferno, left the palace angrily blaming one another for allowing Oya such access to Sango and the privilege to become the goddess of the river Oba and Osun respectively. (Both in Osun state Nigeria). Oya, on her part,

went back to the forest in Nupe land where Sango found her and became the under goddess of Odo- Oya (now known as river Niger).

Sango; heartbroken; left the town followed by the chiefs and members of his royal cult known as Baba-Mogba persuading him not to leave. After an unyielding persuasion, the chiefs went back as they approach an Ayan tree in a place called koso with the news that the king has hanged.

However, an account had it that Sango did not hang himself. In a post by Oladipo‟s

“Sango; the god of thunder in TIA-This is Africa”, is of the view that:

Sango was attacked by Gbonka but Sango unwilling to fight varnished into thin air only to appear in the sky to destroy Gbonka and those peddling the rumors that he hanged. – Hence the popular saying OBAKOSO OR OLUKOSO meaning the king did not hang. –As created by the Baba-Mogba who knew the truth. (thisisafrica.blogspot.ng.com)

HISTORY OF CHANGO

Changó (Shangó) is the owner of fire, lightening, thunder, and war, but he is also the patron of music, drumming, and dancing. He represents male beauty and virility, passion and power. His colors are red and white, and his eleke (sacred necklace) is made of alternating red and white beads. His number is 6, and his day of the week is Friday and the 4th day of every month. He's syncretized with Santa Barbara because she's portrayed in Catholic lore as a fiercely independent and brave young woman, dressed usually in a red and white costume, holding a sword and wearing a crown like Changó. The feast day for

Changó/ Santa Bárbara is December 4, one of the most important festival days in Cuba. In a way, it's surprising that such a powerful masculine Orichá is syncretized with a female saint, but there are underlying similarities between their stories. For example, Santa Barbara's torturer was struck down by a lightning bolt, which is Changó's favorite weapon. And according to a patakí (sacred story) about Changó, one time he had to dress in women's clothes (lent to him by Oyá) in order to escape undetected from his enemies. Santa Bárbara's association with Changó shows that females and males alike can wield Changó's power. Both male and female initiates can be crowned with Changó, making him their father in the religion. (aboutsanteria.com)

Some accounts had it that Changó (Saint Barbara) is the orisha of fire, lightening and thunders, wars, dances, music and masculine beauty. a major character in the divination literature of the Lukumi religion. Stories about Sango's life exemplify some major themes regarding the nature of character and destiny. In one set of stories, Sango is the son of Aganju and Obatala when in female form. As the story goes, Obatala, the king of the white cloth was travelling and had to cross a river. Aganju, the ferryman and undergod of fire, refused him passage. Obatala retreated and turned himself into a beautiful woman. He returned to the river and traded his/her body for passage. Sango was the result of this unusual union. The tension between reason represented by Obatala and fire represented by Aganju would form the foundation of Sango's particular character and nature. In his necklace alternate both colours. His number is six (Obbara).

Friday is his day and the 4th day of every month. His specific day is December 4th. He

is the patron of the warriors and the storms. He is considered the owner of all women, because he had love affairs with all the orishas, who were mad about him. He is a good father while the child is obedient, but he does not admit a coward or homosexual child.

He is the father of the Ibeyis (the Twins). He feels respect by the dead. His three wives are: Oba (the legitimate), Oshún (mother of the Ibeyis), and Oyá (ex wife of his brother

Ogún). Some accounts had it that Changó is the son of Obbatalá and Aggayú Solá; some others say his mother is Yemayá (who presents sometimes as his foster mother, because she raised him). Osain is his godfather, who gave him the secret of the plants.

He rides a horse, his loyal companion.

The table below will identify the similarities and the differences between the Nigerian

Sango and Cuban Chango:

NIGERIAN SANGO CUBAN CHANGO

NAME: SANGO NAME: CHANGO

TITLE: Fourth Alaafin of Oyo TITLE: Saint Barbara

COLOURS: Red and white COLOURS: Red and white

FAVOURITE MEAL: bitter Kola nut, FAVOURITE MEAL: Bananas, porridge of yam and porridge maize flour, gumbo, and red fruits, palm tree nuts

oil and dry wine.

ATTRIBUTES: thunderbolt stone, twin – ATTRIBUTES: an axe of two wide blades stone ax (oshe sango) bata drum resembling petals, a cup, a sword, an axe of two

edges, a sceptre where the tub rests, a mace, a

curved sword, a castle and a drum.

The images below will show the pictorial representations of the Yoruba Sango and the

Cuban Chango.

Fig 1.1

(Picture from the movie Igba Iwase) Yoruba representation of Sango Fig 1.2

(www.google.com)

Cuban representation of Sango (Chango)

4.4: ANALYSIS OF CUBAN SALSA

By adaptive ingenuity, bata drum used in the worship of Sango went through hybridization because the slaves in Cuba were unable to get the materials used in producing the original bata drums. They had to use the available materials at their disposal to re-create something similar to the Yoruba bata drum. The figures below will show the Yoruba bata drum and its Cuban hybrid.

Fig 1.3 Picture of the Yoruba Bata drums

www.drumworld.com

Fig 1.4 Picture of the Cuba Bata drums

www.google.com

Fig 1.5 Yoruba bata drummers

(www.google.com)

Fig 1.6 Cuban bata drummers.

(www.google.com)

In the production of sound, the Cuban bata drum produces a different sound to that of the Yoruba bata drum. The Cuban bata drum is a conga like bata drum, which produces a higher, tone that of the Yoruba bata drum. It is only the ako omele that produces a higher tone out of the Yoruba bata set. These drums however influence the mode of worship in both cultures. The sango worshippers in both cultures at some point go into trance and the bata drum aids this. The language of the gods is beaten through this drum, which takes the dancers and worshippers into trance. One would have wondered how the bata drum influenced Cuban salsa.

Firstly, there was no dance called salsa before the arrival of the African slaves, bata drums was introduced through religion and that was through the process of syncretization when the African slaves worshipped Sango in pretence of worshipping

Saint Barbara. Clave which forms the basis of Cuban Salsa is created from is deeply rooted in the African culture.

Secondly, Cuban Sango (Chango) is seen as a god of masculine beauty, the father of

Ibeyis (ibeji), a lover of women, having many female lovers and being a skillful dancer and drummer. Chango also represents male beauty and virility, passion and power.

The definition of virility is the quality of having strength, energy, and a strong sex drive. If all these are the qualities of the Cuban Chango and the most predominant quality apart from being the god of thunder and lightning is his masculine beauty, virility, strength, energy and a strong sex drive, and salsa is a dance of two; a male and a female which shows the passion between these two and when the dance is performed the male dancer becomes the frame while the lady becomes the picture, and the functions of the frame is to showcase the picture to the whole world, guide it, beautify it and hold it.

Dancing salsa is like two lovers playing, the male takes the lead while the lady follows, the guys displays his strength by lifts, carryings, droppings and travelling and some of its movements connotes sex. Pietrobuno in Salsa and its transnational moves agree that:

Sexual movements and a sense of spirituality can fuse together in the salsa of Cuba and most probably in other Latin contexts. The marketable appeal of salsa dance as a cultural commodity distributed throughout the world lies in its sexualized exoticism. Its potential spirituality which takes shape only through the experience of dance, does not surface in its worldwide commodification. Highly visible sexual aspect of salsa therefore predominates and come to represent the dance as a whole for those who have been raised outside of salsa culture. Expressing one‟s inner self or awakening spiritual sensibility through dancing,

even in sexual or sensual ways, is an interior awareness that cannot be easily discerned. (79)

The Nigerian Bata dance and the cuban salsa however have some steps in common when both performed. But before a critical analysis can be done, it is important to know the type of bata dance that is been referred to and also to know the equivalent in Cuban salsa. Ojuade Jeleel an authority on bata dance describes gbamu, one of bata dance styles as:

quick light footed leg-movement coupled with extensive use of jerks (Jija Bàtá) which involves shoulder jerks once, twice or thrice depending on the drummers instruction. All these can be interpreted by the dancers movement of the heads, shoulders, and hands or by jumping up and landing on their feet. It is the most popular of the Bàtá movements‟ variants, and widely used in Bàtá dance performances in Yoruba land. (14) Virtually all the descriptions of this bata variant match up with that of Cuban salsa. The shoulder movement, jerks, jumping, head movement and foot walks. Although there are some steps that are totally different in both dances while some are the same and some have gone through process of changes thereby becoming the hybrized form of the bata steps. All these steps will be analysed with references to images.

Fig 1.7 Left: picture of Yoruba bata dancers Fig1.8 Right: picture of Cuban Salsa dancers

(www.google.com)

In the gbamu bata dance style, the dancer takes his left leg backward and jerks forward his right shoulder. While returning the left leg, he takes the right leg backward and jerks forward his left shoulder. In Cuban Salsa, the basic step is the back rocks. Back Rocks are very common footwork pattern variations in salsa use. It uses the same number by both males and females but just in opposite directions.

BACK ROCK

Description:

This step is in a count of eight. 1...2...3…5...6…7. 4 and 8 are not counted out because it is on them the return is made or it can be seen as the pause.

On 1, the male dancer moves his left foot backwards while the female moves her right left backwards, both placing it in approximately 45 degrees.

On 2.the male dancer moves his right foot forward while the female moves her left foward on the same 45 degrees path again.

On 3, the male dancer matches his left foot with his right while the female dancer matches her right foot with her left.

On 5.6.7. The movements repeat in opposite direction and opposite feet.

This is the same as the basic step of Gbamu, which is the most popular dance bata style, and also the it is the fast type of bata dance. The pictures below will show the dancers from the two cultures doing the same step in different dances.

Fig 1.9

(www.youtube.com)

Ayansina Khalid Ikeoluwa and his partner doing the gbamu bata dance style

Fig 2.0

Johnny Vazquez and his partner doing the back rocks basic step

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 2.1 Floor movement of the legs

SIDE ROCK

The side rock is another step that can be found in both dances. in Gbamu bata dance , the dancer moves his right leg to the side while his left leg is stationed on the same spot, while returning the right leg, he moves his left leg and he right leg stays on the ground.

Description on side rock

On 1 leaders take a large step to the left with the left foot shifting weight, followers take a large step to the right with the right foot.

On 2.the leaders step in place with the right foot, followers step in place with the left foot.

On 3. The leaders take a step to the right with their left foot, their followers take a step to the left with the right foot, thus returning to the center which is the starting position.

On 4. There is pause.

On 5 Leaders take a large step to the right with the right foot shifting weight, followers take a large step to the left with the left foot.

On 6. Leaders step in place with the left foot, followers step in place with the right foot.

On 7. Leaders take a step to their left with the right foot, ther followers take a step to the right with their left foot, thus returning to the center which is the starting position.

On 8 There is a pause.

Fig 2.2 Ayansina Khalid Ikeoluwa and his partner doing the gbamu bata dance style

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 2.3 Johnny Vazquez and Ramark doing the side rock step

(www.youtube.com)

SPOT TURN

The spot turn is another dance step that is done by the two cultures. In gbamu, the male or the female dancer can turn while performing. Whenever Sango is angry or happy and his acolytes sing his praise, he performs this turn. Also whenever his worshippers go into trance this turn is also performed. This step is one of the steps in Cuban salsa. Most

times, the male dancer turns the female dancer (also known as spin). It can also be said that the Cubans also got this step from their Chango during his worship. For instance, in one of the Cuban Santeria worship, the step was performed by Sango turning a member of the crowd and she immediately goes into trance.

Fig 2.4 Picture showing Chango Turning a lady in a spot turn movement during

Chango festival

(www.youtube.com)

SPOT TURN DESCRIPTION

On 1. The male dancer holds the lady‟s right hand with his left hand on top, sand he steps forward with left the left leg

On 2. Half turn with weight on right foot, switch hand holds when back faces girl. (right hand faces up)

On 3. Swing around to do half turn on right foot

Spot turn girl 5.6.7..

Fig 2.5 Fig 2.6

Bata dancers taking off to performing a spot turn Bata dancers performing spot a turn

Fig 2.7 Fig 2.8

(www.youtube.com)

Johnny Vazquez ready to take off to perform spot turn Johnny Vazquez performing the spot turn

While some steps were not tampered with, (fig 2.6,2.7,2.8 and 2.9) some were totally different like the; Cuban –Guape, closed position basic, Dame Ocaito, Dile Que No,

Enchufala and Vuelta. However, the major advantage the Cubans had over the Yorubas was that they documented the steps and therefore, even the ones that were taken from the Yoruba dance steps automatically became original. However, one would have wondered why some of the bata steps were more exaggerated in action than the Cuban steps. It is because at some point, African slaves were prohibited to lift their feet so they had to create steps that could do with more of waist and body so they way they used to dance reduced. Brown in Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual and innovations in Afro

Cuban Religion added that:

Enslaved Africans that were taken to colonies in South America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal were given much more freedom to carry on their dance traditions than those in the North America. The importance and spirit of dance were not stopped by these restrictions. However, African slaves found ways to adapt their dancing and continue their traditions in secrete. Out of necessity this caused some changes in the dances for example, since slaves were prohibited from lifting their feet, they created moves that included shuffling the feet and moving the hips and the body. (15)

Fig 2.9 Bata dancers dancing the gbamu bata dance crossing the right leg over the left (exaggerated step)

(www.google.com)

Fig 3.0 Johny Vazquez and partner dancing the Cuban Salsa crossing the right leg over the left (hybridized step)

(www.google.com)

The distinctive style of dressing of individuals or groups of people which reflects their social status, gender, profession, nationality or ethnicity is known as costume. The importance of costume to dance cannot be overemphasized because it adds to the beauty of the dance and also becomes the dancers tool while dancing. The Yoruba bata dancer uses his costume to dance. The lady holds the tip of her Ipele or Igbanu and dances with it. A spot turn movement can be performed while holding the ipele and igbanu or the female dancer can decide to whine with it. The male dancer on the other hand uses his gbariye most times to compliment his bata steps knows as „ji ja bata‟. In some cases, when he gets so engrossed in the dance , he removes the gbariye in a dance movement.

The most common type of costume used in bata dancing is the Aso-oke also known as

Aso-ofi. It is a hand loomed cloth woven by the Yoruba people. Aso-oke is worn on special occasions by the yorubas usually during chieftaincy, festivals and other important events. The home of Aso-oke among the Yoruba people is Iseyin in Oyo

State. There is a popular song in Yoruba language which confirms that Iseyin is really the home of Aso-oke

Aran mo laso iseyin o hun so (2x)

Aso ti mo ro olowo fara molowo

Ewu ti mo wo, olowo jogu idera

Gele ti mo we suku suku bamu bamu

Meaning: it is only in Iseyin you can get the original Aso-oke

There are different types of Aso-oke; Etu (stripped dark blue), Sanyan (Carton brown with stripes), Alaari, Eya (laced),Takunsi (cloth with different patterns). Popo (elepo) and Alaagba.

Fig 3.1 Picture showing a female and male bata dancers wearing Aso-oke

Fig 3.2Picture showing a bata dancer with bata drummers wearing Aso- oke

Traditional dress of Cuba is also a product and repercussion of all these multi-cultural effects and the Afro-Spanish significance is more reflected on it. Women of Cuba love to chose light weight fabrics for their dresses but they adorn it with wonderful designs and brilliant colors. For many decades, the trend is to wear ruffled skirts, overemphasized sleeves. (www.thelovelyplanet.net)

The traditional women attire in Cuba has its roots in Spanish and African influences and most of the fabrics are of bright colours. While the female traditional outfits are mostly dresses in form of flowing gowns, the men wear guayabera. The guayabera is a light weight pleated button down shirt, typically with four large pockets on the front and an embroidered design. The shirt is made of cotton or linen. Some accounts had it that the shirts originated in Cuba‟s Sancti Spiritus by farm workers who turned linen sheets into shirts with large pockets to hold their cigars. However, whenever the ladies were to

perform, they wear the Bata cubana. The bata cubana is a dress commonly used for dancing salsa, rhumba and other dances in cuba. It is a billowing sleeve with ruffled trains with many bright colours.

Whenever the women perform, the dress is used to compliment some of their dance movements like hopping and spot turn. The similarities between the bata cubana and the

Yoruba Aso-oke in performance are;

 They are both used to compliment dance movements while the dancers are

performing which adds aesthetics to the dance. While the dancers dance with

the costumes, they can also use it to communicate with their partners. The

Yoruba bata dancer holds the ipele while the female cuban salsa dancer holds

the train of her bata cubana and wriggles with it.

 From the name „bata‟ which is derived from the African Yoruba drum, it is

obvious that the cloth „bata cubana‟ is inspired from the Yoruba bata dance.

Fig 3.3 Picture showing a female and male cuban dancer wearing the bata

cubana and guayabera.

(www.google.com)

4.5 ADAPTIVE INFLUENCE OF BATA AND CUBAN SALSA.

The Yoruba bata is a fast paced dance like wise the Cuban salsa. Both dances can be done with counts. The Cubans created a counting learning technique for the Cuban salsa which is 123…567. This counting can also be used for the basic movement of gbamu which is the fast paced bata dance. The jerking of the shoulder is present in both dances.

The Yorubas call it “ ji ja” bata while the Cubans call it the “shoulder movement”. In bata dance, the dancer sits on the waist while performing the movement. This is the same in Cuban salsa but the little difference is that the Yorubas sit more on the waist

(full sitting), the movement is exergerrated while the Cubans bends the knee (half sitting) while performing the step. See fig 3.4 below.

Fig 3.4. Bata dancers sitting on their waist and jerking their shoulders (ji ja bata)

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 3.5 Cuban dancers doing the shoulder movement while standing

Fig 3.6. Cuban male salsa dancer jerking his shoulders

(www.youtube.com)

The Yoruba bata dance places more emphasis on the waist and the jerking of the shoulder while in Cuban salsa emphasis is on the flexibility shown in the movement of

the chest and the shoulder movement. However, there is a common feature between these two dances when performed by the ladies. One, in Yoruba bata dance, the ladies hands are on their waist while they jerk their shoulders, the same applies to a female

Cuban salsa dancer. See fig 3.7 (ji ja bata).

Fig 3.7. Female bata dancers jerking their shoulders. (ji ja bata)

(www.youtube.com)

Another step seen in both dances is the use of the buttocks while performing both dances. The Yorubas can either whine the buttocks while dancing or they can decide to jerk them. The Cubans also have this dance movement in the Cuban Salsa. It can be performed while standing or with a half squat. This step can be used majorly for two purposes; to seduce the male dancers or members of the audience or to show body curves while dancing. (Fig 3.8&3.9)

Fig 3.8. Female bata dancers whining and jerking the buttocks in performance

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 3.9. Female Cuban dancer whining and jerking her buttocks while dancing

(www.youtube.com)

In the bata dance the ladies bend their backs and fold their knees to the front and back at intervals to sculpt and project the buttocks for emphasis for shaking and bouncing control. In Cuban salsa, the lady bends both knees and breaks her back making the buttocks project, whine and jerks.

One major feature of African dances is the sitting on the waist and bending of the backs by the dancers. This particular dance style is found in both bata dance and Cuban salsa.

It is amazing to see South Americans perform the step as the Yorubas where the back is broken while dancing and arms either stretching, folding or swinging (fig 4.0)

Fig 4.0. Male bata dancers bending and swinging their arms

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 4.1. Cuban salsa dancers dancing with backs bent while dancing

Fig 4.2 Cuban salsa dancers with their backs bent and arms stretched

(www.youtube.com)

The Yorubas do not have a specific name for this step but the South Americans assume this posture whenever they want to perform the flamenco step which involves; bending of back and swinging of the arms.

One common feature of the Yoruba bata dance is lifts and jumps. During the dance, dancers either lift from the ground or in most cases, jump depending on what the drum says. If the drum calls for swinging of arms, they all respond if the drum calls for use of their legs they all respond to the drum. There is a popular rhythm that is beaten by the bata drummers during a bata dance performance which goes thus: To ba se pe emi ni iwo ni iwo ni E mi o ba fapa jo fapa jo, emi o ba fe se jo fese jo fe se jo Meaning that if I were to be the one dancing, I would have dance with my arms, I would have also danced with my legs. Fig 4.3&4.4 show the Yoruba bata dancers and a cuban dancer lifting from the ground.

Fig 4.3. bata dancers lifting from the ground

(www.youtube.com)

Fig 4.4. Cuban dancer lifting from the ground

(www.youtube.com)

Communication is very important in dance. In bata dance, there are two types of communications; the drummers speaking to the dancers using the drums or the dancers interacting with each other. The Cuban salsa also has this feature but it is more in bata dance because the bata drums dictates the pace and instructs the dancers on the next step. That is why it is very important to understand the language of the drums as a dancer in Yoruba land. The male bata dancers communicate with their ladies while dancing, but it is not like the Cuban salsa where the man holds the lady. (fig 4.5,4.6

&4.7)

Fig 4.5. Bata dancers communicating with the opposite sex while performing

Fig 4.6 Cuban salsa dancers holding while dancing

(www.youtube.com)

4.7. Cuban salsa dancers holding and communicating while dancing

(www.youtube.com)

Having looked at the steps and movements which were adapted and some left the way they were seen performed during the time they were introduced, it is important to note that the Cuban salsa steps look a little bit different from Nigerian bata steps because they have gone through the process of hybridization. However, there are some steps that are not in bata dance but present in Cuban salsa. This is because the Cubans also created new steps to suit their enviroment.(fig 4.8&4.9)

Fig 4.8 & 4.9 Cuban salsa dancers holding each others hands while dancing.

(www.youtube.com)

Stand stepS show a very big difference between the Yoruba bata dance and the Cuban salsa. In bata dance, the dancers might communicate and play with each other. For instance, the male dancer may use his gbariye to touch the female or even stand to appreciate her curves while she dances but at no point do they hold each other. The

Cuban salsa is a dance of love and this is shown through holding and body contacts.

When the male dancer holds the female dancer and connects with her, she feels secure and trust the male dancer the more. The dance is seen as two people in a love relationship, where providing the woman‟s needs, maks her feel loved and secure. In

this dance, the male dancer takes the lead and the woman responds by taking the step after him.

Fig 5.0. Cuban salsa dancers in a frame posture

(www.youtube.com)

The frame position is when the male dancers raises his left hand and holds the female dancers right hand placing his right hand above her waist and the lady placing her left hand on either his shoulder or his upper back. Fig 5.1. A female Cuban salsa dancer performing a split

Fig 5.2. A male Cuban salsa dancer performing a split

(www.youtube.com)

The split is one of the most interesting dance moves in Cuban salsa. Most times the dancer takes turns in performing it. The dance move is common among the female dancer which shows their flexibility.

Fig 5.3 The dip movement

(www.youtube.com)

Another interesting move in Cuban salsa is the dip movement where the male dancer drops the female dancer. He holds her waist and drops her. The female dancer assists the male dancer in achieving this dance move by making her back flexible and chesting out to create a break in the waist line.

With the above explanations and images shown, it becomes clear that truly the Yoruba bata dance influenced the Cuban Salsa not only in dance but also in cultural practices.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter is to reiterate the position that this thesis started with and to produce answers and formidable evidence on the influence of Nigerian bata dance on Cuban salsa which we have been studying, analyzing and researching on.

5.2 FINDINGS

Dance is a universal language which cut across different cultures, it is also a form of entertainment which serves as a form of identity to nations. However, the African dance has influenced so many dances in the world such as; cakewalk, the Charleston, tap dancing, the lindy hop, the jitter bug, the twist, jazz dance and hip pop. During the cause of this research work, it was discovered that the African dance also influenced some other dances in countries like; Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Venezuela and

Colombia.

It was also discovered that the Nigerian deities are also worshipped in other countries but little or no research has been done on them. However, it was discovered that the

Nigerian bata dance is so popular among the Yoruba people but there are only a few scholarly materials on it. While carrying out this research, it was discovered that some people who come from the lineage of Sango worshippers and masquerades have a lot of materials on bata dance become and the Yoruba deities but because they are not educated, documenting them has become a major problem. While interacting with one of the drummers at the Cultural Centre Ibadan, it was discovered that dance scholars and drummers travel down to Nigeria to interview them and learn the art of drumming and dance but here in Nigeria we pay little or no attention to our culture.

Another major observation was that the Cubans wrote more on Bata drums and Sango than Nigerians. They only witnessed Sango as a deity and not a king of Oyo but they

have taken their time to write about Sango. The way Sango was presented in some of the materials shows that they only wrote what they heard and imagined where as in

Nigeria we have the custodians of culture who could provide the real stories and the available materials.

Also, it was discovered that the Cubans did not only embrace the worship of Sango but also set aside a day in a year for his worship and places of worships were also built for him.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

For the African dances to be appreciated more in the world, dance scholars, practitioners and users of dance need to do the following;

The African culture and tradition should be guarded jealously because it is how we present our culture and traditions as Africans to the world that people we see it. The tangible and the intangible aspect of our culture must all be protected in the cultural policy.

Dance scholars should endeavor to look beyond just writing about the history of

African dances but how these dances have influenced other dances in the world, the impact they have made, how they have portrayed the country in which they come from, and ways to make the ones that are not so popular become popular.

Also the users of dance should liaise with the Government to spend more on festivals and cultural heritage because it is during these festivals that new dances are discovered and they are documented.

Dance scholars and practitioners should cultivate the habit of organizing workshops and seminars for African dance to be performed and discussed.

Interview sessions should also be organized for custodians of culture and people who come from the lineage of dancers and drummers to give accounts of the history and origin of the African dance and drums because the these two compliments each other.

Dance instructors should also endeavor to teach dance in the appropriate way. While carrying out this research, it was discovered that only those who belong to the lineage of bata drummers and masquerades could perform bata dance the right way and could also interpret the language of the drum.

5.4 CONCLUSION

The Nigerian bata dance though danced by Sango, his worshippers and people who come from the lineage of masquerades is not performed only for entertainment purposes anymore but has influenced other dances most especially the Cuban salsa which is performed at world dance competitions.

Since dance is a universal language, it becomes important for dancer scholars and users of dance to trace the history and origin of African dances in order to help them understand it better, choreograph better and also use it appropriately in performance.

Because some of the African dances have spiritual functions and it will not be proper for them to be used wrongly.

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