African Diaspora 9 (2016) 15–38 brill.com/afdi Dancing with the Orixás Music, Body and the Circulation of African Candomblé Symbols in Germany Joana Bahia State University of Rio de Janeiro [email protected] Abstract This article explores how the body and dance play a central role in the transnation- alization of Candomblé among Afro-descendant people and increasingly for white Europeans by creating a platform for negotiating a transatlantic black heritage. It exam- ines how an Afro-Brazilian artist and Candomblé priest in Berlin disseminate religious practices and worldviews through the transnational Afro-Brazilian dance and music scene, such as during the annual presence of Afoxé – also known as ‘Candomblé per- formed on the streets’ – during the Carnival of Cultures in Berlin. It is an example of how an Afro-Brazilian religion has become a central element in re-creating an idea of “Africa” in Europe that is part of a longer history of the circulation of black artists and practitioners of Candomblé between West Africa, Europe and Latin America, and the resulting creation of transnational artistic-religious networks. Keywords Transnationalism – Afro-Brazilian religions – Embodiment – Carnival of Cultures – Heritage Résumé Cet article explore comment le corps et la danse jouent un rôle central dans la transna- tionalisation du Candomblé chez les Afro-descendants et de plus en plus pour les Européens blancs en créant une plateforme de négociation d’un patrimoine noir transatlantique. Il examine comment un artiste afro-brésilien et un prêtre du can- domblé à Berlin, diffuse des pratiques religieuses et des visions du monde à travers la scène transnationale de la danse et de la musique afro-brésilienne, comme lors © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/18725465-00901005 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 03:13:33AM via free access 16 bahia de la présence annuelle d’Afoxé – également connu sous le nom de «Candomblé dans les rues» – pendant le Carnaval des Cultures à Berlin. C’est un exemple de la façon dont une religion afro-brésilienne devient un élément central dans la recréa- tion d’une idée de “l’Afrique” en Europe qui fait partie d’une plus longue histoire de la circulation des artistes noirs et praticiens du Candomblé entre l’Afrique de l’Ouest, L’Europe, L’Amérique latine et la création de réseaux artistiques et religieux transna- tionaux. Mots-clés Transnationalisme – Religions afro-brésiliennes – Incarnation – Carnaval des Cul- tures – Patrimoine Introduction In this contribution I aim to examine how the artistic performances of Afro- Brazilian migrants in Germany are inevitably intertwined with religious per- formances and what the consequences are for the transnationalization of Can- domblé1 and the negotiation of ‘blackness’ among Brazilian and German fol- lowers in Berlin. The relationship between artistic performance and Candom- blé has a long history. Music and dance have always been constitutive elements 1 Although some authors have referred to the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé as a “spirit-possession cult” (Van de Port 2005), in accordance with Nina Rodrigues (1935), Prandi (2004) and Parés (2006), I approach Candomblé in this article as the religion of the orishas (African gods) – in short, the religion constituted in the xix century in the Brazilian state Bahia, drawing upon the Yoruba tradition. It was influenced by the habits brought over by Fon groups (called jejes in Brazil) and by African minority groups who were brought by the Portuguese as slaves to Brazil. Candomblé is divided into nations. Since the beginning, Yoruba Candomblé and other jeje-nagô traditions have brought together cultural aspects from different Yoruba cities, from which originate different rites or Candomblé nations. In each nation, the traditions of the city or the region which gives the nation its name predominate: queto, ijexá and efã. This concept of nation lost its original ethnic meaning and has become more political than theological over the years (Capone 2009). Today’s nations are the ketu, ijexá, efon, angola, congo and caboclo. Thus, even if I adopt the term Afro-Brazilian religion or speak of Candombé as a religion, like my interlocutors do, it refers to a very heterogeneous reality and a diversity of practices. The term Afro-Brazilian is associated with the idea of legitimating Africa as the place of birth of this religious tradition and with establishing the tradition as a symbol of black resistance to slavery. African Diaspora 9 (2016) 15–38 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 03:13:33AM via free access dancing with the orixás 17 found in different moments of the history of Candomblé, either in its prac- tices or in its interconnections with the artistic domain (Amaral and Silva 2006; Moura 1995; Nascimento 2002; Lody and Silva 2002; Vieira 2010). Such intercon- nections are also present in the transnational expansion of Candomblé and other religions of African descent (Gilroy 2001; Matory 1999, 2005).2 Several cultural spaces – dance and music schools, universities, cultural centers, social activities in the temples, music and dance scenes – are part of the trajectories of mothers- and fathers-of-saint,3 either as a result of their professionalization in the artistic and cultural fields, or as a strategy for expanding religions of African descent. At the same time, the case of Candomblé in Germany constitutes a new case and a new dimension in the ongoing discussions about the formation of an Afro-Atlantic space, the so-called Black Atlantic (Matory 1999), and its expansion through the construction of transnational networks. The idea of the Black Atlantic as a cultural and political system – understood as a transat- lantic circuit of ideas, people and histories comprising the New World, Europe and Africa – brings to light ways in which processes of modernization and globalization create new spaces for the interchange of ideas and new represen- tations of “blackness” (Gilroy 2001). Diasporic communities’ construction of a “mythic” Africa has allowed the recreation of black cultures in different spaces and times (Capone 2011; Gilroy 2001; Matory 2005). The circulation of artists, politicians and intellectuals between the social and artistic domains, promotes new and creative ways of living the black heritage in its diversity (Décoret- Ahiha 2004). This includes the religious domain (Capone 2015).4 Religions such 2 In Brazil, the link between the various artistic scenes and Candomblé has been contested and criticized (see e.g. van de Port 2009), but in the context of migration this appears to be different. Unlike in Brazil, many Brazilians in Europe depend on work as dancers and musicians to make a living and dance becomes a point of entry into religion, as I explore in the present paper. 3 A high priest or priestess in a terreiro or temple: pai or mãe de santo, meaning father- or mother-of-saint, where saint is the synonym of orisha, due to Afro-Brazilian syncretism in Candomblé. 4 For example, the Harlem Renaissance movement, an Afro-American cultural renaissance, changed the role of black American artistic life in the 1920s (Capone 2011:84–85; 2015:238– 265). In spite of showing an appreciation of blackness from an artistic perspective, chal- lenging the modus operandi of Jim Crow (laws that institutionalized racism in American society and made black artists perform in blackface), the influence of Franz Boas and Ger- man anthropologist Frobenius inspired the concept of “a certain African paganism”, in which blacks were seen as the embodiment of an “exotic primitivism”, “a man governed by his feel- ings and hence naturally biased towards artistic activities (Ibid.: 87)”.The Harlem Renaissance African Diaspora 9 (2016) 15–38 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 03:13:33AM via free access 18 bahia as Afro-Cuban Santeria and Candomblé, brought by Cubans and Brazilians respectively to Germany during the seventies and eighties of the former cen- tury, became established in Europe through the participation of fathers- and mothers-of-saint in the artistic and cultural fields. Moreover, these religions have expanded through local and international events such as dance courses and workshops undertaken in several European countries. A contemporary example of the transnationalization of Candomblé through the artistic and cultural fields in Germany, is the Interkulturelle Zentrum Forum Brasil in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg, Berlin, which is also the Ilê Obá Silekê terreiro or temple directed by father-of-saint Murah (Bahia 2013; Bonilla 2011). Germans, Brazilians and people of other nationalities, such as Americans, Cubans and Italians, have been participating in the activities of the Forum. Murah is widely known in the city and country for having been one of the first people to institute Candomblé on German soil, as well as for hav- ing worked as an Afro-Brazilian dancer all over Europe for more than twenty years. Forum Brasil is a cultural institution and Ilê Obá Sileké is a religious one (terreiro). Although the Forum Brasil and the temple are based at the same location and are related, they are not the same institution; rather, they are inter-connected. Many of the Capoeira5 and Portuguese language teachers of the Forum, as well as teachers of other activities, also participate in the rituals and the religious life of Ilê, and symbols circulate from one institution to the other. This Candomblé temple (terreiro) includes Brazilian migrants ranging from middle-class workers to those married to lower-class German men and women, as well as an increasing number of white Germans.6 Afro-Brazilian artists, musicians and dancers are predominant in the group, including the father-of-saint himself. thus ended up promoting a passage to religious initiation through the diffusion of music and dance. 5 Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art. It developed in Brazil among male slaves. After the abolition of slavery, it continued on in an urban context as a form of street fighting.