Sacred Dance and Embodied Divinity

In exploring Latin music and dance, and embodied forms of knowledge, I feel the African diaspora religions (or would spiritual practices be a better word?), deserve special attention. I am referring to the ritual dance & music performances that are part of African-American (as in the continent, not the country, of course) syncretic belief and worship systems, such as Haitian Voudoun, Cuban Santeria, Brazilian Candomble.

The main difference between these and other Latin music and dance traditions is that the former are considered sacred by participants, while most of the latter are firmly planted in the secular world. In these drummed and danced rituals archetypal/spiritual/divine entities, referred to as Orishas or Iwas (such as Ogun, the warrior, and Yemayá), manifest themselves through the minds and bodies of some participants. The rituals are full of encoded meaning in the shared movement and rhythmic vocabulary and dynamics, and often also in chant lyrics, colors, items, foods, drinks, and clothing. These meanings are learnt and communicated experientially.

Yvonne Daniel, the author of Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Hatian Voudu, Cuban Yoruba, and Bahian Candomblé, studies these practices as praise performance: sacred dancing. A number of quotes from her book will proof helpful in understanding the worldview in which they take place:

“The divinities have come to help believers become divine themselves.”

“Worshipping Africans in the Diaspora have made philosophy indelible and cosmology visible by means of the intricate and elaborate interrelatioships between sound and gesture, music and dance.”

“Worshippers dance, sing, and drum divinity in order to express divine presence within, between, and among all planes of existence.”

The danced rituals of these Diaspora religions are truly embodied spirituality, an enactment of shared spiritual experiences and knowledge, largely based on collectively raised energy through drumming and movement. Furthermore, these practices also serve a communal purpose generating and fostering cohesiveness. As embodied spiritual experiences, they are wholly alien to our worldview and experiences as Westerners, with our sacred/secular and mind/body dualities, and consequent disregard for the physical and the experiential. In these embodied traditions a feminist would quickly find diverse but equal roles for both genders (among participants and spiritual leaders, as among divine entities); traditions that survived enslavement, colonialism, oppression, and misinformed stereotypes; as well as a refreshing appreciation of human experience.