the meaning of masabo    welcome to west africa    quick notes about côte d'ivoire    about fana soro   
about the senoufo people    about traditional music    about traditional dance    about masks   
about the balafon    about the instruments    about oral traditions    about textiles and costumes   
school performance repertoire    masks - music & dance    learning activities    learning links   

Ivoirien traditions have unified the masquerade, music, and dance as a continuation of creation and life. In the context of the masquerade, the mask has a deep cultural significance. It provides a visual representation of the invisible spirits, and the masquerade often becomes the manner in which divine or ancestral spirits intervene from behind the masks.

The musician's role is to invoke the spirit to enter the masquerader,. after which the mask and dancer are considered scared and not to be desecrated. During the masquerade, the masked dancer is granted symbolic status and any comments that they make are believed to be coming from the particular ancestor or god that is now in possession of their body. In such ritual, the supernatural becomes an actual presence, ready to intervene in the affairs of the living. Alternatively the occasion may be used to subtly convey messages and criticisms to members of the community, which if delivered in a different context, would invoke anger and hostility.

The musical instrument is crucial in reinforcing the idea that external forces are lurking. As a rule, instruments are made according to the tastes and habits of the musician. The tuning of these instruments is subject to the language patterns of the musician's mother tongue, as are the rhythms generated when they are played. The resonating space within the completed instrument is believed to give fullness to the ancestral voices, and it is the musician's performance on particular instruments that enables the ancestors to present themselves through the body of the dancers.

A dancer's body is thus considered an instrument that can be played by a skilled musician. The dancer, who is knowledgeable in the language of the music makes certain audible or physical responses to particular sounds and rhythms, thereby translating these sounds into a visual dialogue.

See the Instruments

See more Images

To Print Study Guide Click Here

To Print Instrument Colouring Sheets Click Here

BACK TO TOP