Dancing the River
Fluidity of Eros and Gender in Music and Dance of African Diasporic Spiritual Traditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v4i3.367Keywords:
homoeroticism, gender-diversity, gay, lesbian, transgender, Santeria, Voudu, Candomble, African Atlantic Religion, music, dance, performativityAbstract
The ideas presented in this paper, inspired by poet Audre Lorde's lines, “I will become myself an incantation, dark, raucous, many-shaped,” explore sacred performative roles and elements associated with gender/sexual diversity, including transgender behavior and same-sex eroticism in African-Atlantic religions, as practiced at the crossroads of American multicultural communities. These linkages interweave to form a tapestry of queer-cultural, including religious and aesthetic, categories (or “domains”). Among these categories are: spiritual forces or deities (orisha) having multiple, including queer, caminos (roads); music/song texts and dances/gestures performed in a ritual context that speak to diversity and fluidity of gender and sexuality; the embodiment of spiritual forces in “possession” or enthusiastic trance by which the initiated convey gendered and sexed behaviors and identities that may correspond to or contest those they inhabit in everyday life.
References
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Cabrera, Lydia. 1968. El Monte. Miami: Coleccion del Chichereku, Rema Press.
———. 1980. Yemaya y Ochun: Kaiocha, Iyalorichas Olorichas. New York: Coleccion del Chichereku in el exilio, Eliseo Torres.
Carybé, Jorge Amado, et al. 1980. Iconografia dos Deuses Africanos no Candomble da Bahia. Bahia: Fundacao Cultural do E. da Bahia, Universiadae Federal da Bahia.
Chernoff, John Miller. 1979. African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social Action in African Musical Idioms. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Conner, Randy P. 1993. Blossom of Bone: Reclaiming the Connections Between Homoeroticism and the Sacred. San Francisco, CA: HarperSan Francisco.
———. 2001. Taped Interview with Reinaldo Reina-Rodriguez in Havana Vieja by Randy P. Conner.
Conner, Randy P. and David Hatfield Sparks. 2004. Queering Creole Spritiual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African- Inspired Traditions in the Americas. Harrington Park Press: New York.
Conner, Randy P. David Sparks, and Mariya Sparks. 1997. Cassell’s Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Lore. Herndon, VA: Cassell.
Cornelius, Steven. 1990. “Encapsulating Power: Meaning and Taxonomy of the Musical Instruments of Santería in New York City.” Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 8. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA.
Daniel, Yvonne. 2005. Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yorùbá, and Bahian Candomblé. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
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Gonzalez-Wippler, Migene. 1975. Santería: African Magic in Latin America. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.
———. 1989. Santería—The Religion: A Legacy of Faith, Rites and Magic. New York: Harmony Books.
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Murphy, Joseph. 1988. Santería: An African Religion in America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Nodal, Roberto. 1983. “The Social Evolution of the Afro-Cuban Drum,” The Black Perspective in Music 11(2): 157–177. doi:10.2307/1214911
Omari, Mikelle Smith. 1984. From the Inside to the Outside: The Art and Ritual of Bahian Candomble. UCLA Monograph Series 24. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA.
Regla. 1993. Interview with Cuban santera by David Hatfield Sparks and Randy P. Conner.
Ribeiro, Rene. 1969. “Personality and the Psychological Adjustment of Afro- Brazilian Cult Members.” Journal de la Société de Americanistes 58: 109–120. doi:10.3406/jsa.1969.2099
Sandoval, Mercedes Cros. 1975. La Religion Afrocubana. Madrid: Playor, S.A.
Sangirardi, Júnior. 1988. Deuses da Africa e do Brazil: Candomble and Umbanda. Rio de Janeiro: Civilizacão Brasileira.
Sparks, David Hatfield. 1993. “Homenaje a los Santos: The Influence of Yorùbá Music, Theology, and Ritual Practice on Afro-Latin Popular Music.” Masters Report, University of Texas at Austin.
Teish, Luisah. 1985, 1988–1990. Interview and personal conversations with Yorùbá/Voudon priestess by David Hatfield Sparks and Randy P. Conner.
Thompson, Robert F. 1983. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books.
Trevisan, Joao. 1986. Perverts in Paradise. London: GMP Publishers.
Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago, IL: Adline Press.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. 1981. Interview with José Vigo and Eduardo Mejía by Gloria Anzaldua, Cambridge, MA.
Apter, Andrew. 1992. Black Critics and Kings: The Hermeneutics of Power in Yorùbá Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Armstrong, Robert Plant. 1981. The Powers of Presence: Consciousness, Myth and Affective Presence. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bastide, Roger. 1978. The African Religions of Brazil. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Béhague, Gerald. 1984. “Patterns of Candomblé Music Performance: An Afro- Brazilian Religious Setting.” In Performance Practice: Ethnomusicological Perspectives, edited by Gerald Béhague, 222–254. London: Greenwood Press.
Benítez-Rojo, Antonio. 1992. The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Bramley, Serge. 1977. Macumba: The Teachings of Maria José, Mother of the Gods. New York: Avon.
Brown, Karen McCarthy. 1989. “Women’s Leadership in Haitian Vodou.” In Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality, edited by Judith Plaskow and Carol P. Christ, 236–234. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row.
Cabrera, Lydia. 1968. El Monte. Miami: Coleccion del Chichereku, Rema Press.
———. 1980. Yemaya y Ochun: Kaiocha, Iyalorichas Olorichas. New York: Coleccion del Chichereku in el exilio, Eliseo Torres.
Carybé, Jorge Amado, et al. 1980. Iconografia dos Deuses Africanos no Candomble da Bahia. Bahia: Fundacao Cultural do E. da Bahia, Universiadae Federal da Bahia.
Chernoff, John Miller. 1979. African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social Action in African Musical Idioms. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Conner, Randy P. 1993. Blossom of Bone: Reclaiming the Connections Between Homoeroticism and the Sacred. San Francisco, CA: HarperSan Francisco.
———. 2001. Taped Interview with Reinaldo Reina-Rodriguez in Havana Vieja by Randy P. Conner.
Conner, Randy P. and David Hatfield Sparks. 2004. Queering Creole Spritiual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African- Inspired Traditions in the Americas. Harrington Park Press: New York.
Conner, Randy P. David Sparks, and Mariya Sparks. 1997. Cassell’s Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Lore. Herndon, VA: Cassell.
Cornelius, Steven. 1990. “Encapsulating Power: Meaning and Taxonomy of the Musical Instruments of Santería in New York City.” Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 8. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA.
Daniel, Yvonne. 2005. Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yorùbá, and Bahian Candomblé. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Fry, Peter. 1985. “Male Homosexuality and Spirit Possession in Brazil.” The Journal of Homosexuality 11(3–4): 137–153.
Gates, Henry Louis. 1988. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Gonzalez-Wippler, Migene. 1975. Santería: African Magic in Latin America. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.
———. 1989. Santería—The Religion: A Legacy of Faith, Rites and Magic. New York: Harmony Books.
Hanna, Judith. 1988. Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Defiance, Dominance, and Desire. Chicago, IL: Universtiy of Chicago Press.
Hirschkop, Ken. 1990. “The Classical and the Popular: Musical Form and Social Context,” In Music and the Politics of Culture, edited by Christopher Norris, 283–304. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Landes, Ruth. 1940. “A Cult Matriarchate and Male Homosexuality.” The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 35(3): 386–397. doi:10.1037/h0061971
Leacock, Seth and Ruth Leacock. 1972. Spirits of the Deep: A Study of an Afro- Brazilian Cult. New York: Doubleday.
Lorde, Audre. 2000. The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde. New York: W.W. Norton.
Mason, Michael Atwood. 1985. Living Santería: Rituals and Experiences in an Afro- Cuban Religion. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Meskell, Lynn M. and Rosemary A. Joyce. 2003. Embodied Lives: Figuring Ancient Maya and Egyptian Experience. New York: Routledge.
Murphy, Joseph. 1988. Santería: An African Religion in America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Nodal, Roberto. 1983. “The Social Evolution of the Afro-Cuban Drum,” The Black Perspective in Music 11(2): 157–177. doi:10.2307/1214911
Omari, Mikelle Smith. 1984. From the Inside to the Outside: The Art and Ritual of Bahian Candomble. UCLA Monograph Series 24. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA.
Regla. 1993. Interview with Cuban santera by David Hatfield Sparks and Randy P. Conner.
Ribeiro, Rene. 1969. “Personality and the Psychological Adjustment of Afro- Brazilian Cult Members.” Journal de la Société de Americanistes 58: 109–120. doi:10.3406/jsa.1969.2099
Sandoval, Mercedes Cros. 1975. La Religion Afrocubana. Madrid: Playor, S.A.
Sangirardi, Júnior. 1988. Deuses da Africa e do Brazil: Candomble and Umbanda. Rio de Janeiro: Civilizacão Brasileira.
Sparks, David Hatfield. 1993. “Homenaje a los Santos: The Influence of Yorùbá Music, Theology, and Ritual Practice on Afro-Latin Popular Music.” Masters Report, University of Texas at Austin.
Teish, Luisah. 1985, 1988–1990. Interview and personal conversations with Yorùbá/Voudon priestess by David Hatfield Sparks and Randy P. Conner.
Thompson, Robert F. 1983. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books.
Trevisan, Joao. 1986. Perverts in Paradise. London: GMP Publishers.
Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago, IL: Adline Press.
Published
2010-12-10
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Sparks, D. H. (2010). Dancing the River: Fluidity of Eros and Gender in Music and Dance of African Diasporic Spiritual Traditions. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, 4(3), 367-388. https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v4i3.367
