CANDOMBLÉ - DANCES OF THE ORIXAS

Groupe Ofá, terreiro Gantois de Bahia

Alhambra, Genève

Presented by the members of the Gantois terreiro, one of the most renowned brotherhoods from Salvador de Bahia, this evocation of the Candomblé Ketu ceremony celebrates the orixá (divinities) through colour, dances, songs and rhythms. Africa was translated into Afro-Brazilian culture with candomblé, the principal means of expression of Brazil’s ancient slaves. Both an affirmation of the African memory and the resistance to Portuguese domination, these rites are a festival of the senses, with flamboyant aesthetics resulting in a spectacle.

If the candomblé ritual is emblematic of Afro-Brazilian culture, its transposition to the stage raises questions about the representation of the sacred outside of its normal frame of reference. It is not a religious ceremony as such that we are invited to, but an evocation of a universe, made manifest by certain of its most respected actors.

Percussions (atabaque) :
Marcio Santos de Souza
Rodrigo Macedo de Souza
Eder Santos de Souza
Iuri Ricardo Passos de Barros

Chant et danse :

Lais Cristina Pires Silva
Luciana de Souza Baraúna
Ludmilla de Souza Baraúna
Marcia Passos
Yomar Passos
Luan Cleiton Badaro dos Santos

Vovó Egbomi Cici : mãe de santos (mère de saints)
Gerson da Silva : prducteur
Iuri Levy de Souza Baraúna : assistant