This article gave me a greater appreciation for our class and served as a hub that connected the dots between the techniques we are learning in class, prior readings, and the movie series.
I am contented by how the article gave insight on Yoruba religion and saw how the concepts of their beliefs manifested themselves in other cultures as well as in the dance they perform. The iwon-otun beliefs parallel ying/yang principals and I question if they are historically related and if so which is the chicken and which is the egg? After careful thought it struck me that themes of balance and contrasting forces are represented in our work. For example, I reflected on the segment of the warm-up where we contract in from our core and push out with our hands before us followed by raising our sternums to the ceiling. There is an iwontunonsi principal that governs the contrasting forces between our outreach and inward pull and our uplifted sternums and forward-pushed tailbones respectively.
My colleagues in Chinese and Arabic begroan the rigor of their courses along with complex tonalities and guttural utterings that are so foreign to them. After reading this article, part of me wants to believe that learning the Yoruba language would be almost daunting when I consider the gesticular requirements and the use of inverse discourse which often interweave cultural and allegories. Another something that struck me is how we in America facilely attribute the adjectives the Yoruba associate with those who exhibit good body behavior to those who are simply outwardly beautiful and there is also a correlation to privilege.
I really appreciated the authors academic take on Yoruba culture and their adjective choice used to describe the mannerisms; “eloquent, serene, composed, expressive, holy, and dignified.” I feel that it really helps to uplift and change the vocabulary of the ignorant when it comes to African dance.
The article also sparked some questionsWhat is and how does one become a self-respecting elder in Yoruba culture? Are there rites of passage for language competence and mastery?
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