An Opera of the West African Bondo; Darkowaa A-K; Dance 0163; Response 10

This article by Frederick Lamp describes the long ceremony of 'coming-out' or the initiation of young Sierra Leoneans into adulthood. This ceremony is achieved by through theatrical events, involving singing, costumes, skits and dance or better yet, through Opera.

The initiation of youngsters into adulthood even though looked upon as unnecessary and primitive, is actually really important to certain ethnic groups in Sierra Leone and even other several African countries. Initiation is known to be the 'prerequisite for adult life, a prerequisite of being.' One who does not undergo this process is basically a 'nonperson' as they would be prohibited to join in religious activity, burial besides family members and sexual activity. A child is considered only 'half-formed' and the initiated person is at 'a full state of being.' In the article, the Temne ethnic group of Sierra Leone undergo initiation in a series of stages that last weeks and even months. But the ritual happens for almost 2 full days. Girl initiation is called Bondo while boy initiation is called Pɔrɔ.

The Bondo and the Pɔrɔ initiation process is long and very spiritual. The rituals are performed in the outdoors (village) and there is a superstitious aspect to the rituals. For example, the Temne folk believe that the East is the 'place of birth' and life whilst the West is basically the place of death and the ending of life. This example of some of the Temne superstitions are probably some of the reasons why the Western world considered their rituals of initiation uneducative and nonsensical.

Reading this brought me back to Ghana, where there are also many tribes that undergo the process of initiation. In my family, we do not believe in these practises, but I have seen an initiation process happening, as one of my distant cousins was 'initiated' into a young woman. I do not remember the whole occasion, but it was not as long as the Temne rituals were described. The initiation process I witnessed probably had been influenced my Western culture, because some rather 'primitive' steps of the initiation were skipped. Also, there was not a lot of dancing, just like the Temne had little dancing in their rituals. Besides the formalized initiation in Ghana, there are also some traditions that have to be fulfilled. For example, when a young girl starts her menstrual cycle, she is given pounded yam and a boiled egg to eat, signifying the new birth of womanhood. I remember a year after I moved to Ghana, I was given this meal as I had 'become a woman' and I was completely oblivious to the meaning of the bland food I was forced to eat. Later, I was briefly educated that I had to eat this meal because I had 'become a woman.'

There is very few dancing in this Opera of West African Bondo. The most interesting dance scene is the procession from the river in the finale. As the young girls cross the river, they dance a powerful choreographed dance as they move like serpents in a single file. There is a lot of belly movement and foot movements in this dance as well- it resembles the Haitian dance as they perform the Voodoo dances where they are possessed.

This article was highly educative in that, readers learn that dance theater not only has entertainment functions but other functions like the important 'becoming a whole person' process the Sierra Leoneans use in accepting a person into tribes.