Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases two videos of the Ivory Coast's Zaouli dance and presents information compiled from several internet articles about the meaning of that dance. A comment exchange about this dance from a YouTube video's discussion thread is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Discussion threads of most YouTube videos about the Zaouli dances include comments about that dance being the source of or very similar to fast footwork dances in the United States and elsewhere in the African Diaspora.
I haven't included any of those comments in this post. However, for a 2012 pancocojams post with that focus, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/shared-aesthetics-ivory-coast-mask.html for the 2012 pancocojams post "Shared Aesthetics: Ivory Coast Mask Dances & Chicago Footwork". Some of the content from that 2012 post is included in this post.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Zaouli de Manfla
KONAN947, Published on Feb 26, 2010
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Example #2: Mask collective + Festima - Zaouli de la Côte d'Ivoire
Mask Collective, Published on Mar 16, 2014
Interview avec la troupe Zaouli de la Côte d'Ivoire, de la ville de Bouaflé
Réalisée par Mask Collective lors du Festima 2014, Dédougou, Burkina Faso.
pour plus de vidéos sur les masques
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This video features French narration with English sub-titles.
A few comments from this video's discussion thread are given below under Excerpt #7.
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EXCERPTS ABOUT THE MEANING OF IVORY COAST'S ZOULI DANCE
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1:
From http://dailyscience.be/28/08/2014/la-vitalite-des-masques-est-toujours-intense-en-afrique-occidentale/ LA VITALITÉ DES MASQUES EST TOUJOURS INTENSE EN AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE; Publié le 28 août 2014; par Raphaël Duboisdenghien
"[...]
Le masque le plus célèbre
Le masque «Gyela lu Zauli», qui illustre la couverture du livre, est le plus célèbre parmi ceux qui se produisent en milieu guro. Son apparition date des années 1950. Elle est associée à une histoire dramatique qui fonctionne depuis comme une légende. Celle d’un père qui nourrit une passion peu commune à l’égard de sa fille. L’homme se conduit en mari jaloux et possessif. Pour avoir son enfant toujours auprès de lui, il l’entraîne dans la forêt sacrée interdite aux femmes. Et la jeune fille périt.
Le masque «Gyela lu Zauli» est censé la représenter et honorer sa mémoire. L’histoire est aussi marquée par un autre événement douloureux. Le meurtre d’un porteur du masque, danseur exceptionnel, commandité par un envieux désireux de procéder à des pratiques occultes.
Ces deux récits contiennent tous les ingrédients qui génèrent l’admiration chez les Guro. Il y a la gloire, la célébrité, la beauté et le talent recherchés par tous. Ainsi que l’audace de braver les interdits. Tout en étant un masque de la première catégorie, Gyela lu Zauli se voit ainsi nimbé du halo inquiétant du surnaturel. On sent confusément que l’on pénètre dans une sphère plus dangereuse. Celle des manipulations sorcières stimulées par les caractères d’exception.»
Récupérer le prestige perdu
La danse rythme les sorties masquées des Guro. Les porteurs sont tous des hommes… «Je perçois les femmes comme un véritable étalon de mesure de l’importance des masques. Car plus ils sont sacrés, moins elles y ont accès. Au sommet de cette échelle se situent ceux qu’elles ne peuvent voir sous aucun prétexte. Au mieux peuvent-elles entendre confusément les sons inquiétants qu’ils émettent lorsqu’ils apparaissent devant les hommes alors qu’elles sont terrées dans leur maison. Plus les masques sont sacrés, plus ils sont dangereux. Et plus les femmes les craignent.»
Tous les hommes ne portent pas un masque… «Au-delà de la démarche périlleuse qui consiste à revêtir un masque et son costume, un homme engage sa vie ou celle d’un membre de sa famille. En effet, il n’est pas rare que des actes de sorcellerie soient relatés. Ils consistent à sacrifier quelqu’un, pour accroître ses capacités techniques ou surnaturelles. Au cours des recherches, j’ai défendu la thèse que les hommes guro récupéraient, par le biais des masques, le prestige perdu par l’abandon des activités liées à la guerre et à la chasse.»
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Google translate from French to English
"The most famous mask
The mask "Gyela lu Zauli", which illustrates the cover of the book, is the most famous among those that occur in guro environment. Its appearance dates back to the 1950s. It is associated with a dramatic story that has since operated as a legend. That of a father who feeds an unusual passion for his daughter. The man behaves like a jealous and possessive husband. To have his child always near him, he takes him [her] to the sacred forest forbidden to women. And the girl perishes.
The mask "Gyela lu Zauli" is supposed to represent her and honor her memory. The story is also marked by another painful event. The murder of a mask-wearer, an exceptional dancer, ordered by an envious person who wants to practice occult practices.
These two stories contain all the ingredients that generate admiration among the Guro. There is the glory, the celebrity, the beauty and the talent sought by all. And the audacity to brave the forbidden. While being a mask of the first category, Gyela lu Zauli is thus covered with the disturbing halo of the supernatural. One feels confusedly that one enters a more dangerous sphere. That of witch manipulations stimulated by the characters of exception.
Recover lost prestige
The dance rhythms the masked outings of Guro. The porters are all men ... "I see women as a true standard for measuring the importance of masks. Because the more they are sacred, the less they have access to it. At the top of this scale are those whom they can not see under any pretext. At best they can hear confusedly the disturbing sounds they emit when they appear in front of men while they are holed up in their home. The more sacred the masks are, the more dangerous they are. And the more women fear them. "
All men do not wear a mask ... "Beyond the perilous step of wearing a mask and his suit, a man commits his life or that of a member of his family. Indeed, it is not uncommon for acts of witchcraft to be recounted. They consist in sacrificing someone to increase their technical or supernatural abilities. During the research, I defended the thesis that men guro recovered, through masks, the prestige lost by the abandonment of activities related to war and hunting."
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Excerpt #2
From http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/200003/papers/paper_azoubel.html
Journal of Undergraduate Research University Of Florida
Volume 1, Issue 6 - March 2000; Juliana Azoubel; "The Cote d'Ivoire Mask Tradition from the Viewpoint of Dance Ethnology: Dancing the Gap between Spirit and Human Worlds
"The Cote d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) is the origin of several of the most important and interesting masking traditions in Africa. In the West, these masks have been viewed primarily as art objects. Through their embodiment in dance, however, masks are the way many Ivorians communicate with supernatural forces and bring power to the community...
[...]
THE ZAOULI MASK AND HER FLIRTATIOUS SISTER FLALI
According to the Guros, the masks that did not originate from the animal spirits are entertainment masks, and among them are Sauli (Zaouli), Flali and Wali. The essential dance activity for the Zaouli mask is rapid-fire movement of the feet. Dictated by the rhythm of the drums for both the Zaouli figure and the head movements of the forest dancers, this dance is high speed and very dynamic (Poynor). "Saouli masks are topped by multi-figured compositions, the subjects of which often have nothing to do with the dance itself. The purpose of the superstructure seems to be to introduce an element of surprise into the entertainment and to increase its attractiveness"(Poynor 173)...
Zaouli is female yet the Zaouli performer is always male. The cross-gender mask performs on many different occasions to amuse people: during holidays, for entertainment of visitors to the community, to collect food from the community members during the initiation process, and also in some funeral ceremonies. Zaouli has a young sister called Flali. This mask, also performed exclusively by men, shares many characteristics of Zaouli, including the actual mask. It is entirely the dance activity that distinguishes Flali from her sister, Zaouli. Flali shows more charm and flirting in her performance. She uses a high proportion of upper back articulation in her dance, contrasting the forceful footwork-based that characterizes Zaouli. The performance of Flali is a deep play on movement characteristics of a woman and the dance becomes exaggeratedly feminine and more delicate than a female dancer's, and of Zaouli's for that matter."...
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Excerpt #3
From https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/zaouli-de-manfla-the-zaouli-dance-of-the-ivory-coast-west-africa
"Zaouli de Manfla, a mask dance from the Gouro or Kweni culture, filmed by African dance teacher Konan Kouakou David in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Of the tradition, he writes:
Zaouli is a popular mask dance created by Gouros in the fifties. Legends at the origin of the Zaouli mask and dance are diverse, but all say that they were inspired by a very beautiful girl named “Djela Lou Zaouli”, daugther of Zaouli...
Each Gouro village has its local Zaouli dancer, who performs during funerals or parties. A musicians and singers orchestra first call the Zaouli dancer by its music. The dancer wearing the mask covered by a cloth then arrives after a predecessor who unveils the mask. After the beauty of the mask has been shown to the audience, the dancer performs extremely quick and rhythmical steps according to the flutes of the orchestra. Hands and feet follow a common choreography improvised by the dancer according to the music."
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Excerpt #4:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaouli
"Zaouli is a traditional dance of the Guro people (who speak the Guro language) of central Ivory Coast. The Zaouli mask, used in the dance, was created in the 1950s, reportedly inspired by a girl named "Djela Lou Zaouli"[1] (meaning "Zaouli, daughter of Djela").[2] However, stories on the origins of the mask are varied, and each mask can have its own symbolic history.[3]
Each Guro village has a local Zaouli dancer (always male), performing during funerals and celebrations.[1] The dance is believed to increase the productivity of a village that it is performed in, and is seen as tool of unity for the Guro community, and by extension the whole country.
In popular culture
The Sri Lankan-English rapper M.I.A. included a clip of a Zaouli dance in her video "Matahdatah Scroll 01: Broader Than A Border".
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Excerpt #5:
From https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/africa/zaouli-mask-dance/index.html Possession obsession: What happens when you don the Zaouli mask
By Earl Nurse and Thomas Page, for CNN Updated 4:41 AM ET, Tue October 11, 2016
..."Donning a Zaouli mask has a profound effect on its wearer. The process is taken seriously and filming it is prohibited. Only the initiated are permitted to bear witness -- and women are strictly forbidden.
"The bearer changes," Anoh explains, "the spirits take control of him. He is separated from all that happens around him... Once he will put the mask on, it will not be him again that will be dancing, but the spirit that will possess his body.
[...]
In Ivory Coast, people consulted masks when danger was coming, the chief explains. Some masks protect villages, some counter bad spalls; others are used to rejoice.
Each Zaouli mask can take as long as six days to carve. Made of Yaranza wood, the process is secretive, each artisan using their own approach. Ouagene Coulibaly, president of the Association of the Village Artisans of Bassam, will show CNN his work in progress, but refuses to divulge how he finishes his unique and sacred works.
When it happens the dance is fast and furious, the masked man churning up dust beneath his feet. Provoked to keep up the pace by his dance partner, it's a superhuman effort guided by the spirits.”...
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Excerpt #6:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgbmeB5HJrs ZAOULI au funeraille de IRIE_DOBO à Bédiala, published by som2bedi on Aug 21, 2012
[selected comments]
1. Baba Basen, April 2018
"and you play this when someone dies? (herd it somewhere)"
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REPLY
2. bi tra dieudonné, June 2018
"No sometimes in ceremonies of baptism, wedding ceremony and even in front of authorities. So no only if someone dies. Am gouro and am proud of being it"
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Given the sentence before it, I believe that this commenter meant “So [this dance is not only [performed] if someone dies”.
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Excerpt #7:
From https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5893219718076521675#overview Mask collective + Festima - Zaouli de la Côte d'Ivoire, published by Mask Collective on Mar 16, 2014
[selected comments]
1. senhuan, 2015
"What's the guy doing behind the masked dancer? Is he there for a purpose? Or just happened to want to be there?"
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2. REPLY
cabrioletcook1, 2017
"He’s narrating the story of the dance"
**
3. Merveil Meok, 2016
"Translation:
First man: Our dance is called the Zaouli (pronounced "za-U-lee"). We are from the Ivory Coast, precisely from a town called Bouaflé (pronounced "bwa-flay").
Once upon a time, the dance originated with farmers who gathered at night to dance after a long day of work in the fields. The dance is named after the daughter of its creator. She was called Djella Lou Zaouli (pronounced "jay-lah lou za-u-lee"), which means (Djella daughter of Zaouli).
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Second man: The Zaouli is international because the dance has now been shown around the world. In the Ivory Coast, all the best dancers are looked at and only one is chosen to be the best among the best. This dancer here was named the best."
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