The Continental Counterpoint
The Northeast of Brazil and the Guyanas, though geographically attached to the South American continent, are generally considered culturally as part of the Caribbean. The heavy African presence in the former British Guyana, French Guiana, and Surinam accounts for such a classification. This chapter will present the most important aspects of Candomble and Macumba as the main links to samba, the national dance of Brazil.
Africanisms are expressed in Brazil through its dance, music, and the world's most colorful carnivals in Rio de Janeiro in the south and Bahia in the northeast. The African-derived religion of Brazil takes the names of Candomble in Bahia, the Macumba in Rio, and Batuque in the northeast. Candomble, which means "dance in honor of the gods," is retained from the Fon and the Yoruba, as in Cuba and Haiti. In Brazil, the Fon are also known as "Gege," and in Bahia the religion took shape in the 1940s from the original houses of Casa Branca, Gantois and Axe Opo Afonja which became the models for most "terreiros" or "barracaes" (public dancing rooms). The officers of Candomble are known as "babalorixa" (the male) and "iyalorixa" (the female). While both terms mean respectively father and mother of the Orixas (African Deities), such persons are better viewed as "schooled" in the ways of the Orixas.
The music and dance of the Orixas, like that of the African tradition from which it comes, consist of the three drum chorus, bells, and rattles. The drums, called "atabaque" are the "rum", the largest, the "rumpi", the middle, and there is a smaller one. The rattles or "afox" accentuate the cross-rhythms provided by the drums, and the clapperless double bell, "agogo", sets the pace. Drums, as in Haiti and Cuba, are consecrated and baptized, and are given a godmother and godfather. The energies are renewed annually according to ritual traditions by "feeding" them with animal blood, oil, honey, and holy water.
Atabaque Drums
The agogo, the foundation of the ensemble, is called "base". The rumpi and the smallest drum which play an identical pattern are the "primero" base, and the rum is conceived as the "variacion".
Master drummers in Brazil, called "alab", participate in an exchange of energy with dancers and audiences whose main purpose is to call on the Orixas for their blessings and bring about community healing. Similar to Cuba, the Orixas emanated from over 100 ethnic groups brought to the New World during the slave trade, but some eight main powers are traditionally worshipped at ceremonies. Each Orixa has his or her particular music, but one must always begin by saluting Elegua or Exu, the ambassador between the spiritual entities of the universe. The Brazilian ceremony is in two parts, one in which the "yawos" or the initiates dance to welcome the spirits in their heads, and the other after the orixas have taken center stage. The "avaniha" is the music played for the entrance of the yawos who retired to an interior room to be dressed in the appropriate apparel of the Orixas. After the Orixas have been dressed in their respective costumes, and handed their emblems, arms, and ritual tools, they make their grand entrance into the dancing area to the music of "agolona".
In Rio de Janeiro, the African-derived ritual is known as Macumba, and is divided into two major branches: Umbanda and Quimbanda. A fusion largely of Kongo-Angola, Yoruba, Amerindian, and Roman Catholicism, Macumba constitutes a direct link to samba, the national dance of Brazil. It uses mainly barrel-shaped drums, covered with soft animal skin, which are played with bare hands in rhythms largely in duple meter. Its rituals are varied, and take on the characteristics of many of its constitutive parts; for example Kongo, Yoruba, and Amerindian (Cabloco or native spirits). Its officers are called, "pai and mai de santo", mother and father of the saints or spirits. Transcending the notion of "sin", like Candomble and all other African-derived religious cultural manifestations found in the Caribbean, and putting the emphasis on the present, the main focus is community healing and well-being. Dancing the Macumba is indeed a meditation of the body (Deren/Ito, 1978).
Rara bands hold ceremonies to ask the spirits to protect them and their instruments on the spiritually dangerous streets.
