Page 63 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

48 Mattijs van de Port

general of the Federação Nacional do Culto Afro-Brasileira stated:

. . . it is a sad fact that neither I nor the Federation have the power to call the
Balé Folclórico da Bahia to a halt . . . I consider them to be one of the main
exhibitors of Candomblé in the world, they show many of the particularities
of our religion . . . well, this much I must admit: they do not show initiation
rituals. But the dances of the orixás! The dances of the orixás! Alas, there is
no way to stop them. Every once in a while, one of their production passes
on TV. I watch it in horror! The exhibition! I know that in that dance group
there are numerous people who belong to the African religion. Without
doubt! And they sing and play the “deep” music and words (músicas e letras
de fundamentação) that they should not be singing and playing. But we can’t
prohibit it, such is the fact. However, I condemn it with all my might . . .

Both the artistic director of the Balé Folclórico da Bahia, a man called
Vava, and the choreographer, Zebrinha, have been confronted with the
critiques. The latter—tall, black, charismatic, a street kid from Caixa
d’Agua who made it to dance academies in New York and Arnhem (in the
Netherlands), and an adept from Candomblé himself—told me that it
would simply be no option to leave out Candomblé from a program of
Bahian music and dance. Candomblé was the fundamento of all the rest.
He stressed that, out of respect, they never entered into the “spiritual part
of Candomblé.” They never performed sacrifices or rituals. “We just take
the forms, the specific movements, which we then stylize by exaggeration.
For let’s face it, the dancing that goes on in the terreiros is far too boring to
put on stage!” When I pressed him to respond to the critique of Ilê Axé
Opô Afonjá, he got irritated. “Oh, these religious people. We are artists!”
Stretching his muscled legs high up in the air he continued: “. . . haven’t we
seen Maria Magdalena spread her legs? Haven’t we seen Jesus fucking?
Jesus as a homosexual? So what’s all the fuss about?” Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá,
he insinuated, has been taken over by white people. They’re the ones to
make all this fuss. “Have you heard of Cleo Martins, a white attorney from
São Paulo and the long time lover of Mãe Stella? Believe me, she’s the one
to make most of the decisions over there!”
Vava too stressed that the Balé Folclórico da Bahia showed nothing that
could not be also seen in the public ceremonies of the terreiros themselves,
where everyone is welcome. “So what are the secrets we’re giving away?”
And he too was under the impression that Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá had been
taken over by the ambitions of “that white women from São Paulo” and
suffered from the influence of all the intellectuals who would go there.

I really do not get their policy. They criticize us, but when they want to pro-
duce a video about their terreiro they contact us whether we can contract