Dance Videos 2017
In 2017, Yusimi Moya Rodriguez produced two Afro-Cuban dance videos of dances of the Yorùbá deities, the so-called òrìṣà. She danced the female deities Ọya and Ọ̀ṣun, in Spanish orthography these names would be written Oyá and Ochún.
The production was a collaboration with www.santeria.at, a website and center dedicated to the santería tradition and Cuban òrìṣà worship and study in Austria.
The music was recorded for these performances in a studio in Vienna. The three Cuban bàtá drums were played by Christian Martinek, recorded one after the other. He sang the songs in Lucumí, the remains of the Yorùbá language in Cuba. The videos were shot in the hall of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Thank you to Monika and Christian!
Photo above ©santeria.at
The Yorùbá name “Ọya Ìyásàn-án” literally means “Ọya the mother of nine (children)”. In Spanish orthography, it is typically written “Oyá Yansá”. Ọya is the goddess in charge of wind, tornado, torrential rainfall and hurricanes and beloved wife of Ṣàngó, who is often just referred to as “ọkọ Ọya” - “Ọya’s husband”. Like wind and thunderstorm, they cannot be separated. Both are hot-tempered and energetic. In Yorùbáland, Ọya is the òrìṣà of the river Niger, which bears the same name. She came originally from the Nupe people, the neighbors of the Yorùbá. In Cuba, she resides at the entrance to the cemetery, where she leads the dead ones before handing them over to the female deities Ọbà and Yewa, who live inside these walls. Traditionally, the Yorùbá people had no cemetery, it is one of the adoptions the African deities had to make in the diaspora to fit into a politically and culturally new environment. Walking on the boundary between life and death, Ọya is related to the Eégún or Egúngún, the ancestors. She herself had nine stillborn children she is still protecting. With strong winds she can blow away obstacles and bring new things into life. Ọya stands for the female strength in times of struggle, respected for her strong will and fearless through her connection with the world of the dead. Ọya is a female warrior goddess and known for her strong medicines.
Ọya’s typical color in Cuba is burgundy. Around her waist she wears a belt with nine differently colored pieces of clothes attached, symbols for being the mother of nine dead children. Probably these strips of clothes are based on the typical Yorùbáland dress of the masqueraders, the Egúngún, and Ṣàngó. Sometimes palm fibers from the “palma real”, Ṣàngó’s Cuban tree, are added. She carries an “ìrùkẹ̀ẹ̀” made of a black horsetail. Often called a “flywhisk” in English, in West Africa it is a symbol of chieftaincy or a noble status. She can hold a “machete” or a “vaina”, a huge painted seed from the flamboyant tree, in her hands. Ọya moves around like a whirlwind, spins around her axis to the left. She swings her whisk above her head, brings wind and dynamic change, clears and purifies the air. She brings both arms high in the air above her head in mirrored positions and in a sudden powerful movement stretches them downwards to her hips, followed by a wave, a spinal ripple, moving through her body, going from her pelvis up where it twists the head. She is crying out loudly while dancing, looks fierce and strong, aggressive and violent, her movements are impulsive, energetic and characterized by abrupt stops. Some people say one dance of her in the rhythm “chachalokpafun” is related to the buffalo, her sacred animal and the steps mimic the gallop of this massive animal.
Heépàà heéyìì Ọya Ìyánsàn-án!! (Greeting the deity Ọya!)
Ọ̀ṣun is the Yorùbá goddess of the Ọ̀ṣun river and in Cuba became known as the òrìṣà of fresh water and all rivers in general. She is the main source of life on earth, the universal vibrant female energy and is associated with kindness, fertility, gentleness, conception, reproduction and the miracle of birth. She refreshes, cools, harmonizes and cures with the transforming and absorbing soft power of pure water. Her metal is “idẹ”, brass, which stands for wealth and beauty. She is a trading woman and responsible for commerce and material prosperity. Her sensual aspects are over-emphasized in Cuba, she is depicted as a very erotic woman and seductive. This is related to her historic fusion on many levels in society with a racial colonial stereotype of a black woman, the “mulata”. Ọ̀ṣun is a powerful woman among men and rules over the female witchcraft. She is herself a famous diviner in the sixteen-cowry-shells-oracle, an important tool for communication with the spiritual world. She is usually peaceful, loving and sweet, like a gentle flowing river, but she can appear arrogant and if necessary, she fights like a warrior. Then the gentle river turns into an unstoppable flood, especially when she gets offended. She is aware of her seductive power and respectively uses it. What starts with a small, harmless flirt can ultimately have a huge impact on your life. She plays an important role taking care of the bàtá drums and Àyàn.
Ọ̀ṣun dances in a yellow dress, that can be adorned with golden (bronze) embroidery, sunflowers, cowry shells, peacock feathers and small bells. She is “aládé”, of royal descent, in Cuba marked by a European-style crown on her head. Around her wrists she wears copper bangles, which produce a jingling sound. In her hand Ọ̀ṣun carries an “abẹ̀bẹ̀”, a ritual fan. In Yorùbáland this is a round plate of brass mounted on a handle. Ọ̀ṣun cools and neutralizes like water, it shows her soothing power. The “abẹ̀bẹ̀” shape is similar to European hand mirrors. As Ọ̀ṣun is associated with beauty, the mirror and the fan combine well in a Cuban context. Folding paper fans can also be used. In the dance, Ọ̀ṣun uses the fan like a hand mirror and looks at her beautiful face as if she would apply make-up. She sinks down into the river as she sits down on the floor and moves her bent arms up in the air in front of her head. Slow soft and lascivious movements let us think that she is bathing or rubbing herself with sweet honey, a mythological story how she captured òrìṣà Ògún. Pulling her skirt across and around herself she shows the gentle flowing rhythm of the river. Her shoulder, neck and head are bouncing softly by a movement that comes from the torso. She holds the skirt in both hands, bends down as if she was fetching water from a source and spills it over her body while getting up. She is laughing out loudly, often interpreted as the laughter of a furious maniac, but always remains smiling.
Oore yèyé òòò Ọ̀ṣun! (Greeting the mother’s kindness!)