The Dancers

We call our African religious tradition vodunu and as described previously there are drums, iron, chac chacs and songs in the vodunu. This will eventually lead to dancing, But the only dancers are those that are in a state of possession or have the ‘power’. The dancers are called vodunsi  (wife of god) and is possessed by one deity.  Sometimes the vodunsis dance with a symbol, such as an oar or broom that is representative of the spirit that she is possessed by. She also wears a sash in the colour of her deity.  During the possession the dancers have oracle powers and wisdom not normally seen in their regular lives.

The drummers try to induce possession by playing a song that is favoured by the vodunsi. Possession is not voluntary and the dancers have no memory of what happened during the state of possession. The transitional period when the dancers return to their normal state is called Nubioduto or Were.  The dancers are said to act very childlike or mischievously during this period.

The vodsunsis are almost always women, but there have been male dancers in the past. Two arrived with Abojevi/Robert Antoine from Dahomey;  Kunu and Alokasu who died in 1902 and 1903 respectively.

Initial possession or when someone ‘falls’ is very dramatic. The person usually falls to the ground and rolls. A special ceremony, called Desunu, is preformed approximately 3 months after the initial possession.  The new dancer participates in a secret ceremony and is given new clothes, comb, towel, goblet and basin. A thanksgiving is also given a year later.