The ceremony that follows the mourning is called the dama dance. Trancelike, energetic movements are performed by the men to accompany the dead into the ancestral realm and restore order to the universe. Through such sacred rituals, the Dogon believe that the benevolent forces of their ancestors are transmitted to them as the dance creates a bridge into the supernatural world.

The Dogon perform these ceremonies to honor the passing of a respected elder. This dama dance ceremony will often last for three days and involve dozens of dancers representing figures from the animal world, male and female powers, and the afterworld.

Once the dama dance has been performed, the aged bones of the elder are placed high in the windswept Bandiagara cliffs in the caves for the dead.

By Donna Van Wyk

Cheza Nami believes in a play-based, experiential approach to education by teaching African culture through dance, play and movement. The Cheza Nami Foundation Cultural Arts and Learning (CAL) assembly is a curriculum-based youth cultural arts educational program developed this year.  This series will be offered to the Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) in collaboration with the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center (LVPAC). Listen for Life has also partnered with Cheza Nami to make their Travels with music unit on Africa, an online educational resource, available for the assembly pre-visit lesson plan.

This exciting program has won the approval of the City of Pleasanton and Redwood City Cultural Commission who have both awarded Cheza Nami with grants to provide schools with these educational assemblies. Cheza Nami has already provided assemblies to individual schools in cities throughout the Bay Area including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Redwood City and Alameda.

In the lead up to the assembly, teachers are provided with a pre-visit lesson plan with material that includes facts about Africa, music, videos, worksheets and carefully selected videos and audio from Listen for Life.