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Gerewol Festival The Gerewol Festival is a beauty pageant with a refreshing twist: the men do the impressing and the women pick the winners. Earning the approval of a woman offers an array of rewards, whether it is a lover, wife or a single night of passion. It is possibly Africa’s most spectacular tribal festival.
MALE BEAUTY PAGEANT
symmetry. Black kohl is a favourite hue, as it helps emphasise the eyes and teeth. Each year, at the end of the rainy season in Depending on the clan, the men drape September, thousands of Wodaabe — a subthemselves in traditional and ceremonial group of the nomadic Fulani people — gather to dress, consisting of bejewelled tunics, braids participate in the Gerewol Festival at a location of cowrie shells, white armlets made from that is only revealed days before. This is the goats’ beards, soft leather wraps or skirts and most important date in the Wodaabe calendar, sparkling crowns. Towering ostrich plumes where clans and families congregate for a and woollen tassels may be placed onto of week-long get-together of socialising, dancing, their headdress to accentuate their height. courtship, horse races, trade... and courtship. At its heart is the male beauty pageant. The Wodaabe are unashamedly vain. Tall, MUSIC & DANCE slim, white teeth, white eyes, long and an There are many dances which occur aquiline nose are considered desirable traits in circular formations that spring up by Wodaabe women. Young men are up at spontaneously, but the Yaake is the dance that daybreak, armed with pocket mirrors, with every man wants to excel in; he who is chosen family members helping to ensure they are as the most attractive in the Yaake will not fall perfectly groomed. short of female admirers. This involves a lengthy process of shaving To achieve this, the men must dance and hairlines, plaiting hair, coating their faces with sing in a long line, arms interlinked, swaying red ochre, crushed chalk, clay and moving to the rhythm, eyes wide open in and burned bones, and daubing on lines and HOW TO white dots in floral ATTEND formations to For a rare and extraordinary cultural experience, visit the accentuate facial
mock surprise while chattering “va va va va va” continuously at lightning speed, baring their sparkling white teeth. To master the Yaake, the dancers must strive to emulate the grace, elegance and movements of the longlegged white cattle egret. Lasting hours under the hot sun, this can be brutal, although some of the men have an ancient trick up their sleeve: some will drink a fermented bark concoction which has been rumoured to have a hallucinogenic effect and enable them to dance for hours on end.
THE JUDGES The Yaake is performed in front of thousands of Woodabe clan members, but the most important are the young marriageable women, who huddle in graceful poises in the crowd, keeping a discerning and enthusiastic eye on their subjects. Three of the most beautiful women are chosen to select the most attractive males. Each chooses her champion by walking slowly along the line of dancers and swiftly pointing to them. Winning the Yaake will enhance the man’s sexual and social status, respect and a pick of all the women.Some of the women may already have a husband. Every Wodaabe girl has an arranged marriage, but there is always the possibility of a second one. A married woman can choose to be ‘stolen’, leaving her husband behind. There is no stigma attached to setting one’s marriage aside at the Gerewol Festival, temporarily or permanently.
Gerewol Festival in Chad in September 2018 with Origins Safaris. For more info and to watch a video, follow the link at originsafaris.com
Origins Safaris – Authentic African experiences since 1963 www.originsafaris.com tasafari@originsafaris.info 16
January-March 2018 | Travel Africa