Design that Matters Field Journal

Danse Guelede

The directors of MVV organized a Guelede mask dance for our second night in Kemon. Ordinarily, this dance starts around midnight and can last until dawn, with everyone in the audience getting up to join the dance. At the beginning of the dance, the masks are called out of their palm-frond house by the dancers. Here is the petite mask, who comes out first.

The masks, each in their turn, sang to the community about the past and about current issues, both alone and as accompanied by the singers and tam-tam drummers. This is the grand mask, who came out second.

Both masks wore heavy iron bangles around their ankles, which made a tremendous clanking sound with every stamp of their feet. Both masks approached the crowd to bestow their blessings on various people with their fly-whisks. The directors of MVV, Elizabeth Eckel from the Peace Corps, and their guests from Design that Matters were all well-blessed by the masks.

The singers also had songs related to the community that they would call out when the masks retired to their palm frond house, and as they danced they would gracefully sweep their fans and horsehair fly-whisks just above the ground.

The mask dance was a big deal in the village. Dozens of people crammed their way into the compound of MVV director Enoch Fondohou's house.