Tuesday, June 7, 2016
A wrestler contemplating the upcoming challenge.
Miguel B. Corrigan
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Assistant Dean for BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
Associate Professor of BUS/FIN/MKT, NVCC-Loudoun
2014 Fulbright Teaching Scholar, SVRIA, Saratov, Russia
mcorrigan@nvcc.edu703-450-2615
Wrestling continued
The first match takes a while. They are among the smaller of the men, continually struggle to the edges, and the referee needs to recalibrate the match. Finally there is a resolution of sorts....there is no throw but the ref holds one's hand up in victory near what appears to be a scorer's table. Suddenly one of the combatants, perhaps the loser, runs to a clear spot and rolls in the sand---he seems to be in the throes of some kind of seizure. His friends go to him and seem to console to no avail. He continues to cover himself in the fine brown dust. Finally he gets up, clears his head, and flexes almost stubbornly---as if to say, "I am still a powerful man". After this match, there is suddenly an uptick in chanting and drumming. Ousmane enters the rings and dances, then Fallou and Waly Faye. Some members of our contingent are pulled to their feet and dance, if a bit tentatively and awkwardly----some hurriedly sit at the soonest convenience. The crowd surges into the ring too. Meanwhile the future combatants continue to circle malevolently, preening, stepping to the beat---each with his own styles. Each round now ends rather quickly---a head slap, a clench, a brutal dance to the edge, sometimes a leg is grabbed and someone is upended. There are several more tragic performance rolls in the dust. Each is drenched before and during the matches with some kind of water potion. They set sticks with some kind of ribbon in 5 corners of a star at the edges----this is a Seereer ritual, apparently simulating the Islamic crescent. They also (according to Ousmane) writing in the dirt in Arabic. They also always enter the ring with their left foot for some reason.
Incidentally, today is the first day of Ramadan. Last night there was a sliver of moon which has something to do with it. Someone announces it and today Muslims begin to fast.
Back to wrestling. There are several more rounds. Several more cathartic dancing breaks. At one point there is tempo change and scores of boys throng the ring and go into a frenzy. The remaining, now large, sculpted men continue to circle. Finally, around 11pm, the final. it is over in seconds, the loser spitting dirt. The winner gets a bag of rice and 1,000 CFAs. This a quite a haul since Ramadan is coming and many, many people can be fed with a bag of rice.
Ousmane Sene is our featured lecturer the next morning and describes wrestling a an important ritual for the expending of aggressive energy and the beginnings of courtship. These guys probably have their share of admirers.
Incidentally, today is the first day of Ramadan. Last night there was a sliver of moon which has something to do with it. Someone announces it and today Muslims begin to fast.
Back to wrestling. There are several more rounds. Several more cathartic dancing breaks. At one point there is tempo change and scores of boys throng the ring and go into a frenzy. The remaining, now large, sculpted men continue to circle. Finally, around 11pm, the final. it is over in seconds, the loser spitting dirt. The winner gets a bag of rice and 1,000 CFAs. This a quite a haul since Ramadan is coming and many, many people can be fed with a bag of rice.
Ousmane Sene is our featured lecturer the next morning and describes wrestling a an important ritual for the expending of aggressive energy and the beginnings of courtship. These guys probably have their share of admirers.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Saturday: Wrestling
Before I departed for Senegal, while attending a small cocktail party, after enduring some mild criticism of American culture from a fellow attendee(turns out he was French, surprise, surprise), I discovered he'd been born in Dakar---hadn't been back in a while---but when asked what he could share, he said, the Senegalese are bonkers for wrestling. Turns out he was absolutely correct.
There's a guy here, a big star, calls himself Tyson. A real bad-ass---both as a wrestler and as a self-promoter. Video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHUlsN97l4&list=PLtcnHnROjoWUk2Aeweh0lN-LdK55Fk42L
Anyway, our tireless cultural attaches have arranged for a special local wrestling match for our group at a village about 20 minutes away from our lodge in Toubacouta. The Director of WARC, a larger than life scholar and personality named Ousmane Sene has outdone himself in preparing this spectacle. We bundle into the bus about 10 pm, bump along dark and dusty dirt roads for a few minutes, and arrive suddenly in a clearing bathed in hanging lamps. There are hundreds of locals. Drums are already driving the mood and there are two interwoven, wailing, spiraling women's voices chanting on a primitive PA system. It is loud but not oppressive and the excitement is pretty palpable. To my chagrin(I prefer to observe without fanfare as always), we are led INSIDE the ring where there are a row of chairs for our group. The populace is outside a minimal rope line and they are wound up. As Dr. Sene and our Waly Faye say......most of the time in these villages, nothing happens---and as it turns out, we've brought some excitement. There are scores of children. It is a big out in the country party. We are seated and it is apparent that Ousmane is quite a famous fellow around here. Many people greet him. Waly is also well known and both of them are thanked and mentioned over the PA several times.
In the ring a series of mesmerizing rituals are playing out. First, there are 10-15 real physical specimens going through a series of ritual dance moves/feints/warmup exercises. They are dressed in their best workout clothing---some with the seat of their pants similar to the American urban "boxer shorts showing"style. Quatar Airways gear is again popular here. They are big, muscular dudes. Unsmiling mostly and serious. Once in a while one will approach the drummers and singers or come over to us and flex in perfect choreography. Some shuffle. Some high step. It is very rhythmic. Some appear arrogant and preening. Others are subdued, their movement muted, their clothing drab. These are the ones I think may be the ones to watch. One guy has a huge pair of unlace Timberland boots. many paw the earth with their feet, perhaps imitating a bull preparing to charge. When the first match begins, the two combatants strip down to a ropelike belt and skimpy shorts. They drench themselves with water that is prepared by their handlers and then cover themselves with dust from the ring. They approach each other with feigned malevolence, parrying forearms. Once in a while one will try to place a hand on the shaved head off the other---usually swatted away with irritation. The objective is to throw the other to the ground and they go at each other in a frenzy.
The bus leaves now for Djilor, our next stop on the tour. I shall continue in a few hours......
There's a guy here, a big star, calls himself Tyson. A real bad-ass---both as a wrestler and as a self-promoter. Video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHUlsN97l4&list=PLtcnHnROjoWUk2Aeweh0lN-LdK55Fk42L
Anyway, our tireless cultural attaches have arranged for a special local wrestling match for our group at a village about 20 minutes away from our lodge in Toubacouta. The Director of WARC, a larger than life scholar and personality named Ousmane Sene has outdone himself in preparing this spectacle. We bundle into the bus about 10 pm, bump along dark and dusty dirt roads for a few minutes, and arrive suddenly in a clearing bathed in hanging lamps. There are hundreds of locals. Drums are already driving the mood and there are two interwoven, wailing, spiraling women's voices chanting on a primitive PA system. It is loud but not oppressive and the excitement is pretty palpable. To my chagrin(I prefer to observe without fanfare as always), we are led INSIDE the ring where there are a row of chairs for our group. The populace is outside a minimal rope line and they are wound up. As Dr. Sene and our Waly Faye say......most of the time in these villages, nothing happens---and as it turns out, we've brought some excitement. There are scores of children. It is a big out in the country party. We are seated and it is apparent that Ousmane is quite a famous fellow around here. Many people greet him. Waly is also well known and both of them are thanked and mentioned over the PA several times.
In the ring a series of mesmerizing rituals are playing out. First, there are 10-15 real physical specimens going through a series of ritual dance moves/feints/warmup exercises. They are dressed in their best workout clothing---some with the seat of their pants similar to the American urban "boxer shorts showing"style. Quatar Airways gear is again popular here. They are big, muscular dudes. Unsmiling mostly and serious. Once in a while one will approach the drummers and singers or come over to us and flex in perfect choreography. Some shuffle. Some high step. It is very rhythmic. Some appear arrogant and preening. Others are subdued, their movement muted, their clothing drab. These are the ones I think may be the ones to watch. One guy has a huge pair of unlace Timberland boots. many paw the earth with their feet, perhaps imitating a bull preparing to charge. When the first match begins, the two combatants strip down to a ropelike belt and skimpy shorts. They drench themselves with water that is prepared by their handlers and then cover themselves with dust from the ring. They approach each other with feigned malevolence, parrying forearms. Once in a while one will try to place a hand on the shaved head off the other---usually swatted away with irritation. The objective is to throw the other to the ground and they go at each other in a frenzy.
The bus leaves now for Djilor, our next stop on the tour. I shall continue in a few hours......
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