Ogum in a Terreiro de Umbanda Trance Dance as a Pathway for the Transmission of Memory and Knowledge

Abstract

This article proposes to examine the dance of Ogum in trance during Umbanda (an Afro-Brazilian religion) rituals as a means of transmitting ancestral memory and knowledge through the body. I contend that, through the dance of an orixá, one may access elements constitutive of African mythology which, during the processes of enslavement and diaspora, underwent a systematic epistemic erasure —an erasure that continues to reinforce both racism and religious racism in Brazil. 

This article constitutes a development of the doctoral thesis “Ogunhiê! —The Corporeality and Poetics of Ogum in the Terreiro de Umbanda Aldeia dos Orixás in Approximations and Divergences with the Work of the Actor,” defended in 2023 within the Graduate Programme in Performing Arts at the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil) —PPGAC /UFBA. Said thesis explored the dance of Ogum in trance within Umbanda rituals as a vehicle for the transmission of ancestral memory and knowledge, mediated through the drumming body that sings, dances, and narrates its stories; thereby, broadening our understanding of what constitutes an ancestral narrative. I argue that, through the dance of an orixá, it becomes possible to access elements of African mythology which, throughout the processes of enslavement and diaspora, have been subject to epistemic erasure —an erasure that continues to perpetuate both racism and religious racism in my country. Moreover, I locate this tradition within an Afro-Amerindian context, insofar as one of the defining features of colonial violence in Brazil lies in the forced or strategic convergence of cultures —whether as a mechanism of domination or as a strategy of survival for enslaved peoples of both African and Indigenous origin. In this article, I engage in dialogue with Brazilian scholars such as Zeca Ligiéro, Leda Maria Martins, Larissa Michele Lara, Denise Zenicola, and Muniz Sodré, all of whom reflect upon corporality from the perspective of the body as crossroads [encruzilhada], as it is understood within the shared Afro-religious traditions of Brazil. I invite the reader to approach the traditions and liturgy of Umbanda, so that we might come to understand how terreiros in Brazil, beyond being sacralised spaces, also constitute sites of resistance and struggle against the enduring structures of coloniality. 

While this article is a scholarly work of academia, it nonetheless resonates with other fields of knowledge. I position myself here as someone who inhabits various social roles within the scope of this investigation, and I will thus navigate these positionalities throughout my research. I have worked as a theatre teacher since 2012, I have been an actress for over fifteen years, and I have served as a medium in the Terreiro de Umbanda Aldeia dos Orixás since 2011, alongside my academic training. It is within this terreiro that the giras de desenvolvimento under investigation take place. At the time of writing, I mark thirteen years since my initiation as a filha de santo.