Benin at night the Zangbeto come out and dance

Benin at night the Zangbeto come out and dance Benin: discovering the men of the night, Zangbeto is the only mask from Benin. Texts of poems to make you think, Images, videos to make you travel. welcome

,,,01,,, Benin at night the Zangbeto dance

,,,01,,, Benin: discovering the men of the night,

Zangbeto is the only mask from Benin.

Like “Egungun” and “Guèlèdè”,

it is also one of the secret societies.

In Porto-Novo, where he left,

he was more precisely

the king's police officer,

responsible for ensuring security

city ​​public at night.

In Fon, "zangbeto" means

"Night hunter" or

" night watchman.

It represents non-human spirits,

the forces of nature and the night

who inhabited the earth before man.

The South and the Center of Benin

are the regions where we meet

generally the secret societies of Zangbeto.

Zangbeto masks

are large masks covered with colored straw.

Which are made of a wicker structure

covered with a large raffia skirt,

wearing an apron,

adorned with various signs.

Mask wearers are generally initiates

belonging to a secret society

and their identity is

unknown to the uninitiated,

the mask to stay

an independent entity with its own life.

In the days of kings,

Zangbeto only went out at night.

But nowadays

it also goes out during the day

on special occasions

(traditional ceremonies,

popular celebrations,

death of one of its followers, etc.).

These are great moments,

during which

the populations are force-fed

spectacular demonstrations

various ranging from spinning dance

from masks to apparitions

sudden fetishes,

animals or objects

of any kind when the masks are raised,

without forgetting the songs and the rhythm of the drums.

At night, Zangbeto goes out

to keep the village

the city district

from which it comes in case of frequent crimes

(theft, robbery, etc.).

And when he stops criminals,

it is to the police that these

are delivered, most often.

Feared on the one hand and adored on the other hand,

Zangbeto is one of the cultural values

the most influential,

the most lively,

it is also today

an element of tourist attraction

serving the development of Benin.



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