An Evening of Lutte Sénégalaise II

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Photo1:  the stadium;  photo2:  from the final match of the evening, featured in Clips 13-15;  photo 3:  the end result of the match featured in Clips 9-12;  photo4:  the aftermath of the match featured in Clips 6&8.

At the invitation of G., I again attended Senegalaise lutte (traditional wrestling, the national sport of Senegal), featuring a popular Lebu wrestler in the final match of his career.  (The Lebu are the people who live along the coast here, with communities located in Dakar, Ouakam, N'Gor and Yoff.  They are traditionally fishermen.)  

I invited A. along.  Before his illness, A. was a drummer and drum maker, so he was able to offer insights on the interaction between the drumming groups and the wrestlers.  By example, A. pointed out that the principal Lebu wrestler came with his own drumming group, and that the drums likely had grigris placed inside their bases, so as to radiate additional power.

You'll find fifteen video clips from the event uploaded to You Tube.  Here's a synopsis of each clip:

Clip1 profiles a wrestler and his team together dancing in a ritualized warm-up.  This warm-up and preparation can go on for a couple of hours or more.  Remember, this is not World Wrestling Federation wrestling, it is the real deal.  It is certainly choreographed, but it is not staged, though I wonder how the presence of cameras cause the wrestlers to perform.  The evening was being broadcast live on Senegalese television.  The man on the microphone is a griot, what we'd refer to as an announcer. 

Clip2 features another wrestling team, dancing, and working their way over to a drumming group.  There's a lot going on here.  The wrestler wears fabric strands around his neck, one of which is eventually wrapped around a drum.  The drumming group then improvises a rhythm, which becomes that's wrestler's rhythm for the evening.  The intent is this:  When the drumming group performs that particular rhythm, it empowers that particular wrestler.  It is an interesting concept, that embedded in the cacophony of sound filling the stadium -- several drumming groups, singers, two griots, cheering fans -- there is a connection made between a single rhythm and a wrestler.

Clip3 is a pan of the stadium.  Note the drumming groups, the singers, and the two griots.  It occurred to me that someone with a fragile psychology might be tipped into a psychotic break by such frenetic energy and activity.  I noticed this night, and on our previous visit to the lutte, individuals on the stadium floor fall into trance, or what appeared to be trance, and had to be held down by others until they recovered.

Clip4 is similar in content to Clip2, featuring a different group.

Clip5 is the first match of the evening.  Each wrestler employs a marabout, or team of marabouts.  Their role is to manage the magical aspects of the competition.  Wrestlers compete against wrestlers, and I think it's appropriate to say that their respective marabouts are in combat as well, pitting jinns against jinns, curses and counter curses, applying layers of juju protection. I imagine a Harry Potter-esque spectacle taking place.  Whether real or imagined, it's powerful stuff.

Clip6 features one wrestler in advanced preparation for his match.  The liquids he's drinking and pouring over himself contains materials concocted to provide power and protection, West African Gatorade, though I doubt it tastes as nice.  The paraphernalia worn by the wrestler are grigri, again offering power, protection, and good luck.  By the way, grigris are also stuffed into the wrestler's loincloth, thus their padded appearance, particularly in the bum.

Before the wrestler above stepped into the ring for his match, the collective attention of the crowd shifted to the dramatic arrival of the principal Lebu wrestler, and his large entourage of supporters.  It was as if Bono or Madonna had just walked into the stadium.  The place erupted with excitement.  In Clip7 we see this wrestler dancing with his team, and entering the ring to perform rituals with his marabouts.  There are millions of CFA to be earned from these big matches, and the wrestlers invest a healthy percentage in their marabouts.  

The wrestler isolated in Clip6 eventually fights, and is defeated.  In Clip8 he departs the ring, looking dejected, and returns to his team's prep area beneath us.  Sadly, someone must loose, despite all the magical liquids and layers of grigri.  Later in the evening, a winning wrestler made he way through the stands, thanking his supporters, greeting the crowd.  It struck me that he was actually a human being, quite young and engaging, sensitive and vulnerable, rather than the masked, juju'ed fictional character in the ring.

In Clip9 we see two wrestlers preparing themselves in the ring just prior to their match.  A. explained that the sheep was there to counteract a jinn spell being cast by the opposing wrestler.  The water being sprinkled around the ring by the one wrestler, again, is to provide magical protection.

Clip10 continues the above.  Note the juju being cast by one wrestler toward this opponent, as if throwing magical darts.

Clip11 continues the above match.  Just before the start of the match, the referees check the wrestlers for contraband -- save the dozens of grigri worn around the torso and limbs.

Clip12 is the match between the wrestlers featured in Clips 9-11.  Sadly, the fellow with the sheep, and the water, the magical darts, and all the grigri, is defeated.  So who or what's to blame?  Fire your marabout?  Insha'Allah?  Is it God's Will?  Not enough carbs?  What about my training regime?  Was the match poorly timed?  (A. explained that a wrestler's marabout might designate the optimal time of day to fight, so wrestlers occasionally stall, or speed up, to achieve a convergence of timing and good fortune.)

Clip13 shows preparation for the final, premier match.

Clip14 continues the above, with curses, and counter curses, in advance of the big fight.

Clip15 is the final match.