Ethnotheatrological aspects of Angola's cultural manifestations: artistic and educational effects of the Bacongo death ritual
Angolan Cultural Manifestation; Bacongo people; Death Ritual; Ethnoteatrological Aspects; Bimphadi.
This Master's study in Performing Arts is based on two general assumptions: the body is also constructed by the rituals in which it participates; rituals can provide material for local art, including teaching it. Based on this, this research project aims to investigate the ethnoteatrological aspects of the death ritual of the Bacongo people, understood as an important cultural manifestation of Angola, whose valorization in the field of arts may question the imposition of European theater, in search of an Angolan art that is produced with ritualistic knowledge. Through the experimental method of ethnographic inspiration, the study reached some preliminary results, highlighting six para-theatrical elements identified in the funeral ritual and that can be pointed out as its ethnoteatrological aspects, namely: mpovi and makonzo, palm branches, moan, songs, dances and representations. The verification of these elements indicates the possibility of them functioning as a source of rescues and recreations that can nourish and enrich the Angolan actor. For that, it would not be enough to be only in the assembly of a theatrical work, but also to be associated with a pedagogy of the performing arts. That is why, in the development of the research, the identification of the ethnoteatrological aspects of the ritual led this study to point out the effects of these aspects both in the educational field, understanding the ritual as a teaching principle, and in the artistic field, especially from of the work carried out by the Bimphadi Center for Research in Arts of the Scene, based in Luanda, Angola.