ABC 17: Lord of the Dance

Here is our first book for September of Anansi Book Club (see the September schedule... plus you can see all the Anansi Book Club posts at this blog) — Lord of the Dance written and illustrated by Véronique Tadjo. The book is just a click away at the Internet Archive, and you can always chime in with your thoughts at Twitter using the hashtag #AnansiBookClub.

This book is a different kind of reading and visual experience than the other books we've been reading. This is not a folktale, but is instead more like a celebration of the tradition of masks and dancing, specifically inspired by the mask and dance traditions of the Senufo people of western Africa. There are notes in the back of the book about the Senufo people, their mask traditions and their art, and how the art inspired the brilliant artwork in this book. (Click image for a larger view.)

And crucially, there is a note about the author and how she came to write and illustrate this book: "She first heard "Lord of the Dance sung at a wedding in England, and the hymn made her think ot a Mask as Lord of the Dance for the Senufo in Africa."

I will confess that I had never heard this hymn myself, but it is a quite famous modern hymn (Wikipedia), and be sure to see the Wikipedia article for the composer finding inspiration for this retelling of Jesus's story in the story of Shiva the Nataraja or Dance-Lord. Hre's a recording by Donovan that I found at YouTube, and here are the lyrics: 

And you can also find Senufo music and dancing at YouTube, like this video of the Senufo Poro dance (the voiceover to the video tells a Senufo creation story also):

And you might be interested in his video about about carving Senufo masks: Woodcarving in Ivory Coast.

If you would like to learn more about Véronique Tadjo, here's a podcast you can listen to: Véronique Tadjo - A Radical Literary Imagination.

You can also find other books by Véronique Tadjo at the Internet Archive! For example, there is this beautiful story book about the goddess Mamy Wata: Mamy Wata and the Monster. There is a swallowing monster in this story, which is one of my favorite folktale characters! Tadjo both wrote and illustrated this book:

The book Grandma Nana is available in two different bilingual versions: English and German, and also English and Somali. Tadjo is the author and illustrator of this book also:

And for the final update to this post, I want to include two wonderful books that Véronique Tadjo edited, both of which are available at the Internet Archive: one is a volume of prose stories (including some folktale-type stories), and the other is a collection of poetry. 

Chasing the Sun: Stories from Africa

Talking Drums: A Selection of Poems

from Africa South of the Sahara

Tadjo did the beautiful illustrations and text decorations for both books too; here's her illustration of the trickster rabbit for Léopold Sédar Senghor's story "Leuk-the-Hare Discovers Man." (More about Senghor.)

And here is her illustration for a short poem by Niyi Osundare: A Baby Antelope. (More about Osundare.)

And now, please just jump in and enjoy the visual spectacle that is Lord of the Dance. There is not a lot of text to read, but there is so much to think about and imagine as you turn the pages of the this beautiful book!

Lord of the Dance

by Véronique Tadjo