A slide show meant as help tool for beginning dancers learning the dances of the orixás as a type of 'folk dance. While I am sharing it, I would appreciate it if you quote me when using the text; that is all my own original work. Gestures of Orixás by Anna Beatrice Scott is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.negressdeterminata.com.

1. Orixá gestures up close
a visual aid to kinetic conversing

2. Inside the choreostory
Each dance is a complete story- choreostory
However, to create the story, there are sets of
gestures, rhythms, songs, shouts
In particular, the gestures alert people to the arrival
of a specific orixá
the gestures are also symbols

3. Symbols in Motion
If each gesture is a symbol, then complete moves
are mythos/recurrent themes or structures
a symbol is also a glyph, type of shorthand image
Like the alphabet, these kinesthetic glyphs can be
accumulated to create larger meaning structures.
I call these glyphs, kinemes.

4. SOME KNOWN GLYPHS

5. The ferramentas = glyphs

7. OXUM LOGUM EDE
OBA
OXALÁ EXÚ
IEMANJÁ
DRAWINGS BY CARYBÉ. FROM HIS BOOK, ORIXÁ.
LOCATED ON HTTP://OCANDOMBLE.WORDPRESS.COM, CC

8. OXUMARÉ OXOSSI
OMOLU
EWÁ
OYÁ/IANSÃ NANÃ
THESE OBJECTS REPRESENT AND COMPLETE
THE BODY USES GESTURES TO INDICATE HOW THEY ARE USED

9. OSSAIM
XANGÓ

10. OGUM
OGUM
WWW.ILEAXE.COM/LOJA/DETALHES.ASP?
THERE ARE FERRAMENTAS THAT ARE MADE TO BE STATIONARY ON SHRINES

11. IANSÃ
OSSAIN OXOSSI
EACH ORIXÁ HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES
THEY ARE TREATED AS SACRED ITEMS. THESE ARE JUST A FEW.

12. The gesture becomes
symbolic/emblematic of
the energy/object/image

13. Exú
right thumb up, represents
the phallus, also point of
contact, crossroads

14. OGUM
SABER, DAGGER, MACHETE
OUTER EDGE OF HAND HAND IS PALM UP

15. Oxossi
bow and arrow, right hand
up with index finger
pointing

16. LOGUM EDE
LEFT-HANDED BOW AND ARROW

17. OXUMARÉ
THE HANDS AND ARMS TOGETHER BECOME THE SERPENT; THE FINGERS SHOW HIS REALM

18. OMOLU
DEMONSTRATES HIS WOUNDS, LAST IMAGE SHOWS THE POX SPROUTING FROM FLESH

19. Ossain
hands twist back and forth
as fists, wringing juice from
herbs, which he sometimes
drinks, thumb to mouth

20. IEMANJÁ (YEMANJÁ)(YEMOJA)
HAND AS FISH, FOAM ON WAVE & FAN. SHE ALSO SEWS AS BATTLE

21. OXUM
THE HAND IS A MIRROR AND A GOURD OF WATER OR WATER ROLLING OVER ROCKS

22. Xangó
He carries two double-
edged axes. Sometimes the
dancer will open the hands,
palms facing inward. Thus
the arms are the handle and
the hands the blade edge.

23. XANGÓ, RIDING INTO BATTLE
PALMS ARE OPEN, ARMS ALTERNATE UP AND DOWN

24. Iansã/Oya
swats away death from life,
maintaining the veil
between the two; also is the
wind/makes wind

25. Obá
The hand holds or hides the
ear that she cut off to give
as a gift to Xangó, her
husband.

26. Nanã
is stooped, swaying under
Omulu’s weight. Hands
swing by the knees

27. Oxalá
aka Obatalá, though Oxalá is
older. He carries a staff that
supports his walking and
the process of mass
consciousness

28. WATER MIRROR BLADE, FOR CLEARING
BLADE ON ATTACK SERPENT CROSSROAD

29. BOW & ARROW SHEILD & SWORD REINS/HANDLES
MORTAR & PESTLE WAVE FISH/FEATHERS

30. STAFF ORIENT/TIME ORIENT/PLACE
ALIGN/READY SWEEP/CLEAR POWER

31. Symbols & Signals

32. Gestures of Orixá:
identify the energy coming or being used
address group concerns in public performance like
Carnaval
invigorate or analyze spoken discourse
embellish the archival act or just artifacts
provide context for orienting one’s self in the wider
world

33. This has been a brief introduction to these
beautiful and powerful ‘microchoreographies.’
To see some of them in action, look for the Balé
Folclorico da Bahia
To learn how the process that each symbol reveals
can be used choreographically, I highly
recommend studying in Bahia with choreographer/
technician, Rosangela Silvestre. She teaches a
class that we named in a deep conversation one
day, called “Symbols in Motion.”

34. This work is offered by
Anna Beatrice Scott, PhD
for share & share alike
usage (cc). All photos are
by/of the author. Other
images are credited.
FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS: ANNA.SCOTT@UCR.EDU