Before reading Lois Wilcken’s “The Sacred Music and Dance of Haitian Vodou from Temple to Stage and the Ethics of Representation” I had a very limited understanding of the topic. I had never learned about it, nor seen it and my only understanding of it was this poorly portrayed notion that it was black magic of sorts. It had a lot to do with the way it was represented and how the information was presented. Its more of a form of worship and community, than the negative things its said to be.

“Vodou life revolves around the dance,” Wilcken writes. It is a time for the community to come together and “get down with the spirits.” It involves animal sacrifice, drawing diagrams on the floors of the temple and dressing the altar. Activities are led by a poto mitan, The dancing is seen a series of greetings to the spirit nations. Its usually two slow beats of the drum ensemble pattern embrace one dance pattern”. A soloist will send the song, while the chorus will answer.

I found it to be interesting that Vodou left the temple and entered the stage world. It was nice to see La Troupe Folklorique Nationale incorporating Vodou and Carnival in their dances. I think the way it was depicted in hollywood and internationally gave it a very bad reputation, and made it seem almost evil. Its very unfortunate that it wasn’t presented in an unbiased way.

The article discussed that since Vodou was passed verbally, only the educated elite could write down and spread the ideas of Vodou. It was from these limited, one-sided views that influenced the cinematic representation, which wasn’t very positive. In my opinion, in time, people will be able to learn more about this culture and it will lose some of the negative tones it carries. With the rise of Vodou art and performances, it will spread out and people will become more familiar with it.