When some one mentions vodou, I think of the magic. Probably one of the most famous of the vodou dolls that we often see in movies and media. To be honest, I was ignorant and thought that vodou was some sort of magic practicing evil cult. It wasn’t until I decided to understand it deeper that I realize I was wrong. The movie that we watched in class on Tuesday had a similar message. To many people, vodou is automatically associated with something bad. In one of the radio calls, the caller said it was already stigmatized. Even if Rara, a music festival that originated from Haiti with roots in vodou, did not practice the use of magic or sacrifices, by simply being associated with vodou it was seen as negative.
Lois Wilken’s “The Sacred Music and Dance of Haitian Vodou from Temple to Stage and the Ethics of Representation” describes the process of bringing a traditionally sacred event that had a meaning to the stage where it is performed to people who knew nothing about it. By doing this, the performance fails to communicate its original meaning to people watching. This loss of culture through performance is also seen in other cultures as well. Because of money or circumstances, traditional ceremonies become performances.
In Chinese culture, the traditional tea ceremony is a type of ritual in which the person performing the ceremony puts extreme effort into tea preparation and presentation. It is traditionally performed to bring out the best taste from tea or to welcome guests. To some, the tea preparation contains spiritual values. The entire process is extremely meticulous and requires extensive knowledge about tea. However, the meaning of this ceremony has since been lost. Due to it attracting foreign people, the tea ceremony went from being a ritual to a performance that entertains viewers. The traditional preparation time can range from 10 minutes to half an hour. Modern tea ceremony only lasts half as long. some may skip steps or shorten waiting time in order to show viewers the general procedure. The act of appreciating tea and tea preparation is gone.
