Yemi Alade and the Cosmic Vibration
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju Compcros Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
1
Cover image Yemi Alade's stance in this picture, complemented by the dynamic configuration of her hairstyle, in harmony with the elegant glow of her form, epitomizes the combination of power, grace, beauty and erotic allure that shapes her performance at its most potent. Image from "Yemi Alade: Our Celebrity Fashion Styles Crush for the Week" by Kate Joseph at JeekStyle.
2
Summary An appreciation of Nigerian singer and dancer Yemi Alade’s music video Johnny, in relation to the Hindu image of Shiva, the cosmic dancer, and the associated concept of Spanda, cosmic rhythm, enriched by images from the video, Hindu art and Hindu literature. Shiva Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer One of the most comprehensive bodies of religious thought and practice is Hinduism. A central figure in that scope is the figure of the God Shiva and most iconic of the various images of Shiva is the picture of him as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer who dances the cosmos into existence, sustains it through the rhythm of his dance and dances it out of existence, in a continuous cycle, Shiva's dance of cosmic creation and his dance of cosmic destruction being key forms of Indian dance, the various postures that constitute these dances identified, numbered, named and represented in art. Landmarks in the elucidation of the universal significance of this image are represented by Ananda Coomaraswamy's"The Dance of Siva", 1918, which introduced the world to the evocative range of the figure, describing it as "a synthesis of science, religion and art...a key to the complex tissue of life, a theory of nature [reconciling ] Time with Eternity [ ensuring that, as ] explorers of the infinitely great and infinitely small, we are worshipers of Nataraja still". Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics : An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism , 1975, expands the ideational resonance initiated by Coomaraswamy, interpreting the icon in terms of contemporary physics, describing the dance of Shiva as "the ceaseless flow of energy going through an infinite variety of patterns that melt into one another". This orientation is also projected by Carl Sagan in Cosmos : The Story of Cosmic Evolution, Science and Civilisation, 1980, depicting the picture of the cosmos undergoing cycles of creation and destruction as visualized in the dance of Shiva as foreshadowing the speculation in modern scientific cosmology of the span of existence of the universe as possibly constituted by a sequence of expansion and contraction. The widespread impact of these correlations is reflected in the instillation of a Shiva Nataraja statue in the grounds
3
4
Previous image
Shiva Nataraja, the cosmic dancer, each gesture of hands and feet, each object held in his hands, each form in the entire image, suggesting an aspect of the creative, sustaining and destructive dynamism of the cosmos enabled by Shiva. "Shiva's cosmic dance sets in motion the rhythm of [ cosmic creation, sustenance, destruction and recreation] the [ cosmos] symbolized by the ring of fire that is filled with the loose, snakelike locks of the god's hair. One pair of his arms balances the flame of destruction and the hand drum (damaru) that beats the rhythm of [ creation ] while another performs symbolic gestures: the raised right hand means "fear not,"and the left hand (gajahasta) pointing down toward his raised left foot signifies release from the ignorance that hinders realization of the ultimate reality. Shiva is shown perfectly balanced, with his right leg planted on the demon of darkness (apasmara),stamping out ignorance. The tiny figure of the personified river goddess, Ganga, is caught up in his matted flowing locks. ...Shiva [ is described as breaking ] the fall of the great Ganges [holy] River as it descends from the Himalayas by standing beneath the waters, which divide over his hair, becoming the seven holy rivers of India". Text source: "Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola period, c. 10th/11th century Bronze". Art Institute, Chicago. Image source unknown.
5
Dance sequence in Johnny
6
of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, which probes the fundamental structure of the universe, the statue being a gift from the Indian government in recognition of "the profound significance of the metaphor of Shiva's dance for the cosmic dance of subatomic particles , which is observed and analysed by CERN's physicists",as summed up in Capra's website, the descriptions of the symbolism of the work in the CERN statue plaque and report referencing Coomaraswamy's, Capra's and Sagan's responses to the image. David Smith's The Dance of Siva : Religion, Art and Poetry in South India, 2003, integrates these and other threads in exploring the breadth of significance of the sacred dance through the lens of Umapati Sivacarya's poem on Siva's foot uplifted in rhythmic motion, in relation to the spatial and symbolic vastness of Cidambaram, the central temple dedicated to Shiva Nataraja, emblematic of both the centre of the universe and the human soul within which Shiva dances, in the understanding, central to Hindu cosmology, of the unity between the innermost self of the human being and the metaphysical core of cosmos. Deeply complementing the image of Shiva as the cosmic dancer is the concept of Spanda developed by Kashmir Shaivism, a school of Shaivite thought and devotion that flowered in Kashmir, Spanda being an understanding of the cosmos as animated by a rhythmic throbbing, a form of music that enables being and becoming, existence and the processes through which it undergoes transformation, a pulsation that may be sensed within the self as "one's own personal spark of that huge, primordial life force", as the idea is magnificently distilled at the site of the Spanda Foundation. Yemi Alade’s Music Video Johnny Repeatedly watching the 2014 music video Johnny in which Nigerian dancer and singer Yemi Alade plays the central role, along with music videos inspired by Johnny, the concept of Spanda comes to my mind. How are human beings able to move their bodies in such delightful, and to me, impossible ways? In viewing Yemi Alade's dancing, a sense of something primal is awakened for me, something that comes before and after the human capacity to formulate thought in terms of ideas, something that
7
Sohan Qadri's evocation of Kundalini as an expression of Shakti, Kundalini, symbolized by the snake and Shakti suggested by the stylized image of female genitalia circled by the snake, the snake curled in the form of an ouroboros, a widely occurring image of cosmic continuity. Image source: "You Must Let Yourself be Swallowed Up : Interview with Sohan Qadri inHaa International Retreat Center Reading Room.2008.
8
Dancers prepare for opening scene. Yemi Alade in the centre Image source "Video Teaser: Yemi Alade – Johnny [+ Behind The Scenes Phot]" from 360nobs
9
In dance, all parts of the body become eloquent. The elegant, symbolic hand gestures of this exquisite Shiva Nataraja sculpture pictured by Jyoti Srivastara recall the particularly mesmerizing hand movements Yemi Alade executes in the Johnny video, one version of which occurs at 1:14-‐17, 2 :15, 2 : 40-‐41, 4 :19-‐20, 4 : 23, 4 :42-‐44, and another kind at 4 :35-‐ 6. These movements accentuate the rhythm of the entire body, their sinuous plasticity amplifying the manner in which all major physical units contort in delightful forms in the dance. Image : "Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola period, c. 10th/11th century Bronze". Art Institute, Chicago.
10
11
Image on Previous Page Marble Ardhanari by Balan Arimuvani at Lotus Sculpture The totality of Shiva is inconceivable without the perception of the masculine/feminine unity, the Shiva/Shakti matrix embodied as Ardhanarishvara, both voluptuous and dynamic in dance. Yemi Alade's choreography combines the masculine force suggested by the downward thrusting clenched fists, synchronizing with the face strained in concentration, visible in Johnnyat 3 : 02, the power of the contracted fists raised like a battle cry in 3 :15-‐16, 3 : 18 and 5 :05-‐ 6, the crossed fists held like staffs of office at 4 : 28, these projections of force synchronized with legs positioned wide and steady as if to control the earth or with flashing thighs, evoking stoked up fires as the erotic is transmuted into art. Description of Marble Ardhanari by Balan Arimuvani at Lotus Sculpture. "This encaptivating Adhanari sculpture won the prestigious Poombuhar Handicraft award for best sculpture in the state of Tamil Nadu 2004-‐2005. It has both power and feminine aspects associated with Ardhanari, the synthesis of Shiva and Parvati. Ardhanari's face is sublime! Beauty just pulsates from the expression. Ardhanari stares down with a passive aloofness of a god. Shiva is depicted on the right side and Parvati on the left. Shiva is holding a noose and a trident while Parvati holds a lotus flower. Over Ardhanari's head is a cobra. To the right of Ardhanari is a female attendant. Carved into the base is half the face of a Nandi, Shiva's bull, and a lion which is the vehicle of Parvati. The entire sculpture is carved from one piece of black marble. The entire piece of marble is affixed to a block of wood. The statue is carved from one piece of marble. The marble is very unique with large veins of orange towards the top of the sculpture. The natural colors of the marble actually add to the power of the overall sculpture. This stunning Ardhanari sculpture is a one of kind marble statue, hand-‐carved by the artists of southIndia. The black marble, called sange-‐rathek, is found in Jhansi, in the state of Bihar, India. The stone is known for its wonderful deep black/blue color and the colored purple and yellow veins that flow through the stone. Looking into a piece of sange-‐rathek is like staring into deep space and seeing distant galaxies. It is a very unique and wonderful stone. Sculpture is very rare to find in this stone because there are seldom pieces of raw stone large enough to accommodate a full-‐sized sculpture"-‐from Lotus Sculpture.
12
"Only if conjoint with Shakti (Thyself),would Shiva earn the privilege to become overlord; otherwise the God is not even able to stir. While so, how dares one, who has acquired no merit, either salute or praise You ( O Goddess! ) who are worthy of being adored even by Hari, Hara, Virinca and others?" -‐ Soundarya-‐lahari : Ocean of Beauty [ by] Sri Samkara-‐ Bhagavat-‐ Pada, translation and commentary by Subrahmanya Sastri and Srinivasa Ayyangar. Stanza 1. "I salute the Goddess (Apara)...who resides in the body of the dancing Bhairava [ a fierce form of Shiva] and plays within it like a lightning flash in a sky covered with storm clouds" -‐ Tantraloka, Light on the Tantras by Abhinavagupta. Translated by Mark Dyzkowski. Book 1. Stanza 3. Image source "Yemi Alade and Her African Prints in Music Videos" by Marija@Afrodable, July 3, 2015 in Afrodable : Around and About Fashion.
13
relates the fundamental biological identity represented by the human body and its animation by life, with the earth, the ancient one enabling terrestrial existence, watching various species come and go, harbouring many mysteries evoked in the earliest forms of human thought represented by myth and folklore, mysteries unacknowledged by most of humanity. The dancing in that video evokes for me Mazisi Kunene's description of Zulu thought in Anthem of the Decades, of Iyandezulu, the cosmic snake, whose movements are in thousands. The image of the snake is also central to another motif from Hinduism, the idea of Kundalini, described as the humanly embodied aspect of Shakti, another version of the widely evident idea of cosmic force, this time understood in terms of a feminine power focused in the body, enabling transformations of consciousness, its dynamism suggested by the undulating motions of a snake, its being characterized as feminine suggestive for me of the erotic force demonstrated by the sinuous power of the dances in the Johnny video, beginning from the intriguing triangular formation in 0:47 as the three dancers undulate into action. In Johnny, all parts of the dancers' bodies, faces, hands, breasts, legs, bottoms, are speaking, their voiceless eloquence amplified by the sonic power emerging from vocalization and instrumental rhythms , a totalistic harmony in which the bottom as pivot of the body, the place of rest of the perambulating bipedal creature, standing upright, thereby enabling free use of their hands to manage tools and fashion nature or move those hands in independent rhythm with the body, is twisted in artistic curvatures, rotated in lyric configurations. A superb ensemble of expertise is demonstrated in the complex of factors brought together to make this video absolutely compelling, inspiring choreography across continents, from Africa, to Europe to Asia, spanning various age groups and genders, children to teenagers to older adults , males and females.The entire production of the original video is inspired, from the story line, to the setting in a village, to the shaping of the various scenes in composing the story to the spellbinding dancing, recalling for me the universal appeal of Michael Jackson's Thriller. The supporting dancers, actors and actresses, are superb, even in the briefest appearances of less than a minute within the electric
14
Ardhanarishvara dancing Image source ExoticIndia Art
15
compression of the five minute video, delivering memorable performances that may etch themselves into one's memory. The entire choreography is magnificent. The singing and lyrics captivating. The use of Nigerian Pidgin English, sprinkled with indigenous Nigerian languages, as the main language in which the song is delivered, generates unforgettable resonance, reaching deep into the existential realities of a nation and its global diasporic presence, as well as intertwining with the intimate being of its African neighbours who share these linguistic affinities, touching deeply even people from other linguistic regions, within the context of the sheer force of the melodic vocalisation in relation to the full range of the performance. The cinematography, in terms of camera angles and other elements of image positioning, is splendid. The film was produced by Selebobo, Nigerian song writer, dancer, audio producer and sound engineer Udoka Chigozie Oku and shot by Clarence Peters, described as one of Nigerian's most successful music video directors, filmmakers and cinematographers. Writing of the African-‐American singer Billie Holiday in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1971, a critic states "she never gave a performance unpermeated by the fierce passions of her heart". Yemi Alade, in a 2014 interview with Ebuka on Channels Television, describes Johnny as based on an amorous experience of hers, involving deception by a lover, hence the desperate search for Johnny in the video, the unraveling of the painful truth about his twisted escapades, wooing several women and committing to none, leading to the conclusion that his self described journeys to Sokoto, a famous Nigerian city used in suggesting distance and storied, exotic history in the Yoruba expression from which comes the name as used in the song, are actually cunning exploits in shokoto, the Yoruba word for men's trousers, indicating the near to hand, the immediately accessible, represented, in this context, by clandestine meetings with deluded women in the privacy of domestic space or the hidden intimacy of covert bushes. Through this song and it's video, private pain is thereby converted into a diamond of universal value. Nigerians and Africans generally have demonstrated, unequivocally, again and again, the global penetrative capacity of their art. May these achievements actualize any information on strategies in other
16
aspects of creativity that can facilitate the continent's greater contribution to the collective achievement of humanity? I offer You the ceremony of the lighted lamp, no more than reflecting the light of the sun back to the sun, I offer You the ceremony of moonstone drops, no more than returning the nectar which was given by the moon, I offer You the ceremony of water, no more than returning the water that was gifted by the ocean, I offer You, Source of all Sound, this hymn of praise, no more than returning the words that were gifted by You. from the Saundaryalahari : An Interpretation by Jim Danisch
17
18
