A gendered tone: representations of sexuality and power in Cuban Batá performance

Resumo

Fundamento or Añá are the three hour-glass consecrated batá drums central to the worship of the orichas (deities) in Cuban Santería and belong to initiated heterosexual men. Taboos prevent women and homosexual males from coming into close proximity with these sacred objects. Thirty years ago however, Cuban men began teaching women to play non-consecrated batá called aberikulá. Three decades later there are now six all-female batá groups and a growing contingent of female batá players in Cuba. Furthermore, in Santiago in 2015, women started playing fundamento batá in a historical break from tradition. There has been extensive research focusing on men’s sacred batá performance and its associated religious and cultural practices but in-depth studies which focus on gender and the growing number of female batá players have been few. Addressing gender asymmetry, this article examines representations of power and sexuality in male/female, sacred/secular batá performance.