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Ancestor altar, on stage for the production, containing photographs of the ancestors of the performers.

The chants and the toques de batá for the dead performed by the Raíces Ensemble and guest artists in the Festival for the Dead are taken from the Lucumí/Ocha liturgy of Cuba.

The batá are the liturgical drums of Ocha. The rhythms and chants are used to praise, honor and call to the Orishas, or forces of nature.

Toque and chant for the orisha Obbá, keeper of the graves in the cemetary.

Oyá is the orisha, or force of nature of the whirlwinds, the energy that brings chaos and destruction to make room for change and new growth. She is also the gatekeeper of the cemetary and the marketplace, deciding who may enter and who may leave.

Raíces Cultural Center was able to present a variety of traditions that honor the ancestors through music, song and dance thanks to a cultural collaboration with Grupo Ribeiro from New York City, who presented the Brazilian traditions of the caboclo…

The Plegarias, or spiritual masses, are taken from the Espiritismo liturgy as practiced on the island of Cuba and in the diaspora.

Iansa is the Brazilian tradition equivalent to the Cuban Orisha Oyá, force of nature of the whirlwinds and keeper of the cemetary and marketplace.

Orixa Iansa, gatekeeper of the cemetary and marketplace, force of nature of the whirlwinds, causing upheavals and making way for change.