Each candidate for the yaake is a perfectionist in his preparations, and searches to find the precise arrangement and balance of decoration he believes will highlight his beauty to its best effect. It is as if instinct has given every youth an ideal pattern to interpret and reproduce. The finishing touches are provided by a splash of perfume — a favourite brand is Bint-el-Sudan — and a few drops of magic potion, whereupon the contestant is ready to show his charms to the world.
THE YAAKE begins in the heat of the day, which is usually well over 100F. It opens with a call, a single sustained note, and the competitors drift towards the vicinity of the singer and assemble in a line, divided into their respective clans by a space in the middle. Together, they create a startling visual effect, as if an elegant rank of warriors had sprung up from the dust, the tall and slender body of each emphasised by the single ostrich plume quivering in their headbands. They are all beautiful, and their looks are complemented by their poise and their grace.
They take up the note and a song develops — rhythmic, call and answer. They sway from side to side as they sing and once they are under way the clans gather in a semicircle in front of them, men to the right, women and children to the left, the leaders in a cluster in the middle. The young men on show develop their chant, while the backing singers weave emotion into the music, so that at times it is tender, at others forceful.
Its polyphonies are interspersed with dancing. The performers raise themselves on tiptoe to emphasise their height, advance a pace or so, then retreat. Sweat streaks their bodies, and their voices and their movements blend together. The display takes on a cyclical form as the participants pass from music to dance and back again. Although each man is aiming to demonstrate individual perfection, collectively they present a harmonious unit that gives great power to the spectacle.
Not content to let their cosmetic skills bring out their best features, the competitors animate these with a variety of expressions intended to highlight their perfections. The line of young men presents a truly hallucinogenic vision: they cross their eyes and roll them around in their sockets, thus confirming the ample expanse of white that these possess; and their even and flawless teeth are demonstrated through comically exaggerated smiles which are timed to coincide with their eye movements. A man who can roll one eye and grin simultaneously is considered especially captivating.
The use of artificial stimulants among contestants is permitted, indeed universal. Before lining up for a yaake, the young men will drink a cocktail containing a psychoactive bark that will assist them in putting on their best face, making their most elegant moves, and staying on their feet all night.The use of magic is also sanctioned. The Wodaabe have a very real fear of its powers, and to many of the contestants the air about them is filled with a crossfire of spells, any one of which might make them stumble or paint a frown upon their faces. The amulet bags they wear around their necks are intended to counter this fusillade and to drive away any curses that their opponents may have launched to make them appear ugly or clumsy.
THE DANCERS are judged by a jury of three young women. While they wear less make-up than the boys, Wodaabe girls adorn themselves with equal care. Their necks are encircled with bead necklaces and amulet bags, their wrists with a dozen or so coloured bracelets. Their ears are pierced with large hoops of silver or gold. Those who are traditionalists will have thick brass bangles around their ankles, intended to give them a “cow-like” step — a prized virtue in their cattle culture.
The arrival of the objects of their desire in front of them arouses the young men to greater efforts. The jury of girls announces its verdict by stopping in front of one of the participants, indicating in the most casual way — a slight inclination of the shoulders of the lead girl — that he is the most desirable, and the entire tribe breaks out in shouts of praise. To be Wodaabe is to be beau- tiful, so the selection of a paragon is a celebration of not just an aesthetic, but also of a tribal ideal. The victor of the contest will be remembered for generations and commemorated in song. He can expect as many wives as his wealth will afford and as many lovers as his stamina permits.
The innocent pleasure of differentiating by appearance is out of fashion in the first world, indeed in some countries it is grounds for litigation. As a consequence, beauty concourses — Miss Worlds and Mr Universes — are debased versions of the genre. The female contest is compromised by its insistence that participants must give evidence of ambitions beyond being celebrated merely for their looks, and the examples of male excellence on display at Mr Universe are considered by the women for whom they should be competing to be gross caricatures of their desires. Gerewol, in contrast, focuses on the superficial, and the ability of good looks to provoke lust in the opposite sex. Moreover, the beauty that the festival celebrates is considered to be short-lived: it is a gift confined to the young and is left to them to parade for the delectation of all.
- Extracted from Planet Party: A World of Celebration (Pocket Books £7.99). To buy the book for the reduced price of £6.79, excluding p&p, or any travel guides, call The Sunday Times Books First on 0870 165 8585
Travel Brief
Tour operators: Niger is not an easy destination for independent travellers, so it’s simpler to take a package and let the operator deal with the red tape and logistics. Tim Best Travel (020 7591 0300, www.timbesttravel.com) has an eight-day itinerary to Niger to witness the Gerewol festival from £2,190pp, including flights from Heathrow to Niamey with Air France via Paris, all accommodation, guiding, transfers, meals, and some drinks. Departures from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, London City, Gatwick and Southampton are available at no extra cost, also via Paris.
Best guidebook: West Africa (Rough Guides £17.99).
Further information: there is no official Nigerien representation in London, but the Washington embassy has a good website: www.nigerembassyusa.org.
