A possession dance of West African origin; a dance characterized by the possession of spirits summoned by the drumming known among the Ndjukas of Surinam.
In the 1930's in Charlestown, Georgetown, the Cumfa Dance as practiced there (La Penitence, Albouystown and Charlestown) was characterized by 4 main features - (1) the dancers danced barefoot on broken bottles scattered on the ground (2) they lighted a piece of wood and pushed the lighted fire into their mouths (3) plunging into the trench water under a high tension of elation (4) some of the spectators would often be possessed by spirits and stagger, like the mentally insane, and butt their heads on the ground.
It is said that the Cumfa ceremony grew out a dance of praise to King O'Cumfa on the Congo River. The African ancestors of the slaves used to worship him for days and nights by the river.
Ozell Walcott
alias: Mr. Big
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