The Bamana people use masks, dance,
and ritual to help ensure successful crops.
There are both male and female antelopes,
with the female bearing a baby on her back
While the ground is being prepared for
planting, young male dancers with masks
and costumes perform the leaping movement movement of the antelope dance, a ritual that causes the return of the mystical antelope who first gave humans the knowledge of agriculture.
Plant life (crops), animal life (antelope )and
humankind (ancestors) are united in this ritual.
Pattern and rhythm are important visual
elements, with interwoven negative and positive shapes