Baba Who? Babalú!

Check out this video of the young people of Juanelo dancing Babalú-Ayé in a folkloric performance. The opening scene shows the dancer rising up like the oricha. Later, he dances with a crippled leg and two jaces to clean himself.  He presumably enacts possession, as people call "Aso!" The other dancers capture the subtle body movements, transforming from stiff to confident in their movements. Notice that a dog just happens through.

There are many stories that explain why Babalú-Ayé went into exile. This story has many versions told both in Africa and the Americas. Obatalá invited all the orichas to come to a big party. Babalú-Ayé was lame with one leg badly damaged, but he covered his injury in fine cloth, supported himself with a crutch, and went to the party. Everyone was dancing and having a good time, but Babalú stayed to the side. At one point, various orichas asked him to dance, but he declined, afraid he would reveal his imperfection. Finally Obatalá ordered Babalú to dance, but because of his deformity, he stumbled and quickly fell. All the orichas immediately burst out laughing. Humiliated and enraged, Babalú-Ayé cast sesame seeds upon all present. In the morning, all the orichas awoke infected with smallpox and covered with red and weeping sores. Realizing what had happened, Obatalá commanded Babalú-Ayé to leave the land of the Lucumí. Cast out and cut off from the other orichas, Babalú wandered from ...