ABSTRACT

In Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, the children's play activity known as the Dodo masquerade has become a means by which youths express their new sense of being powerful, up-to-date Africans. In Ouagadougou today, a competitive Dodo performance in front of a paying audience has developed out of the traditional performance in the compounds of the quartier. Each quartier trains a troupe of about thirty performers that competes over several nights in front of about 3,000 spectators who pack the city auditorium, ready to try to influence the judges by their loud support of their neighborhood's entry. A government representative welcomes the eager, restless audience and introduces the first troupe. Girls also appear in the Petit Dodo and Grand Dodo groups in the quartiers. In general, the number of boys interested in Dodo increases every year. In Dodo, Muslims, Christians, and traditional believers get along.