Beyond Dance Movement Notation: Field Reflections as Key in Mapping the Ebola Virus Disease Transmission in the Funeral Ceremonies of Sierra Leone

• Main Author: Ramonal, Daniel Ceeline
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: dance movement notation; Ebola; field reflections; funeral; Sierra Leone
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss40/12; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/2022/viewcontent/KK_2040_2C_202023_2012_20Forum_20Kritika_20on_20Dancing_20Democracy_20in_20a_20Fractured_20World_20__20Ramonal.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This paper focuses on the critical role that field reflections played in establishing the overlapping engagement of dance movement notation and the sociocultural relevance of embodied techniques in funeral ceremonies to the chain of transmission of the Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. Expanding from the research paper entitled “Ebola and Moving People: Understanding the Role of Embodied Techniques in Funeral Ceremonies to the Chain of Transmission of the Ebola Virus in Sierra Leone Through Movement Analysis,” this paper narrates personal field experiences and realizations on the dynamics happening in the social field that clarified how funeral ceremonies were equally responsible in impeding and spreading the Ebola virus. On this note, this paper emphasizes the significance of field reflections in demonstrating the methodological and analytical principles of dance anthropology which helped people realize that cultural practices like funeral ceremonies were not causes, but were mere conduits of mobility for the Ebola virus. Field reflections then provide an understanding of the “human factor” that makes Ebola’s chain of transmission in the eyes of the local communities easier to understand. This realization abetted the “stop” of this transmission when state protocols were re-evaluated to accommodate cultural findings in the latter part of the humanitarian assistance. This paper uses ethnographic inquiry in sharing the experiences and realizations in the fieldwork sites of Freetown, Port Loko, and Koinadugu in Sierra Leone. The reflections were extracted from observation sessions, interviews, informal dialogues, and focus group discussions in the field.