Les Faux Lions (The Fake Lions)

All week long there is an event that I can best compare to a western circus going on. Each night, there is a gathering of people at a different school, where a performance entitled "Les Faux Lions" takes place. Entrance to the event was steep. At 200 CFA (50 cents) a person, not everyone can afford to go (last night I paid for several host siblings to go). During the event, 4 costumed characters make their appearance and put on a show of dancing for the crowd. Often time the characters picked out children from the crowd and had them dance for everyone as well. The list of characters was quite interesting, it included a "Lion bu ndaw" (small lion), a "Lion bu mag" (big lion), some ungodly 12 foot tall jester on stilts that i didn't get the name of, and of course the crowd pleaser, the "goor-jigeen" (man-woman, which means homosexual in Wolof). The "goor-jigeen" was a man with tons of makeup, fake breasts, and was sporting a simple dress... From a western point of view, it struck as quite odd that an event made for kids would parade around a character who was simply called man-woman, but a lot of things strike me as odd out here, so life goes on.
At the start of the event, the manager of the event spotted me taking pictures. He quickly ran up to me and said that I would need to pay money for the right to take pictures, since I was obviously going to sell the pictures and video in Europe for tons of money (I don't know where they get these ideas...). Before I could explain myself, my host sister jumped in, calling the man and idiot and telling him he had no right to ask me for money. The man, obviously quite taken aback that a local was defending a toubab from getting ripped off, sulked off and pouted at a table nearby, eyeing me during the whole event. As he walked away, my host sister proclaimed "Moom, dafa begg xaalis rekk!" (All he wants is money!), to which I replied "Waaw..." (Yes).
So thanks to my host sister I am able to bring you pictures and even a short video of the event. I hope you enjoy them. A plus tard!

The "Lion bu ndaw"

The "Lion bu mag" and the strange jester make their way to the show

The "Lion bu mag" and "goor-jigeen" dancing away