The Kankurang is a circumcision ritual still practiced in parts of Senegal, featuring a figure that resembles a walking tree parading through the streets. The performance by the Doudou family was filmed on Gorée Island.

The Kankurang is a circumcision ritual still practiced in parts of Gambia and Senegal, and it is also registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Taking place from August to September, the ceremony marks the day when the boys leave their homes and enter the forest for the circumcision rite. On this day, figures resembling trees, draped in bark and leaves and wearing masks, appear. They make noise with large knives and high-pitched voices as they parade through the streets, while men with sticks surround them, raising their voices to encourage the festivities. Boys and women who have not yet undergone circumcision are believed to die if they make eye contact with the Kankurang, so they flee indoors. In this filming, in addition to the Kankurang ritual, we were able to capture percussion performances and dances by the family of the world-renowned Senegalese musician Doudou N’Diaye Rose. The stage was Gorée Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was once a center of the transatlantic slave trade. Rose, born into a family of griots, a traditional African line of musicians, is one of Africa’s most famous musicians. The rhythms played by Rose’s family, who have had a significant influence on global music scenes including in Europe and America, were full of passion and intensity.