The Sirige mask :

      This mask measures several metres in length. It represents a Ginna, the house of the extended family. It takes a strong young adult to manoeuvre this type of mask. They jump and make rotating movements with the head forwards, backwards and sideways. Such movements require a physical strength that not all dancers possess.

      One of the Sirige dancers (photo hereunder) is wearing a costume made of fibres painted in black. A husband with a wife who is pregnant will never wear a costume with the usual red fibres. It would bring her in danger. To the Dogon the colour red represents menstrual blood.

     It happens that a mask breaks whilst dancing. Dancers and the dignitaries of the Society of the Masks will try to hide the repairing from the spectators' view. Masks are magical objects and any intervention needs secrecy.

The Kanaga mask :

     The significance of the Kanaga mask remains obscure. There are a variety of interpretations. It has been described, among others, as a bird or a female spirit. Kanaga dance performances are very spectacular. The dancers always appear in numbers. They make a circular movement with the mask and brush the ground with its upper part. Striking it would be wrong. But it happens more often than not. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, a mask even breaks. The photo hereunder shows a dancer cought in the act.