Sirige masqueraders during the Dama ceremony, Ireli, Mali

"For the Dogon, the èmma consists of a person dancing in a costume that includes a headpiece but is not limited to it. Masks are not worn; masks are men who dance, perform, and shout. The total outfit consists of a kind of skirt and arm adornments fashioned from red and black fibers, a pair of very wide Dogon trousers, a headpiece with cotton bands for attachment, and various handheld objects relating to a particular mask, such as a dancing stick, a rattle, or a dancing ax. The headpiece defines the type of mask, but the fibers define the outfit as a mask." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.].The village of Ireli, at the foot of the Bandiagara escarpment, is approximately one kilometer long and is divided by a steep-walled gorge accessible only by foot. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.