Taken from the Spirits and Given to the People: The Dance of the Panther Men in Côte d’Ivoire

The article explores the impact of tourism and commercialization on intangible cultural heritage, using the Boloye dance in Côte d’Ivoire as a case study. The dance, originally a secretive ritual performed by the Pɔrɔ society in the Sénoufo community, has transformed into a public cultural performance. The study explores how this cultural practice has been adapted to engage broader audiences without compromising its ritualistic and cultural integrity. This is carried out through fieldwork conducted in Korhogo, including participant observations, interviews with performers, and the analysis of social media content. The paper argues that the Boloye dance’s resilience and continued vitality are due to its dynamic adaptation within cultural boundaries, allowing it to serve both as a community resource and a public spectacle. This is enabled through the Sénoufo flexible cultural framework, which allows for the negotiation of changes within spiritually sanctioned boundaries. The article concludes that tourism and the commercialization of cultural practices, in this case, do not compromise the authenticity of the practices or the cultural integrity of the people who perform them. The case study challenges a commonly expressed view in previous research that tourism necessarily erodes cultural authenticity, showing instead that cultural practices can evolve while retaining their significance. The paper contributes to a scholarly and public debate on the sustainability of intangible cultural heritage in the context of global tourism and economic development and change.