Author Archives: Claire Davies

The 11:11 Game

Informant Information – SI

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant grew up playing this game with their sister. They started playing this game as children and still play when they are together at their parents’ house. This information was shared with me in an in-person interview. 

The 11:11 game is played by the informant and their siblings; they began playing it as children and still play as adults when they are all together at their family home. 

If someone notices that it is 11:11am or pm, they must announce the time and shout out a task, such as standing on a chair or knocking on wood. Everyone that wants to play will then complete the task and then shout out a different task. 

Players should try to complete as many tasks as possible before the minute ends. Playing this game and completing these rituals is supposed to bring the players good luck. 

Analysis:

In this game, the time, 11:11, is ritualized. Participants must perform a prescribed set of actions, hoping that they will produce a desired result, good luck. As in other rituals, the bounds of acceptable behavior become flexible– while it might be strange to stand on a chair at another time, it is encouraged at 11:11.  

The Ballerina/La Bailarina

Informant Information – SI

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant learned about this legend while attending an elementary school in Mexico. They first played the game in fourth or fifth grade, but the legend was well-known by students of all ages at their school. They shared this information with me in an in-person interview. 

Informant: 

So in my elementary school when I was younger, we had this story and game called The Ballerina that was kind of a myth about how our school was built I guess you could say. 

According to the story, before the school was built, there used to be train tracks, like for a passenger train that would go through the city where the school was eventually built. And this is actually not very believable now that I think of it, but according to the story, there was this little girl that was a dancer, a ballerina. And one day, she was dancing on her way home from her dance lessons near the train tracks. Apparently, she was either dancing on the tracks or just near them and fell onto the tracks, but basically, she was on the train tracks and got run over by the train. It was very sad.

So then, after her death, they closed the train tracks and my elementary school was built but the land was always haunted by the ballerina, who would apparently still dance in the halls at night. 

At school, we had a game based on this story that we called The Ballerina, well actually we said La Bailarina because we spoke Spanish. You would go in the bathroom alone and turn off the lights. Then you would look in the mirror and say “Ballerina” three times to summon her. You were supposed to hear music and see her face in the mirror with yours. 

Analysis:

In this piece of folklore, the Ballerina is very similar to Bloody Mary. However, rather than a witch, the Ballerina is the ghost of a child that was killed by an accident. This legend also lacks a religious association that I have seen in some versions of Bloody Mary. 

The informant noted that the premise of this legend is quite strange due to the rarity of passenger trains in Mexico. It seems that this legend could either have emerged as an explanation for the lack of trains or as the result of the disinclination for trains that makes them so uncommon. 

The Head of Eli Broad

Informant Information – AL

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant has experience working in a lab at USC’s medical school that was next door to the Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine. 

Informant: 

So if you don’t know Eli Broad he was like a billionaire real estate developer and insurance magnate in California, moneymoneymoneymoney, very very rich. Also, the namesake of the Broad museum downtown, which now of course houses his art collection. 

Now I, and a few of my coworkers at the lab, are of the very firm belief that– well you can take this escalator up from the bottom to the top floor of the Broad, and you get a little window where you can see into the big middle floor, which is where they store the art is stored under very, very careful temperature and humidity control I might add. 

So you’re telling me that Eli Broad, that when Eli Broad signed that check to establish that lab– in his name– to conduct stem cell research at USC, you’re telling me that that grant didn’t have any strings attached? Absolutely not. I’m sure that, in the Center for Regenerative Medicine, there’s a little room with a live feed that’s playing video footage from an abandoned corner of the art museum art storage room, where the cryogenically frozen head of Eli Broad is being monitored by USC physicians and just waiting for the moment when the Regenerative Medicine Center advances to the point where they can bring that motherfucker back! It’s sitting there! I mean it’s like– The Broad is a pyramid, a literal pyramid! 

I mean, come on. I don’t think it’s a huge piece of logic. I kind of, 5%, think it’s true. 

Analysis:

This piece of folklore is particularly interesting as a developing legend that speaks to many prominent themes of today’s society. Mortality– and the potential of immortality– have always been popular themes of folklore but are now especially relevant due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, cryogenic treatments have recently become a popular offering at wellness clinics and spas for those able to afford these treatments. This legend also captures the current disparities in quality and access to healthcare. Given that the costs associated with medical care are prohibitive for a large portion of our society, it is reasonable that legends would speculate on the treatments available to the ultra-wealthy. 

I really enjoyed learning about this legend, and it will be interesting to find out whether or not it will continue to gain popularity.