Tag Archives: celebration ritual

The night-night celebration

Text:

The night-night celebration is a basketball celebration popularized by Golden State Warriors star, Stephen Curry. It occurs specifically during a “clutch moment”, usually when a player hits a three pointer during the final minutes of a close, competitive game. The player clasps their hands together and leans his head on his hands to act like he is going to bed, essentially mocking the other team that they should just go home and go to sleep, as his shot has put the game and opponents to sleep.

Context:

The informant is a 20 year old USC sophomore studying chemical engineering. He grew up in Sunnyvale, California, and is a lifelong fan of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry. This celebration came up during our intramural basketbll game, when the informant hit a three pointer and did this gesture at the opposing team’s bench, who had been jeering all game from the sidelines. When asked about this celebration later on, the informant said that he saw his favorite player Stephen Curry doing this celebration during the 2022 playoffs, and thought the it was badass that the message of the celebration was telling the opposing team to just give up and accept their fate.

Analysis:

At its surface, it may be difficult to see the significance behind a simple celebration from a pro athlete. However, when considering this celebration’s virality during its first performance and the cult following Stephen Curry has, my informant and many others using this same gesture during their own competitions show how folklore performance isn’t limited to specific setting, but can be done authentically in any situation as long as it comes from the same folk group. On that note, beyond its surface purpose of mocking the opponent, this folkloric gesture also functions as a gesture of admiration for Stephen Curry, which is a trait only shared by the folk group of Stephen Curry fans. Hence, the celebration can also function as a marker for one’s membership in this group.

Women’s National Championship Celebration

Age: 20

Context:

The informant attends the University of South Carolina, which has a nationally ranked women’s basketball team. In the past few years, the team has won the NCAA championship multiple times. The informant has witnessed campus wide celebrations each year they win.

Text:

The informant recounts that if the USC women’s basketball team wins the national championship at the end of the season, crowds gather to jump in the fountain outside Thomas Cooper library to celebrate. Hundreds of people gather to celebrate immediately after the game is won.

Analysis:

This celebration is a ritual that helps create a sense of communitas since the entire student body joins in to cement a social bond through their sports team’s victory. Jumping into the fountain serves as a rite of passage that transforms a mere fountain outside a library into a place with communal meaning. This tradition turns the team’s success into a part of the entire university’s identity to create a collective sense of pride and belonging.

Turkish circumcision wedding

Age: 21

“We got a circumcision wedding in Turkey. When you’re a kid, and you’re a boy, you know, and you get a circumcision, you do a wedding for him. Here [in America] usually you get a circumcision when you’re little kid, like a baby, but in Turkey, it was like, when you were, like, six, seven years old, they were doing, they were doing that. For example for me, I got a circumcision when I was six, and my parents did a wedding for me. Said we call circumcision. Wedding is for the boys and, like they invited a bunch of people, like in my wedding, that was like four or 500 people. Like 400 300 at least people in my circumcision wedding, and they give you money, and people is, having fun, you know, and that kind of stuff. 

So in the morning, when it was like one to 2pm in the afternoon, we’re doing a convoy. And probably, like, as much as the cars they come in, it’s like 20, 30 cars. They were like 35 cars. You know, we go one by one like everybody follows each other. It’s just one line. And everybody’s like, using their honk. And it’s like, sometimes being like, 20 cars, 30 cars, for the cars, you know, yeah, and people is coming, they following you. You being in the first car, usually. And, you just, like, telling the people who doesn’t know you, oh, I got the circumcision, you know. It’s a tradition too. Yeah, it’s on the wedding day. after that you just get them prepared. Youhave, a specific clothes that you should wear, and you wearing that clothes, and you just getting ready.

They are like traditional clothes. 

In the wedding, usually we have a pasta. not a pasta, actually, it’s a dessert we call pasta, but it’s like a cake, like a birthday cake, but a really big one, like, maybe, 200 people cake, you know, they can eat, slices, you know. And you have that and you dancing. And after, like, a couple hours, you have a different, you just not changing the clothes, but they give you something, and you wear something, and people is coming, and they starting to give you gold or, like money, but on the clothes, they put with the needle. Yeah, they give you money, they give you gold, whatever they give you, like, and you just thank them like, ‘Thank you.’ and your parents are in the same line. You ,your parents, your grandpa, you know, you’re waiting in the same line. And people is like giving you some stuff, presents, I’m coming from the Aegean side, we have a specific, like a dance for the Aegeans. And we did, that actually, (the zeybek dance).”

Context: 

This is a widespread traditional rite of passage in Turkey called sünnet düğünü. The traditional dance referenced is the zeybek dance. The informant said he didn’t understand, but knew it was important to his grandfather. 

Analysis:

This ritual is a public celebration of the informant’s transition towards manhood, and social recognition, and religious belonging. The convoy announces this to the broader community. The pinning of gold or money to clothes is present in other Turkish celebrations, like weddings and births, and ritualizes support and symbolic investment into the informant and his family, who are in line to receive gifts with him. In many ways, the celebration is for the family just as much, if not more, than for the informant who at that age, didn’t understand what was going on or why. The celebration as a whole ties Muslim identity (religious duty of circumcision) and regional community to the boy’s identity.

First Bite of Cake

Text: “A tradition that I have within my family is that every time it is our birthday when we’re ready to have a birthday cake and we cut that first slice, the first slice is always for the person whose birthday it is. And on top of that not only just the first slice but the first bite. So once all of the slices are passed out the birthday person has to take the first bite of that first slice that was cut in order for the tradition to continue on. I’m not sure where this tradition came from but it’s something I noticed early on in life that we always do as a family and so it’s just so ingrained in my brain that without a question when I am celebrating someone’s birthday I expect the same tradition to be upheld.”

Context: The informant, a law school student, described a family birthday tradition where, once the birthday cake is cut, the first slice and the first bite are always given to the person whose birthday it is. This custom has been a part of their family celebrations for as long as they can remember. Although the informant isn’t sure of the origin of this tradition, it has become deeply ingrained in their life. The informant now expects this same tradition to be upheld whenever they are part of any birthday celebration, highlighting its importance in their personal experience.

Analysis: This birthday tradition is a great example of how even small rituals can carry a lot of meaning. The first slice and bite of the birthday cake being reserved for the birthday person isn’t just a gesture — it’s a symbolic way of honoring that individual and making them the focus of the celebration. By doing this, the family reaffirms the specialness of the occasion and the person whose birthday it is.

Even though the informant doesn’t know where the tradition came from, it’s clear that over time it has become a core part of their family culture. The fact that they expect this ritual to be upheld when celebrating anyone’s birthday shows how powerful traditions can be in shaping expectations. This can also show how rituals spread over time, not just within a family, but through shared experiences and a sense of what “should” happen. When we participate in traditions like this, we contribute to their continuity, and they often become ingrained enough that we expect them to be maintained in future celebrations — even when we’re outside our family. It’s a reminder that rituals aren’t static. They evolve and get passed on, building connections across different celebrations and groups.

Informant Info

Race/Ethnicity: White

Age: 23

Occupation: Student

Residence: Oak Park, CA

Date of Performance: April 22, 2025

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Relationship: Brother