Dabke Dance and Other Traditional Dances - Essay Example

Dabke Dance and Other Traditional Dances Dabke Dance and Other Traditional Dances Introduction Danke dance originally came with a man. The dance is a universal language shared by all countries. The dance took various forms after to development of civilization and shaped into many schools. Danke is Arabic, and it started in the mountain regions above the Tigris River and Mediterranean coastline. For the first time after creation, Dabke dance was mainly by the people of the towns and villages of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. Some quasi-bedouin tribes who were living nearby the territories of the mentioned countries also danced the Dabke dance (Kohēn & Katz, 2006). The most common place where Danke dance is performed is at Lebanon. The formation of the dance in the Lebanon was, as a result of, changes of seasons that usually happened. In places where the Dabke dance was performed, the roofs were made of tree branches, topped with mud and flattened. Due to weather changes the roof would crack and needed to be rebuilt again. Particularly, Lebanese would fix the roof while holding their hands, make a line and begin stomping their feet while making a walk on the roof in order to adjust the mud. Roofing of a house was communal involving societal group. Danke would therefore lead to togetherness among Lebanese and their families (Kohēn & Katz, 2006). Family was thought to be a whole village with Dabke ancestral tradition, and that is why Arabic’s and Lebanese families have the same historical heritage. The years passed and the families came up with new ways of building their houses. The Dabke was left a description of the tradition on how their culture was built. Daloonah was the term that improvised the singing while dancing the Dabke. Today, the Dabke is still danced in Lebanese culture and is the one of the most famous tradition of all other Lebanese traditions. The Dabke is passed generation to generation and is almost performed in every Lebanese domestic. The Dabke dance has passed all through the history still being more joyous and livelier and is usually danced or performed at special occasions, weddings and family gatherings (Kohēn & Katz, 2006). However, in the beginning the Dabke dance was static and slow. The Dabke began to change after the First World War due to the immigrants who came in Lebanon changing the dance into many ways from generation to generation. Nowadays, the Dabke a dance where every participator stands in a line holding each other’s hand while facing the outwards or the audience. The dance starts with artist playing a solo and then the dancers begin to move communally generating a coordinated movement and step. The dance consists of stepping with the right foot and the left foot and then crossing the right foot with left foot over. Every step has a little hop, which is the kind of the Greek dance. Lawweeh is the most skilled man who leads the group of dancers while dancing Dabke. Lawweeh is expected to be in the capability of improvise the dance and should also be extremely light on his feet (Kohēn & Katz, 2006). The duty of a Lawweeh is to direct the dancers whether to speed up or slow down and assists on keeping the energy of the dancers by giving them directions. Lawweeh may also sing out the song, improvise on his own by breaking out of the line or get more audience or family members to join the line as well. Flamenco dance developed from the songs of Andalucia or cante in Spain that expressed the hardships and blessings of everyday life. Flamenco is characterized by persuasive footwork, highly nuanced, a straight spine and at other times arch in the upper back and holding arms to form a curve that frames the body. The dance expresses strength, tenderness, pride, urgency and resilience. Flamenco was initially danced in streets, people’s homes and cafes for special occasions like birthdays and weddings. The origin of South African gumboot dance came from old film footage of the people who were working in mines. The wellington gumboots or boots issued every month cause them to celebrate and dance. Today, in South Africa they generate stamping rhythms in Gumboot dancing. A 1w3-year-old girl established a company involving Gumboot Dance where they build up basic stamping, clapping and stepping rhythms into a longer routine. The Japanese Geisha dance was developed by Japanese girls. The word Geisha meant a performing artist, a traditional Japanese entertainer, or a dancing girl. Geishas used to wear kimonos, while dancing (Goellner & Murphy, 1995). Geishas would also wear the hair up traditionally and apply makeup on a white painted face with red lipstick and black eyeliner. Geishas used to train while young but nowadays one can start at middle age or secondary level. Through establishment of Geisha dance, a culture known as Geisha was created. The early history of Irish dance revealed a constant shifting of people through invasions and migrations. The different people took different types of dances and music. The Irish dance involved beautiful female dancers who magnificently dressed and considered as the first class dancers. Irish dancing also involved music played on the harp and bagpipes. Dances were often performed in Anglo-Irish aristocracy houses or during the wakes (McGrath, 2013). The mourners would follow each other making a ring round the coffin and bagpipe the music. The British Sword dances exist all over the Europe. The rapper dance of Durham and Northumberland and the long-sword dance of Yorkshire commonly use the rigid swords. The dance involved male characters who were working in coal mining. Nowadays, some female characters are included. The dance was only performed in midwinter and usually started with a short play. Mock executions, historical characters and revivals of the dead were part of the dance. They symbolized death and rebirth of the people (English Folk Dance and Song Society, 1965). Later, there was discovered the use of flexible swords, which brought innovations in the style and form of the dance creating a great difference from the dances like long-sword. The pattern formed by the dancers changed from forming a single circle to a pair of circles, which formed figure-eight. The dance associated the coal mine communities. Dancing styles of Aborigines varied throughout the many of the tribal groups in Australia. Dancing was done with the body, foot and set of arms movements accompanied by lots of foot stamping. Shake-leg is the name of the dance today (Anna, 2008). Dances always imitated birds or animals. Serious sacred or ritual dancing was quite separate from light-heartened-camp dance that women, children and men could share. Haitian dance involved cultural traditions and African styles. The rituals and dances arose inorder to preserve social and sacred art forms, beliefs and customs, in a manner of retaining the arduous and oppressive conditions of slavery. The gods and goddesses created and influenced the dance movements (Anna, 2008). The nature of Haitian dance is masculine, feminine, mischievous, proud, aggressive and sensual. The dance is said to be dynamic and subtle as well as rugged and graceful. The dances originated from French upper classes where it involved vigorous torso, leg and pelvis movements together with African rhythmic sensibility. Drum hits usually created the rhythm the Haitian dance. The various dances discussed in this paper have some differences and similarities. The involvement of body movements like the feet is common to all the dances. Stamping using the feet has appeared to all the dances. There was also the formation of different patterns while holding to each other’s hand during the dancing. Most of the dances names emerged to be the cultural names of the traditions that started the dance. All the cultures that generated those dances were going through struggles in life and engaging on dances was a mean of finding enjoyments. The difference between all the dances is the use of different tools while dancing, and most of the dances involved specific gender either males or females. In conclusion, all the dances discussed in the paper have been passed through generations to generations. The dances remind people on how the roots of their culture were established and the impact of the historical traditions and ancestors today. In modern days, the dances are usually performed in special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and public holidays. The dances are commonly performed as a way of entertaining. References Anna, H. (2008). Cultures of the world. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. English Folk Dance and Song Society. (1965). Folk music journal. S.l.: The English Folk Dance and Song Society. Goellner, E. W., & Murphy, J. S. (1995). Bodies of the text: Dance as theory, literature as dance. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press. Kohēn, D., & Katz, R. (2006). Palestinian Arab music: A Maqām tradition in practice. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. McGrath, A. (2013). Dance theatre in Ireland: Revolutionary moves. Ireland: Cengage. Read More