Cultural Dances

Adyghe songs and performances

This is amazing, especially the second video of the performance - minute 11:34

Folk Customs

"Dance, as well as any tribal custom, may gradually become so formalized that, although still practiced, its original meaning becomes obscured even to the participants. In many cases customs are altered to suit changing needs, elements of practice left out, and we are left with a remnant of a once functional, religious practice which is not only obscure, but at times absurd and completely devoid of meaning and purpose, with the exception of vague references to "bringing luck." Thus we enter the realm of folklore. To further complicate the issue, folk traditions from many areas of Europe reflect a mixed cultural heritage from centuries of trade and migration. England, for example, represents both Celtic and Germanic tradition, with some Roman thrown in for good measure. Scandinavian customs often reflect Finno-Ugranian and Slavic traditions, and Slavic countries include some Finno-Ugranian, as well as Germanic, Celtic, and Greek. Although a few areas remain pockets of relatively isolated cultural groups, even these may be shown to not be "wholly" from any one particular derivation. Highland Scotland, for example, is usually considered Celtic, however a sizable Viking settlement existed there and the area in question reflects this Scandinavian influence. With all these hurdles, a respectable study may be undertaken of folk dance in Northern Europe by comparing practices from different areas, as well as referring to historical texts when possible.

Seasonal Rites Perhaps no time of year provides so many references to folk dance as the May. The dates of practice range as early as Easter in England, and as late as a few days after Midsummer in Scandinavia. This is likely dependent on climate, and may even vary year to year. The intent of the rites are, of course, to welcome the Summer and its fruits and induce fertility.

The word "may" does not necessarily refer to the month, but denotes the act of garlanding with greenery and flowers. To share every account would fill a volume, but the activities include: a procession into the nearby wood to gather greenery and, sometimes, cut a tree (birch and oak are mentioned) for the maypole, the procession returns to the village, the tree may be taken around the village and gifts demanded, greenery is placed in the windows of homes, the symbolic fight between winter and summer takes place, the maypole is crowned with flowers and erected in the village, a Jack-in-the-Green (usually a boy decked in greenery, see Mumming) is led around, and in most cases the activities are followed by a ring dance around the maypole.(29)

The maypole itself may represent the pillar of the World Tree as well as having the phallic significance over the powers of fertility. Grimm associates the rites of May with Frey (30), and Spence attempts to attribute the may pole etymologically with Ing from the children's game "Jingo-Ring," which emulates betrothal and marriage beside a may pole.(31) He believes "Jingo" to be "Ingwe, or Yngve, the eponymous ancestor of all the English tribes." Spence follows Rydberg's hypothesis that Ing is Heimdall, and not Frey, although, he later says of the "Merry-ma-Tanza," a children's game associated with the may pole, "This emblem appears to have further associations to that exhibited in the cart of the god Freyr, the fertilizer, which was borne around the fields of ancient Germany to bless and fructify them, which was likened to a ship with a mast."(32) The modern Swedish maypole contains images of both horse and heart, and due to this we might consider the maypole to represent both Frey and Freya as the May King and Queen.

The may pole may also be the forerunner of the Yule tree, a relatively late custom(33), as in Gelders on May Day Eve, they used to set up trees decorated and hung with tapers like a Yule tree, then came a song and ring-dance;(34) yet this may be inspired by the Yule tree custom and not the other way around. Regardless, the similarities are clear, for Spence tells us that "in Bohemia and elsewhere, like the Yule Log or the "Clavie" the (may) pole was burnt at the end of the year, or the ensuing May Day."(35)

In England, the Furry Dance is a ritualized dance procession into the wood and back to the village to "bring home the summer and the May-O."(36) They continue to dance through the streets and demand to be allowed through the houses, in the front door and out the back, an addition said to be Roman, according to Joan Lawson, although she gives no source for this.(37) Grimm offers an account which may point to a Germanic conception, "in Neubrunn, the furious host (Wild Hunt) always passed through three houses, each of which had three doors directly behind one another, street-door, kitchen-door, and back-door; and so wherever it finds three doors in a line, the furious host will pass through them."(38)

Also in England, the Milkmaid's dance was performed in early May, and is described, "...all the pretty young country girls that serve the town with milk dress themselves up very neatly, and borrow abundance of silver plate, whereof they make a pyramid, which they adorn with ribbons and flowers and carry upon their heads instead of common milk pails. In this equipage, accompanied by some of their fellow milk maids, and a bagpipe or fiddle, they go from door to door, dancing before the houses of their customers, in the midst of boys and girls that follow them in troops, and everybody gives them something."(39) This custom is said to "dance away sorrow" in the ballad "The Milk Maid's Life" from 1630, and is a peculiar but probably Germanic custom, as the month of May in the Anglo-Saxon calendar is named "Thrimilce" (Three-milkings) with the cows in milk and being milked three times daily. (40) This dance may be to celebrate the abundance, as well as the green grass that comes with spring to make the milk.

Dances are featured in other seasonal rites as well. A Yorkshire Easter custom was observed where the men stole the women's shoes, and vice-versa, followed with a dance and the winning of a Tansy Cake(41). At Hocktide in England, the Dutch Heughtyde, the people went about in a processional beating brass instruments and singing old rhymes in praise of their ancestors (see Scandinvian Chain Dances, below). This procession is said to be in celebration of the English massacre of the Danes in 1002 C.E. and is also known as "Hokie Day." An interesting aside, the "Hokie Pokie" has been danced for at least two centuries under the children's game known as the "Lubin,"(42) however I cannot find that this dance was performed at Hocktide. On St. Mark's Day, April 25th, a custom of well leaping is recorded. The men go out to the "Freeman's Well" (said to be a fairly nasty pool), leap and run through the pool, change into nice clothes, and return to the village where they are greeted by the females "dressed in ribbons, bells, and garlands of gum flowers, who welcome them with dancing and singing."(43) The Morris dancers usually made their appearance at Whitsuntide in England (see Morris dance, below), and well dressing was sometimes accompanied by dance.(44) 

Harvest offered opportunities for dance, as well, as we see in an account from Auxerre, France of the dance of the fastest reaper and prettiest girl dancing around the last sheaf.(45)As most Germanic countries had similar customs revolving around the last sheaf, we may well assume that dance was sometimes included, besides France having its own influx of Germanic culture from the Franks and other Germanic tribes. Another harvest custom was the "broomstick dance," performed by the giver of the feast and seen as a Harvest Home rite in England.(46)

The dancing around and leaping through bonfires was certainly practiced.(47) This took place not only at Midsummer, but also at Hallows, the Twelfth Night fires, and occasional at Easter. As we see elsewhere, this custom involves not only celebration of the turning of the year and passage of the sun, but also a time of purification, protection, gaining luck and fertility. Lawson gives an excellent description of a Teutonic bonfire dance, "This is a closed circle in which each alternate man thrusts his heels forward into the center, bracing them against those of another, whilst the entire group revolves rapidly (around the fire) like a mill-wheel."(48)


Rites of passage

As we have already seen, dance at weddings was, and continues to be, an important activity. A particular dance enacted at weddings in Northern England called the "Cushion Dance" encourages the participants to follow the example of bride and groom.(49) The dance appears to be a courtship ritual, with details too lengthy to include here.(50) It is interesting to note a drinking horn is included in the dance, and another custom from Northumberland explains a dressing out of stools with a cushion of flowers at Midsummer, which is taken around the village for the collection of money.(51) At Polworth, Berwickshire, newlyweds were once obligated to dance with their friends around two ancient thorn trees which, according to Spence, may represent the dwelling places of ancestral spirits.(52) Children's games such as "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" and its derivations may be descended from this custom, and are surely related to marriage ceremonies (see Work Dance, below). Whether or not Spence is correct in his ascertation of the thorn trees, a marriage dance around a fertility emblem such as the may pole makes perfect sense. A wedding dance still observed in Sweden is the "Daldans," which contains a peculiar act in which the women kneel as the men swing their legs over their heads. Lawson claims this to be a symbol of a fertility rite, where the woman signifies her subjugation to the man.(53) This does not seem in keeping with the Germanic view of women's status, however Sweden is now a conservatively Protestant country, and this may have influenced certain practices.

It is sometimes a custom to dance at funeral wakes, and funereal dancing in graveyards during the Christian era, eventually outlawed, is said to be a survival of pagan practice.(54) Davidson mentions flat howes, or mounds, called "Dansehoje" (Dance Howes) in Jutland, where dancing ceremonies may have been performed on top of the graves of ancestors.(55) As a parallel, the Egyptian funeral dance mentioned above is intended to speed the dead on their way, and propitiate the gods in their favor.(56) In discussing sports at funerary ceremonies, Spence presents another hypothesis explaining why dancing and games may be included at funerals, and how they are directly related to the fertility of land and tribe:

Quote :

But why are the dead and the powers of growth really one and the same -- specially placated by games? Possibly because the vigour expended in these exercises was believed to strengthen them for their tasks of growth in a spiritual manner.(57)

These ancestors were thought of as returning to the tribe in the bodies of their descendants. If the tribe did not duly increase, it became manifest... that the ancestral spirits would later be unable to resume existence within it, as no bodies would be forthcoming to be ensouled by them.(58)

Morris Dance

Attempts have been made to attribute the Morris Dance to everything from a Moorish military dance to Neolithic fertility rites. This dance, performed primarily but not exclusively by men(59), is common all over Europe, including England, Yugoslavia, and Spain, and medieval accounts exist from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy. The dance includes stamping, leaping and hopping, rapping of swords or planting rods against the ground (these denoting a connection to fertility of the land), and the wearing of bells, plus a plethora of regional variations. The dance may at one time have been seasonal, beginning with the court Morris at Yuletide(60) but began to appear at many festivals throughout the year. The occasional blackening of the face has led to the misunderstanding that the dance originated from the Moors. However, blackening the face is a common disguising method in Northern European customs, and is merely a continuation of a much earlier tradition (see Mumming).(61)

Lawson claims Morris is a Celtic tradition, and cites the "early documentation" of the dance. However, the first documentation of the Morris is from 1458 in England, not necessarily an indication of Celtic heritage. In fact, the Morris has so much in common with three other customs generally thought to be Germanic, the Sword Dance, Horn Dance and Hobby Horse, they are often all considered together. The Morris was known in Germany, where it was said to have been imported from Sweden.(61)

I cannot help but compare the Morris traditions to the account by Saxo of the priests of Frey at Uppsala, with their "womanish body movements, the clattering of actors on the stage, and the soft tinkling of bells."(62) Most observers nowadays would not consider the Morris movements "womanish," but if the assumption that Saxo was prejudiced against the Swedes is correct, this might explain the account. Additionally, the Morris, as well as the sword dance, is often accompanied or performed by a mumming group, which typically includes cross-dressing, and would make relevant the mention of actors in Saxo's version.

If the connection between the Morris and rites of Frey could be verified, which it cannot be in the context of current information, it would follow right along that the Morris is a fertility dance, performed in honor of and perhaps representing the god Frey. The Romanian Calusari, a Morris-type group, when visiting Europe in 1935 danced on the train all the way across Europe because, "If we don't dance our crops will not grow."(63) Regardless of the particular origin of the Morris, there is enough evidence which allows us to apply it to Germanic belief, and no reason we should not do so if desired.


Sword Dance

The earliest account of sword dancing, and indeed the earliest account of any Germanic dance, is from Tacitus:

Quote :

Naked youths, trained to the sport, dance about among swords and spears leveled at them. Practice begets skill, and skill grace; but they are not professionals and do not receive payment. Their most daring flings have their only reward in the pleasure they give the spectators.(64)

There is no evidence of ritual here, and by this stage in the culture the dance may have become formalized and lost its original intent. Another possibility is that what Tacitus saw and recorded was a practice for a battle ritual, intended to aid the warriors in victory, not actually seen by the historian. The prospect also exists of the dance being a rite of passage, practiced by the youths of the community.

Other historical accounts include that of Olaus Magnus of the sword dance of Goths and Swedes in 1555, the Nuremberg tradition is said to go back to the year 1350 or 1351, and a record of the Ditmarschen sword-dance circa 1600:

Quote :

Viethen says that the dancers wore white shirts decked all over with gay ribbons, and one bell on each leg... They dance in a ring; then hey; they jump over the swords; they lay them down in a figure "not unlike a rose"; round this they dance in a ring and jump over it; a square rose is formed on each dancer's head; finally they lock their swords, upon which the "king" steps and is hoisted and held while he says a few words of thanks to the onlookers.(65)

If we look at variations of the modern sword dance, they are practiced, like the Morris, all over Europe. Said to originally have been performed during the Yuletide, customs now range from Shrovetide to Whitsuntide in England. They include a procession with an impaled cake decorated with flowers and ribbons, the point and hilt formation, circling, jumping over and clashing of swords, the formation of a star and hexagonal pattern called the "rose, nut or knut(knot)" which is either raised in the air for display or placed on the ground and danced over; a dancer is raised on the swords or swords are placed about one dancers' head (usually a fool or king), ending with a mock sacrifice and occasionally a miraculous healing by a "doctor" in accordance with the mummer's play. The traditional music is performed on pipe and tabor, as the Morris. The long sword was the original prop, replaced in the north of England with the short sword, or "rapper," in the sixteenth century, and has since served to revise the dances there in such a way as it cannot be performed with any other sword.(66) This is an excellent example of how folk customs are continually altered.

Much has been made of the mock sacrifice, which seems to be implied in most versions of the dance, if not blatantly acted out. An observance of the German berlingen Sword Dance shows the point and hilt formation, followed by the passing of each dancer under an archway of swords (see Thread the Needle, below) until only one is left, who is met in the middle by the black-faced mummer. This portion of the dance ends, and is followed by a country dance including females.(67) In Sharp's relation of the Grenoside dance, he states the clash of disentangling the knot from around the Captain's head was so realistic, he would not have been surprised if the Captain's head had toppled from his shoulders and rolled to the floor.(68)

The presence of the mock sacrifice may point to different ideas: a human sacrifice in which victory over a battle is sought or celebrated; a human sacrifice associated with the fertility of the land such as those determined by lot and sometimes the victim a king(69); or an initiatory rite where the "victim" is ritually killed and reborn. The inclusion of the Thread the Needle formation may imply a trial by ordeal or a passage into death and rebirth, somewhat like the labyrinth. Although Wodan is usually associated with human sacrifice, Frey too has his reputation for the immolation of human victims(70), but may be connected to the sword dance through his status as God of the Mound.


The sword dance has also been linked to the "Whit Hunt" in England, in which an animal (lamb, hare or stag) was killed for the purpose of a feast at "Whitsuntide and other Morris Festivals," the animal was decked with ribbons, displayed and carried before the Morris dancers with its legs bound together. The meat was made into pies, one of which -- "the head pie" -- contained the animal's head intact. The head pie contained special value, and had to be obtained in some appointed way. Occasionally the head was displayed much like the Boar's Head custom at Yule.(71) This may also include hunting rites within the realm of sword and morris dancing customs.



The Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance

This is an English custom that even the most rigid of historians consider particularly Germanic and ancient in origin. A type of hobby-horse dance used to raise funds for the Abbey, it takes place in the nearby Forest of Needwood, and was described by Robert Plot in 1686:

Quote :

(It was called) the Hobby-horse dance, for a person that carried the image of a horse between his legs, made of thin boards, and in his hand a bow and arrow, which passing through a hole in the bow, and stopping upon a shoulder it had in it, made a snapping noise as he drew it to and fro, keeping time with the music; with this man danced six others, carrying on their shoulders as many reindeer's heads, three of them painted white and three red, with the arms of the chief families to whom the revenues of the town chiefly belonged, depicted on the palms of them, with which they danced the hays, and other country dances. To this Hobby-horse dance there also belonged a pot, which was kept by turns, by four or five of the chief of the town, whom they called reeves, who provided cakes and ale to put in this pot; all people who had any kindness for the good intent of the institution of the sport; giving a pence for themselves and their families; and so foreigners too, that came to see it; with which money (the charge of the cakes and ale being defrayed) they not only repaired their church but kept their poor too.(72)

The earliest account has been pushed back to 1532, when it was already a well-established tradition. This dance was originally performed during the Yuletide, but was moved up to September in the eighteenth century.(73) The antlers, genuine and fitted into carved wooden heads held on short staves, are now painted white and brown, instead of red, and have been dated to reindeer which were castrated, or domesticated, and lived during the eleventh century. Hutton notes reindeer were extinct in England, Wales and Scotland by that period, with no traces of domesticated herds, so he concludes the antlers must have been imported from Scandinavia.(74)

Hutton also feels this dance to be an anomaly, based on an earlier Hobby-horse dance, with the antlers added as an "exotic extra."(75) Although the reindeer dance is certainly rare, we do have two corollaries, the Russian "Yakut" and certain dances of Finno-Ugranian tribes.(76) It is probably not an anomaly but, like the horns, an import from Scandinavia, where the customs of Slavic and Finn-Lapp cultures have been integrated.

Like the Hobby Horse, discussed below, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact source for this dance as ritual. It may have reflected a hunting custom. It may be a relic of animal totemism. As we have seen of other dance customs from England, it may be associated with Frey, illustrating his antler weapon at Ragnarok. If Ing Frea is the founding god of the Ingvaeonic tribes, it is no wonder he would be represented so prominently, and perhaps he is simply the god of dance. Grimm supports the idea of Frey as a "supreme god."(77)


Hobby Horse

The Hobby Horse is a feature at nearly every English festival throughout the year, and is also found in those countries with the Morris and Sword dances, in which it often plays a role. Plot's account above of the Horn Dance gives a good summary of its description, noting the snapping of the jaws. The creature itself engages in clowning and sexual prankery, which has led folklorists to associate it with fertility rites. This may be correct, as the Hobby Horse is prominent in May rites, and a horse's member figures in certain Germanic fertility customs.(78) Again, we have association with Frey through Freyfaxi and, according to Grimm, "horses were consecrated to Freyr, and maintained in the hallowed precincts of his temples."(79)

Grimm also notes that the horse was the favorite animal for sacrifice in the earliest time, and the beheading of horses was common, when they were saved and fastened to the stems of trees. This is similar to the fixing of a horse's head upon a "stake of envy," or Nithing Pole, which gave the power to bewitch and enemy.(80) Olaus Magnus reports of the Goths, "...as they were about to march into battle, used to sacrifice horses at their altars. They cut off their heads and set them up on poles, made them gape by inserting blocks between their jaws, and carried them before their line of battle."(81) This practice is also mentioned by Saxo(82), and included in Egil's Saga.(83)

It seems the tradition of the Hobby Horse has degraded to such a state that it represents little of its original meaning, and may be a fusion of different traditions. Both the Celts and Romans have had their own equine ritual traditions. Add to this the costume of the tournament horses from the middle ages, and we have more confusion. Even so, the Hobby Horse retains some of its menacing Germanic properties. In 1830, the Minehead, West Somerset Hobby Horse, whose traditional role was to raise money from the spectators, would punish anybody who refused donations with a ceremonial beating.(84)

Let's consider the reflection of a one-time participant, Hutton again, comparing the Hobby Horse with other mock beasts,

Quote :

...the nature of the entertainment seems also to have remained consistent between the hobby-horse and the later animal disguises. All depended for effect upon the same mixture of clowning and dexterity; all likewise provided opportunities for rather risqu and exciting licensed misconduct, as the model beast kicked, gambolled, and pretended to attack. E. C. Cawte shrewdly commented that the experience of being inside a hooden horse has an odd character of its own, involving a sense of slackening personal responsibility for what occurs as the role of playing the creature takes over. The present author, who has had that experience, must agree, and testify to the nervousness in the laughter of most spectators at the approach of something that is, and yet is not, a human being. As was said earlier of the celebrations at Padstow, these customs do have a way of communicating something genuinely archaic, whatever their actual age.(85)

Mumming


Mumming, also know as guising, is the disguising of the participants of the dance or drama in various ways, including: blackening of the face; animal heads, skins, or costumes; cross-dressing; and Jack-in-the-Green, Green Man, or Wild Man costuming with straw or garlands. This practice more often takes part in the ritual drama of the death of the hero-victim/mock sacrifice than actual dance. However, here is a brief description of relevant examples. Blackening the face has been mentioned under Morris dance, and may result from the custom of blackening for luck with the ashes from the needfire.(86) It is possible that the black face may represent death, the dead, or the ancestor. The Jutes and Anglo-Saxons spread charcoal in their funerary rites.(87) A children's custom from Scotland is recorded in which boys kindle a May fire, knead and then toast an oatmeal cake at a stone in the embers, blacken a portion and then divide the cake among the participants. The boy who receives the blackened portion must leap three times through the fire, which has led antiquarians to believe this represents a mock sacrifice.(88) It has been shown above in the account of the berlingen Sword Dance the black-faced mummer "accepts the sacrifice."

The dressing up of a man or boy in greenery is common in Germany(89) and England(90), and this character takes part in some of the sword and morris dancing customs. He is known as Jack-in-the-Green," or "Robin Goodfellow," etc. and sometimes is represented by an animal, such as the straw bear from the carnival of Wilflingin led by a team of Morris.(91) Morris, sword dance and mumming "hero" dramas in England contain various characters such as Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Beelzebub, Dairy Doubt, etc. Different areas reflect different customs and different characters, but the essential plot line of the drama remains the same -- two men fight, the "hero" is killed, then a comic doctor enters and restores him to life, sometimes the hero, or the fool, runs off with the "maiden" who, more often than not, is a burley man dressed as a woman(92). This may be a decayed remnant of Summer battling Winter customs common in Germany and Scandinavia (dressing in ivy representing summer and straw representing winter(93)) or, as some folklorists feel, it may represent the death and rebirth of a god of vegetation, possibly Freyr.(94)

Mumming more typically involved cross-dressing, which took place at various seasons and in conjunction with other customs. Cross-dressing in Germany was common during the Yuletide, which involved feasting and receiving gifts.(95) The purpose of cross-dressing is unclear, but it may serve to promote a "suspension of normal," for the event, as well as disguise and perhaps a blurring of sexual boundaries. Sometimes it was merely done for a laugh, as in the example from the folk drama above and, of course, is represented in our mythology by the myth of Thor and Thrym, where Thor dresses as Freya and plays the bride of the giant Thrym in order to retrieve his hammer. It would be tempting to compare the fool and the "maid" from the folk drama with Loki and Thor, were it not for the fact that the fool is never dressed as a woman (as Loki is) and also that this folk drama, although containing archaic concepts, is recorded no earlier than the eighteenth century.(96)

Evidence from Children's Games

Some children's rhyming and dancing games can be said to hold evidence of ancient customs and practices. The game "Oats and Beans and Barley," for example, shows some actions similar to the Aecer-Bot ritual:

Quote :

Oats and beans and barley grow!
Oats and beans and barley grow!
Do you or I or any one know
How oats and beans and barley grow?
First the farmer sows his seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
Stamps his foot, and claps his hands,
Then turns round to view the land.
Waiting for a partner, waiting for a partner!
Open the ring and take one in!(97)

Each child acts out the words in italics at the appropriate time. The following stanzas have to do with the acquisition of a spouse with some words of advisement on how a married person behaves. This has led Gomme to believe, "It points to the custom of courtship and marriage being the outcome of village festivals and dances held after spring sowing and harvest gatherings."(98)

Quote :

A dis, a dis, a green grass,
A dis, a dis, a dis;
Come all you pretty fair maids
And dance along with us.

The word "dis" is considered the original, as it is consistent in ten out of fourteen variants recorded of the game.(99) Gomme herself is not able to identify it, but it is certainly clear to us. "Dis" could be either from the Scandinavian "Dis," or the Anglo-Saxon "Idis," as the game is common throughout England and Scotland. The game has been further associated to a corpse blessing and funereal rite, which strengthens the argument of its connection to the female ancestors.(100)

"London Bridge" is common enough that I need not give the verses here. Gomme makes a connection of this game to the Battle (and breaking) of London Bridge, when Ethelred, after the death of Sweyn, was assisted by Olaf of Norway in retaking and entering London. (101) She reinforces her argument by giving an example of the first line of the game-rhyme as:

Quote :

London Bridge is broken down,
Gold is won and bright renown;
Shields resounding,
War-horns sounding,
Hild is shouting in the din;
Arrows singing,
Mail-coats ringing,
Odin makes our Olaf win.

The game also includes the taking of prisoners, another suggestion of warfare. "London Bridge" contains an important element in symbolic movement called "Thread the Needle," an arch step which is fully covered below.

Although the realm of children's game and rhyme contains many examples of possible Heathen derivation, including "Ring Around the Rosie" and "Mulberry Bush," it is impossible to cover all the examples here. I hope these instances are enough to illustrate the point.


We have ample evidence of the existence of dance in the Northern Tradition. Unfortunately, historical sources lack detail, and folk sources are muddy -- centuries of custom, superstition, alterations and interpretations being thrown together willy-nilly, with no clear source of origin or intent. Even if we could adequately reconstruct the precise dance customs of our Heathen forebears, would we feel comfortable practicing them? The Hobby Horse, while making a fanciful children's toy, is too arcane to offer much meaning for us. And blackening our faces would certainly create an interesting situation considering our current dilemma revolving around the issue of "racism." How do we take Northern tradition and apply it to our modern Heathen lives? This question is relevant not only to dance, but other practices."


Dance in the Northern Tradition

Excellent finds.

A playlist of mine with Greek dances and music, mainly music to dance Zeibekiko.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiV6AcOqmaO7dl-QLZ1shkDq2egMjlpzg

I am currently learning Zeibekiko, Karsilama, Aptaliko (those three are called ''Eynefiko'', rhythm of 9 as I understood from the teacher) and Hasapiko (the butcher's dance).
Zeibekiko has finished for me and I will develop my style further, my teacher honoured me to learn me steps nobody else knew within the Netherlands (he said others here were unworthy to know since I showed true devotion and interest) and I will upload some time a video of my Zeibekiko at the studio or else at a performance since he wanted me to perform at a restaurant.
Although this month I focus mainly upon learning Georgian and thus can't invest in dancing, and I understand the rhythm only when I am, not drunk, but when the alcohol has affected me to an extent, thus I have to practise some more.


Zeibekiko was a dance by the Hittites but spread amongst Turks and Greeks due to interaction / warfare and migration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeibeks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeybek_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeibekiko

The dance spread amongst Greeks in today's Turkey, Anatolia, because the Greeks were protected by the Zeibek (though I also read they fought with the Turks against Greek invasion) from Turkish prosecution, exodus and slaughter; many migrated afterwards to what we now know today of what remains of Greece's borders and thus an exchange of dances occured between the Greek populations of Anatolia and Greece; and Zeibekiko developed different from Zeybek danced by Turks; though both have common roots and a respectable character.

I am not sure what the name of the dance is about.
One side claims that it refers to the people and the dance simulating Eagles (Zeybek) and the other side claims that it is a dance in honour to Zeus, but wouldn't that mean that the dance is much older and already well known amongst the Greeks before any Ottoman empire ever existed..?

Pontiaka

Ζεϊμπέκικο Κυπριακ

Zeybegi - Kostak Ali

As if he celebrates fertility:
Zempekiko

pontiaka pontian "Maxeria" Pitsiak, Knife Dance

DORA STRATOU_MAXAIRIA

Pontian Dora Stratu "Pitciak" Knife Pyrrhic dance

ΖΕΙΜΠΕΚΙΚΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΔΟΚΙΑΣ BY MITSOS

Karsilamas (Karsi, from Turkish, meaning ''to face / opposite'')
ΠΑΛΙΟΣ ΚΑΡΣΙΛΑΜΑΣ (ΛΕΣΒΟΣ)



He explained to me regarding a ritual he performed in the beginning of this video:
Zeybek Evlilik Teklifi - Marriage Proposal

Quote :

I've given my negative energy to the ground and I've got positive energy from it. It's a kind of cleaning before the war and at the same time it represents that "This is my area".

Irish jig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIfnbVPP3SM

erisioni svanuri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMTWR-qGO4

Didgori Choir. Didebata (Svan round song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCjClSWkHJc

Courtly Lezginka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBnzUXlUmz4

Joyous Zeibekiko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v-GeG48lrg

Albanian dancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqFDzbhFClI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSZydLZ5B5o

A superb collection of pdf files about the Polish dances Mazurka and Polonaise; made, translated and collected by a man whom wants to share his passion in interest with others - so far as it is in his collection he sends free dvd's and cd's containing audio books, choreographies, videos etc.

http://jason.chuang.ca/social-dance/mazur-mazurka/

Turkish warriors dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfozflwYAY0

I've tried to learn this for few weeks, probably still continue and see if I ca learn to do it properly. It's really cool. It was harder than I thought at first, requires some coordination skills...It works out the brains too, at least for me.

Yes, I too started with that one, Jarno - he is an extremely good hearted man with very noble traits; he was my teacher in Moscow.

It was for me too hard to coöridnate all the body parts especially for those who have never danced before. First start with the legs, then the arms and then synchronize all the movements in symbiotic harmony.
Though they may self-project ''it is not that hard'' - well, it is if you do not have it in your blood nor grew up among dance and rhythm; I have to pick it up again, could have trained so much but did not; and need to work on rhythm.

OhFortunae wrote:

Though they may self-project ''it is not that hard'' - well, it is if you do not have it in your blood nor grew up among dance and rhythm; I have to pick it up again, could have trained so much but did not; and need to work on rhythm.

Yes, I guess it's not in "blood" if earlier generations have not danced enough...I don't remember where I read this, but for example when Christianity came to Finland (large continent, I don't know which region exactly), they "banned" dancing because people would just spend their time dancing instead of working.

I still and always will identify myself as Karelian (Karjala) even though I now live near Helsinki for various reasons, like I might have already told this. In the west, and north-west near the sea they speak a lot of Swedish and some even refuse to speak Finnish.

Even the nearest region to Karelia, Savonia has much different people in there, streotypes live on. In Karelia they say that "Savonians are twisted, never trust them".

From another page: " Other Finns see Karelians as lively, outgoing, talkative, and humorous. These features are not usually connected to Finns in general. Karelians also have their own traditions, cuisine, and dialect, for example. "

That is the same throughout the world; there is not ''A White people''; we have Frisians and Hollanders as the most contrasting in NL and then many more other provincial blood characteristics. It goes deeper than just football rivalry, though due to being cut off from past, people start to identify with city numbers - literally; ''020 Amsterdam, we are the best / you are tha man!''. And thus they wear it on T-shirts or grafitti or just talk like such. And of course the language rivalry as in Belgium: ''you are a good negro if you speak Dutch, but if you speak French or are a White French speaking native, you do not belong here'' mentality.


Xtianity destroyed many ancient traditions or inverted them or covered them in Xtian theft.
Why is ''hopa/ hopakee / hopla / huppa'' used so much in Dutch ([H]OPA, an expressive word universally used throughout Eurasia, mainly used during dance), derived from old-Germanic 'hop' - to jump, similarity to, I suspect, to 'huppelen', sort of joyous movements I suspect leftovers from old tradtional ''Dutch'' dances pre-Xtianity or Protestantism, pre-Netherland nation. Just my own thoughts and connections.
But to expect the Dutch to dance again alike to their pagan ancestors, their collective mindset is culled to much into a flat mentality, high in many aspects yes, but flat in regards to behaviour, expression, condemnation if raising your head above the rest - though they can really appreciate the dances as many have 'Greek-fever' but won't understand them.

In regards to rhythm, yesterday I took one dance lesson from a teacher I did non intended at first to learn from (posters are hung everywhere in Tbilisi, cheap price and very nearby - gave it a try before attending) but may go more often next to the actual intended lessons from another further away; buth teachers I think will have an different approach - but I do not know if it is a disrespect to have more teachers for the same kind of dances, as many take respect, joy and pride in their pupil(s), to see their elements, their work, investments, patience etc., growing within you. Anyway, it is I think that I listen so much to their traditional folk music that I have started to understand the rhythm without noticing, it is much more clearer to me now, and the Greek dancing teacher who literally spend whole lessons focusing upon the rhythm also sharpened my feeling.


But many people take joy into sharing their cultural elements with you as a foreigner (as long selectivity is still in use and that people won't take joy in sharing with negroes and hedonists) such as language, dances, things about your land - it is as if you share your legacy, part of your self with others, in a good manner. Though many Dutch do not like to share their language too much, one even told me we should not share it for it is 'a secret language' - but how much of a exclusivity it is with so many negroes and ex-slaves on other continents speaking it.

For O'Fort: Facebook page for traditional Georgian Dance.

https://m.facebook.com/chub1na.ge?ref=bookmarks

Yes, there are many; often the ensembles promote themselves on there: http://www.yell.ge/companies.php?lan=geo&rub=3517

I already have found a teacher and start next Tuesday.