So now that everything is semantically clear
Once again, thanks for all the comments. I especcially enjoyed
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da Sage
Actually, I think that men are genetically programmed to want to hit each other (and the ground) with big sticks. You get it in Britain, Africa, the Middle East, and even Hawaii.
I think I did not complete my thought here. My point was that in all these parts of the world, male stick dances evolved, probably independently. I am sure there are female stick dances, too (I seem to recall some from africa), but I'm not sure they're as common. I think the reason for this is male/female brain wiring.
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Quote:
Marya
another perspective on sword dances
Well, I have seen sword dances depicting fighting on video as well as live. They used an Amazon motif. I have also seen a video from Lebanon with men using swords in a dance that utilized mock fighting positions.
Some of the various Fakeloric/tribalish style dancers do not emphasize the grace and balance skills but emphasize the warrior aspect.
I used to use the warrior aspect in a sword dance. People loved it. I created it somewhat tongue in cheek (in my mind we were Middle Eastern Ninjas) our costume included a long black cape, turbans, big white puffy sleeves, a vest, tassle belt and full shalvar. we used the cape in the dance and we did a little sword play too. I created the dance before the September 11, 2001 event where planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. After that I felt ashamed to be perpetuating a stereotype and promoting an image of the Middle East that was fake and wrong. I tried to rework it using different costumes but it just didn't feel right.
I have seen a sword used in a folkloric vignette of an imaginary 19th century Gawazee scene. This story line is a least possibly true, where some soldier asks a Gawazee to use his sword in a dance because he thought it would be entertaining. There are orientalist paintings that have this theme as well.
I generally like sword dances that emphasize balancing skills, but when I was developing mine, my teacher told me to pretend the sword was real and handle it as if it was extremely sharp to create the illusion that it was a real weapon and dangerous because the audience would like that better.
The sword is of course a potent phallic symbol and the image of a beautiful woman handling a sword in any fashion leaves little to the imagination
Marya
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@ Kashmir
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Kashmir
Bottom line - if you don't like swords - don't dance with them. They are a fantasy prop. If you want to show you skill at balancing there are plenty of other (traditional) props - trays, shamadan, cane, ...
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Like I already mentioned, there's sort of a balance between the pros and cons of sword dance. They're cool, look cool, the audience loves it. And then there's the warrior aspect. I don't think they're a fantasy prop, for wars were fought with them. So you could say, that nowadays they aren't used for killing anymore. Though I think thats due to better, more "efficient" weapons
wouldn't there be bombs and guns, they would certainly use swords. Trays are hard for beginners I think and shamadan has often a WTF effect on the audience, because they (usually) don't know about traditions. Canes are sort of a cheerfull prop to me (I have to admit that, though I know their origin. The first Saidi picture I saw was of a smiling woman with a cane on her head. Still today, if I see a Saidi performance, I rather think of a beautiful dancing shepherd), but IMO they lack the wow effect. If I will make up my mind, I will make my decision. I have not made my decision yet. I'm indeed thinking of making a critic show, which is working with little hints to get the audience into thinking about what I want to express.
Sorry for the bad language.