Helen and M'e Julia

Helen and M'e Julia

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Traditional Dance

On my last night, the children treated me to dances they practice and perform frequently for visitors. The dance with the skirt ( made from feed bags) is done to a hymn, despite its apparent sensuality. The dancers wear a belt of hundreds of bottle caps under the white skirt and throw their hips back and up creating a fantastic jangle to accompany the voice and drumming. The shoulder dance, my favorite, done on the knees, also is a hymn. I tried and was terrible at it, but got alot of laughs. Strangely, for what is called traditional dance, both have a lead with a whistle and are done with many rotations to the timing of the whistle.They are hypnotic. The concert, including the two last choir numbers, lasted about one hour.

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