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Sword Dance
Sword dances are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic) sword dances from Africa, Asia and Europe. General types of sword dance include: *solo dancers around swords – such as the traditional Scottish sword dances. This general form also encompasses non-sword dances such as the bacca pipes jig in Cotswold morris dance, *mock-battle dances, including many stick dances from non-sword traditions, and such common continental dances as Bouffons or Mattachins as described by Thoinot Arbeau in 1588. *hilt-and-point sword dances – where the dancers are linked together by their swords in a chain. These form the basis for rapper sword and long sword forms. China and Vietnam Sword dances in China and Vietnam, known as ''jian wu'' or ''múa kiếm'', began as a military training exercise with swords and spears which evolved into an elaborate acrobatic dance. Jian wu was one of four classical dances that were used in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long Sword Dance
The Long Sword dance is a hilt-and-point sword dance recorded mainly in Yorkshire, England. The dances are usually performed around Christmas time and were believed to derive from a rite performed to enable a fruitful harvest. Long Sword or Longsword? The Morris Ring refer to the dance tradition as 'longsword' as do EFDSS. However the Goathland Plough Stots website states that "The Goathland Plough Stots is one of Yorkshires traditional long sword teams, if not the oldest still dancing their own dance as performed as far back as the early 19th century". History The Long Sword dance is related to the rapper sword dance of Northumbria, but the character is fundamentally different as it uses rigid metal or wooden swords, rather than the flexible spring steel rappers used by its northern relation. Cecil Sharp and other 20th Century folklorists formed that opinion that the dances originated from a religious or magical ceremony that was performed around Plough Monday to promote fert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
