Thursday Thirteen - 168 - 13 International Folk Dances For Male Dancers

I'm enjoying a week off from work - which is doing double duty as a writing week, as I tackle revisions on my Welsh Dark Ages vampire story.

But I'm finding time to rest and renew, as well. And one of the ways I've done this is by taking an impromptu around-the-world tour, via You Tube, to watch this awesome display of male folk dancing.

1 - Sword Dance - Scotland

I love how this warrior dance says I'll be dancing on your grave.



2 - Playful Competition (Kiev Fellows) - Ukraine

Here is the classic male bonding scenario: rivals first, then see what each is made of, then respect and friendship.



3 - Flamenco - Spain

The passion! The arrogance! The self-containment! Chick Magnet City.

As in all male dances, the aim is to display strength moves, agility and speed. Here with flamenco, the dancer adds balance and timing, which in a bull-fighting culture, is highly-valued.



4 - Haka - New Zealand

This group posturing dance has been given an upgrade from traditional Maori culture to contemporary New Zealand rugby matches. Here the opposing team gathers on the field as the All Blacks team informs them of what they can expect during the game.

Apparently the performance of this dance - which has been done since 1884 - works.

The All Blacks are "the leading points scorers of all time. They have the highest win ratio, and more than half of the top 20 ranked rugby nations have never beaten New Zealand in over 100 years of international competition." - Wikipedia



5 - Gule Wamkulu (Great Dance) - Mozambique

These dancers hide their true identities from all but their village chiefs. It is their continued ceremonial role to drive away evil spirits from the village, today as yesterday. As in the animal kingdom, these dancers use increased body size through costumes and broad movements to intimidate their foes.



6 - Fire Dance - Polynesia

The addition of fire to the traditional pre-battle knife dance is relatively modern - since the late 1940's.

What began as a posturing war dance transformed into a display of man's mastery over the planet's destructive elements.

CLICK HERE to see clip of fire dancer













7 - Bhangra - Punjab

This group dance is celebratory and uses bold color in the costuming. The men showcase their physical endurance through repetitive jumping movement throughout a long and complex routine. Harmonious group dynamics replace the more common male competitive element.



8 - Dabke - The Arab World

Another celebratory dance, this is done with the dancers connected to one another arm-to-shoulder, with a dance leader in the center. The solidarity and sense of community is showcased by complicated movements that can only be done with the literal support of other dancers.



9 - Men's Northern Traditional - North American First Nations

This is actually a single dancer's war dance or tale of hunting prowess. The dancers here are competing. The inclusion of animal movements honors the animal brothers whose fur and feathers are included on the dancer's regalia.



10 - Danza de Las Tijeras (Scissors Dance) - Peru

These scissor dancers perform acrobatic stunts and tests of physical endurance, all while maintaining the cutting action of the scissors in one hand. Not included in this dance segment are the trials such as piercing the body and walking on fire. In the tradition of their Incan ancestors, these men of the Andes Mountains perform this dance as a sacred ritual where the limits of the physical world are pushed past the brink by the dancers.



11 - Kritikos - Greece

This male-centered dance incorporates the female symbolism of the circle, uniting the two genders. It was originally performed by the King of Crete upon his marriage to the Mother Goddess's representative, the Queen.



12 - Traditional Edo Period Sword Dance - Japan

This is a stylized representation of the battle movements of a samurai. It even includes the ever-practical wiping-the-blood-from-the-sword movements.



13 - Schuhplattler (Shoe Slapping) - Germany

This hilarious version of the traditional Bavarian slap dance takes the male competitive urge and ramps it up a notch.



Janet says WOW - thanks for this, Julia. What an array of dancing culture - loved it.

I beati says I could watch these all day I get so educated on this meme.

Adelle Laudan says Very kewl. I just finished researching several Native American dances. Great list. Happy T13!

Thursday Thirteen - 165 - 13 Things I Saw at the Halifax Pow Wow

1 - Last Saturday, after my acupuncture session in the morning, I grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to the Halifax Commons to attend my very first Pow Wow.














2 - This was part of the Membertou 400 celebrations, which honoured Chief Membertou's 1610 decision to become baptised into the Catholic faith.

Membertou could read the signs concerning the imminent migration of French settlers at the turn of the 17th century, and sought to create a diplomatic solution to an obvious culture-altering event. As a sign of good faith, he and many members of his family were baptised at Port Royal.

In fact, his embrace of the French culture smoothed the way for strong French and native relations. For a century and a half, the two peoples lived side by side in relative harmony.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the English in the mid-1700's threw this arrangement into disarray. The historic animosity between the English and French, combined with the English tendency to 'civilize' indigenous cultures, led to the mass deportation of French Acadians out of what is now the Atlantic provinces, and drove the First Nations people to retreat from contact with Europeans. What had begun as a welcoming gesture towards the church for the Mi'kmaq decayed as their previous French allies joined in the British efforts to eradicate native culture through the use of residential schools.














3 - Within the past several decades, the First Nations people have re-emerged as a vibrant cultural group.

As someone descended from the merging of the French and Mi'kmaq cultures, I've been longing to attend a pow wow for many years. When I found out that we were having one right here I could barely contain my joy.

Here the master of ceremonies opens the second day of the pow wow with a prayer in his own language. He invited all in attendance to join in, using whichever manner we were used to for praying.














4 - Then the assembled Mi'kmaq and their invited Relatives from out west and down south entered the circle, led by an Elder from Eskasoni, a native band from Cape Breton.

He was very old and walked very slowly, but he in fact danced as well as he was able, and needed no assistance in carrying the eagle standard.














5 - Following behind the Elder, there were First Nations members of the Armed Forces and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.














6 - Included in the competitive parts of the festivities were the drum circles and singers. As these groups competed, they provided the music for the dancers, who filled the circle. I loved it when the MC introduced each group and then told them to "Make 'em dance."
















7 - There were all ages involved in the pow wow. I really loved this little girl in the green dress. She was completely serious and really grooved to the music, listening carefully to the rhythms and dancing very solemnly to what she heard.
















8 - The amount of young men involved really excited me. The arts always seem to draw far more female participation than male, but here the men were out in force.

I couldn't take my eyes off them as they danced.

The guy in the hunting pose in the center of the shot also sang and drummed in one of the circles directly in front of my seat in the bleachers.














9 - After the initial opening parade through the circle, the MC called the different groups of dancers out so they could do their thing. The women included Fancy Shawl and Jingle Dancers.
















10 - I was totally impressed with the Golden Age dancers, especially this woman in the red. She had such a regal way of gesturing with her eagle feather.














11 - The men were awesome!

They included Men's Traditional and Fancy Feather Dancers.


















12 - The young dancer in blue was also a double-duty performer, drumming and singing as well as dancing, just like the young guy in black with yellow regalia.















13 - And how could I be anything but awestruck at the level of dancing done by these young performers? The little one in turquois was just amazing. At one point, as they moved around the circle, she danced on her own as the group moved along in a bunch. She was so intense, she held the crowd's attention as easily as a seasoned adult performer. So, so impressive.

Thanks for coming along to the Pow Wow with me! Hope we can get to another one soon.

Akelamalu says I would so love to see that for myself but your pictures capture everything so well. I was watching Queen Elizabeth arriving in Nova Scotia on TV last night - the mounties looked so fabulous waiting in line to greet her. :)

Anthony North says This looks a brilliant and culturally important event.

Adelle Laudan says Thanks soooo much for sharing this with us. I've researched all of what you showed me over the past couple of years for my writing. Happy T13!

Thursday Thirteen - 146 - 13 Insider Views at the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies

My good friend at work - Debbie - has a daughter living in Victoria who attended the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics last Friday.





That's Debbie standing beside me, with our team member Janet, at the reception desk when Janet's beautiful Christmas cactus bloomed last year.














I asked Debbie's daughter Brenda if I could share her marvelous photos with all of you. Let's go to the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver!


- 1

Brenda and her husband have our tickets.

Thanks for bringing us along!











- 2

The interior of BC Place, frosty white and cool blue.


- 3

We need to wrap ourselves in white so that the broadcast can project images over the crowd. And we've got our drums and flashlights ready for the interactive evening.



- 4

The art work of Canada's First Nations ushers in the ceremony.



- 5

The four host First Nations - the Squamish, Musqueam, Lil'wat and the Tsleil-Waututh, whose traditional territory is home to all the Games venues - welcome the world to the games.



- 6

Northwest, Pacific, Northern Woodlands, Great Lakes and Atlantic First Nations were joined by Inuit and Métis, and their performers danced for over an hour as the athletes paraded into BC Place. Astounding.



- 7

The mourning Georgian team parade stoicly, wearing black armbands. Instead of becoming still, the First Nations dancers become more energetic, gesturing towards the Georgians with great intensity.



- 8

The Canadian team enters!



- 9

The camera crew, also in white.



- 10

Spirit Bear rises up, a rare sighting which speaks of harmony and peace. Everyone in the audience becomes stars twinkling.



- 11

The glorious moon and my favorite season - Fall - bring images of The Land of the Maple Leaf along with crazy fiddlers and step dancers.



- 12

k d lang performs a goosebump-inducing version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.


- 13

Speed-skating gold medallist Catriona Le May Doan stands resolutely without being able to join the others as they light the cauldron. Her crystal arm malfunctions and refuses to rise from the floor. However, NBA star Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene Raine and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky touch their torch flames to the crystal arms that do assemble, and the flames race up to light the cauldron for the 21st Olympic Winter Games.

All Olympic photos by Brenda Fancey.

Debby says Awesome pics. Loved the opening ceremony. So proud of our country.

Paige Tyler says Very cool! Great pics, too! We didn't watch the opening ceremonies, but we are watching the games!

Susan Helene Gottfried says I've got it on my TiVo... need to finish watching. I got a bit sidetracked by my snowboarders.