Dabke
The Dabke ( Arabic دبكة, DMG dabka ) is an oriental folklore dance that is danced around the eastern Mediterranean in various countries in the Middle East. The real origin is not clear. The dance is practiced u. a. in Lebanon , Turkey , Jordan , Syria , Palestine , Israel and Iraq ; In Iraq the dance is called Chobo in the dialect , but Standard Arabic is also called Dabke / Dabka.
Dabke is often danced at family celebrations, weddings, circumcisions, on return or departure of travelers, on national holidays. It is a row dance, the contact is either by holding the hands or also embracing the shoulders.
Dabke means something like 'stamping your feet on the ground'. A darbuka (tumbler drum) is usually used for dabke ; the drummer can increase the dance tempo by drumming faster and louder. You shouldn't be blinded by the supposed simplicity of the dance, because the steps are given by the first dancer and varied in many ways.
history
The origin of the Dabke is believed to be in ancient times, when the houses in the Levantic villages still consisted of tree branches and were covered with clay . It was the time before today's tiled roofs, as the clay had been affected by wind and weather and had to be renewed every year before the onset of harsh winter. In the village community , which did not value garden fences but rather working together, the house owner asked neighbors and friends for help. The men held hands and pounded the clay, of course, to be effective this had to be done in a common step and rhythm. When this work was later taken over by a stone roll, the tradition had already conquered its place as dance.
The longest dabke dance
In 2007 were Israeli Arabs in Acre , a line of people out of 2,743 persons 7 minutes danced Dabke long, so the previous world record of 1,700 people in Toronto was broken.