Saber dance (dance)

19th century drawing ( Jean-Léon Gérôme )

The saber dance is an oriental dance that is also incorrectly called the sword dance .

origin

The origin of the saber dance, as it is shown today in oriental dance, is a fantasy dance that has no historically verifiable sources: Some dancers refer as a model for their interpretations to the Greek sources about the Amazon people or to models of fighting women from the History of the Orient . Some dancers claim that the saber dance comes from the wedding rites of oriental Berber peoples : the woman was given the man's sword (saber) during the wedding. The handover served as a symbol that she had now become the mistress of the house and the keeper of the family honor. To show that she knows how to use the saber, the women developed a playful and dance-like way of doing things, namely the saber dance. This theory has not yet been proven.

shape

All types of music are possible in fantasy dance, therefore also in saber dance. From pure instrumental pieces to classical music, film music to modern music with synthesizers or folklore music , everything is allowed. The costume and the jewelry are freely selectable and are not based on any direct historical templates or sources. Most people dance with a top (sometimes with a jacket) and harem pants. Often the saber dance is shown in folk costumes or in a costume or dress that is very similar to the classic belly dance costume.

The saber dance can be danced with faster and slower movements. This is up to the dancer. The typical movements of oriental dance are always used. The danced illusion of a woman ready to fight with the deadly saber is in the foreground here, the dance expression is usually not combative, rather graceful and ethereal. The saber must never be wrapped in your hand, even if the balanced dance saber does not have a blade. The attraction of the saber dance is the movement-free balancing of the saber on the head, shoulder, hip and stomach, in one movement or while the dancer is dancing. Double saber dances are often shown to underline the virtuosity of the dancer even more. Dances with more than two sabers do not allow a dance, here you only balance and walk slowly. Many dancers use typical movements of the " shamadan dance ", as well as slightly acrobatic elements such as splits , balancing on one leg or elements of the floor dance to the saber dance. In recent years, saber dances, which are usually designed as a solo, have been shown as a duo or group dance , often with small show combat interludes that are coordinated with the music (mostly film music). Group dances with the saber are particularly difficult to perform, as the synchronicity of all dancers must be very high in order for the saber dance to affect the audience. Occasionally men also performed the saber dance, in oriental dance it is 99% women who perform it.

Saber versus sword

The difference between a saber and a sword is the size, length, edge, design and weight of the weapon. Sabers have a curved shape and only one sharp edge, are light and elegant to wield, but were often made with a heavy chopping blade. Historically, sabers are the typical weapon of oriental fighters, who were often able to wield the saber from the horse and with one hand. The oriental saber dance is therefore danced with a saber, which is easier to balance due to its curved shape.

The following saber types can be distinguished in terms of shape variants:

Turkish saber, Indian saber, Persian saber, Polish karabela and Japanese sword (katana)

background

The fighting (active) and killing woman was taboo for a long time. The sword, which sees itself as the "symbol of masculinity par excellence", is in the hand of the woman belonging to the wrong gender. With the deadly weapon of the sword, the warrior breaks a monstrous taboo by appropriating this important symbol of masculinity and power and dishonoring it by "feminizing" it.

literature

Wendy Buonaventura: Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World , Interlink Publishing Group, 1998, ISBN 1-56656-300-3 .

Karin Van Nieuwkerk: A Trade Like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt , University of Texas Press, 1995, ISBN 0-292-78723-5 .

Wendy Buonaventura: Belly dance , Kunstmann Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-88897-106-3 .

Dietlinde Bedauia Karkutli: The Belly Dance Book , Rowohlt 2002, ISBN 3-499-61328-X .

Eluan Ghazal: The sacred dance. Oriental dance and sacred eroticism , Simon & Leutner, 2005, ISBN 3-922389-95-3 .

Eluan Ghazal: snake cult and temple love. Sacred eroticism in archaic societies , Simon + Leutner, 1995, ISBN 3-922389-63-5 .