Tribal dance - its origin and forms

By Amal Hewavissenti

Dancing, which could be roughly defined as the performance of a rhythmic and patterned succession of steps usually to music, is really a powerful human need. Dancing forms in any country reflect the culture and the inherent nature of the people living in it. Practically, dancing focuses much more on achieving health by slow or vigorous rhythmic activity and serves as a surprisingly entertaining form of art.

It proves that 'movement' of body is more powerful, more significant and more explicit than verbalisation of feelings and moods. Dancing in fact symbolises the rhythm of heart - the pulse of the population in a given country whatever culture or ethnic variety they belong to. A dancer can better give free expression to his expectations, moods, feelings and desires through the medium of dance and is in an excellent preparation to provide entertainment.

No precise calculation has thus far made as to how many dance forms have existed or exist in among numerous ethnic groups and tribal societies in the world. However, a myriad of dance forms must be in existence within the cultural and geographical boundaries of people with their unique identities underlined.

Dancing figures prominently in all fine arts because it is the oldest form of art which does not exploit any instrument except for the body. Man has been immensely attracted to this form of art because man's life is purely characterised by rhythm in everything from his heart beat to the process of breathing. It has evolved with beliefs, customs, social etiquette and attitudes of the population of all regions and has been nourished by each variety that is typical to any particular terrain or a group of people.

We could safely infer that the most primitive dance originated within a sacred background and with a variety of magic, rites and rituals simply to please the invisible god. Thereafter, dancing as a primitive art evolved giving people the basic assurance of fulfilling a multiplicity of needs. The earliest dance was purely a worship of natural phenomena which were subsequently regarded as gods.

The sketchy paintings discovered in the caves of Spain and Seychelles are the best instances of the origin of dance. The prehistoric paintings of Seychelles feature a group dance by naked members of a family that presumably performs a religious rite. The members of the dancing group display varied postures and gestures in the performance of their exclusive religious dance.

Tribal dance

Diverse dancing styles by tribes living in Amazon forest and Africa are closely linked with the immediate life of tribesmen and their rich heritage of ancient tribal customs. Their dances are meant to invoke blessings from the forces of nature and sometimes to celebrate special events pivotal to their lives. Eventhough much of tribal dance concerns with aspects of entertainment, this form of dance is often performed to obtain protection from illnesses, foreign invasions and natural disasters. Furthermore, the tribesmen dance to obtain assurance for food and fertility, and the development of their community.

Dances of diverse tribes

The Australian aborigines, North American Indians and tribesmen of New Mexico and Arizona perform a special dance called Magico Religious dance which invites rain to soak the drought stricken areas. The Kachina the dance performed by Mexicans invokes the forces of nature to bring in enough rain and fertilise their lands.

Entertainment

For tribesmen, dancing is a powerful medium of expressing their emotions and is a unique method to imitate diverse concepts, voices and movements of mother nature. Tribesmen at all times employ dancing as a source of entertainment specially during social functions and celebrations of special milestones of their lives within their tribal culture.

The dance called Jaram Thepam which is a famous Indonesian dance include two dancers who rhythmically imitates horse riders. The dance "Leghorn" commonly performed in the island of Baali purely conveys secular themes acted out by two young ladies. The dances performed by various gypsy groups throughout the world specially the folk dance called Faminco performed by Spanish gypsies are considered really impressive non religious tribal dances. Here, the "Rope dance" performed by Persians and Hungarian tribesmen deserves a special notice. However, the primitive tribal dances gave birth to the modern entertaining dances, folk dances and ethnic dances that evolved along with other forms of dance.

Other dances

The tribesmen strongly believe that the dead live with them in the form of spirits and that they should be appeased in order to escape from all evil influences possibly exerted by the dead. Thus, a dance for the dead came into existence.

The medicine dance prevalent among Siberian and Red Indian tribes is performed to cure a member of certain disease. During this dance, the medicine men takes upon himself the power of spirits and performs a violent movements (in order to produce a healing effect on the patient). In Rumania, ladies perform a chain dance round the patient (Rumanian Calusari dance) in order to express gratitude to invisible forces for curing the particular patient. The chain dance, Ring dance and specially the pair dance in Luxor, Egypt featured people dancing face to face. These dances later developed the concept of Ballroom dance which is a highly popular form of dance in civilised society.