Culture Entry #1 Palestinian Dabke
Moona Abdulkerim
There are a numerous amount of dances that originated in the Arab world that are still being practiced today. However, the dance I will focus on in this entry is the Palestinian dance dabke. Many Palestinians used to build their own houses from straw and mud. In order to keep the roof from leaking, the men would often times stomp down on their roofs together in order to compact the straw and dirt to form a waterproof roof. Since this was a common practice, musicians started to play music for them as they stomped on top of their roofs’ in unison which led them to stomp in a rhythmic form creating dabke.
Dabke then went on to be practiced during weddings, parties, and other special occasions, and eventually became the national dance of Palestinian. When practiced professionally, dabke usually tells a story.
Dabkeh is a fun and inclusive dance, since there are usually no less than 10 people who are participating all at once. Everyone holds hands and forms a semicircle while the laweeh or dabkeh leader determines the pace, rhythm, and direction of the dabkeh circle. Traditionally, there will be an Oud player as well as someone playing the oriental drum.
There are several different types of dabkeh but the most common one among the youth is Al Karradiyeh and Al Tayyara. These forms of dabkeh are common among the youth because of their fast pace and strong steps.
Dabke is not only an entertaining dance, but a symbol for Palestinian nationalism and identity. It helps preserve Palestinian culture, even though several Palestinians were forced to flee due to the war to neighboring countries. The dance has been observed to be performed in refugee camps throughout West Bank and Gaza as well as all over the world Palestinians reside.
Sources:
http://wfae.org/post/palestinians-celebrate-culture-through-dabke-dance
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