Essay On Dabke

Introduction

The history of dance is unknown. In addition, its origin is not confined to any one region or culture. Similar to music, dance is a language shared by all nations, cultures, and regions. Due to cultural diversity, dance has hundreds of different types. Among several kinds of dances and stylistic movements and taps, Dabke is one of the most traditional kind.

Dabke is basically a Middle Eastern dance and is commonly considered as an Arabic Dance. It is assumed that such kind of dance was performed primarily by the inhabitants of people living on mountains towards Mediterranean coastline and Tigris River (World Lebanese Cultural Union, Online). Presently, it is being practiced in many Arab countries and pronounced as dabke commonly along with "dabka","dabki", "dabkeh", "debke", "debkah", "debki" in other regions and cultures (Kaschl, 2003). Among Arab countries, it is mostly performed in Palestine and Lebanon. In these countries, Dabke is performed usually in joyous ceremonies, moments of happiness, weddings, and celebrations. In Western world, Dabke is referred to as the ‘line dance’.

In this paper, I will discuss about ‘Dabke’ – Palestinian Folkloric Dance. We will learn about its history and what makes it important as well as unique. Our focus will be on the places where it is usually performed and the performers, costumes worn by the performers, symbolism in the movements, and music and songs played when performing it. I will also present our personal experience regarding Dabke and how it can be preserved in the coming future.

History:

Studies reveal that Dabke has possible origin from Canaanite or Phoenician (Kaschl, 2003). The Canaanite region is modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon regions. In this wa...

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...n governmental or non-governmental level. Furthermore, associations can be set up that works for the promotion of this traditional dance that can fund training centers so as to preserve our one form of cultural identity.

3. Subject of traditions and Culture during School: children going to school take the impression of anything faster than youth or elders. Considering this perspective, a subject must be taught in primary or elementary school through which students learn about their traditions and culture. In this way, it is more expected that not only these children will learn about them but will also promote in upcoming years.

Conclusion

In this paper, we learned that how and why Palestinian Dabke is an important and unique tradition not only in the country but throughout the world. The studies i mentioned in this paper helped us knowing more about this tradition.