DANCES OF THE NATIONS.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 1172, 5 August 1893, Page 4

DANCES OF THE NATIONS.

A CUB-OTIS COMPILATION. Dancing has. more or less, always been associated with exuberant spirits, and this natural outburst of bodily activity may be attributed to either the excitement of the fight, of the chas^, or of a religious ceremony, or to excessive delight. Tne North American Indiacs have long been famous for their war dances, one of the most exciting of which is that practised by the Sioux, and representing by pantomimic actions an attack upon and masse ere ofthe inhabitants of a neighbouring village. The Cheyennes, too, execute a _omewbat similar dance, the difference being that the attitudes through which they pass are supposed to describe a horsestealing raid. The Turk is never to happy as when prancing about and flourishing his tword or gun, ar dit bodeß no good for the Turkish authorities when a number ot the prople of Albania, Montenrgro, or Herzegoylna break out into a war dance.

When this occurs steps are always immediately taken to suppress their buoyant spirits, for fear the agitation should spread throughout the country. There are a number of dances accomplished by the Red Indians which, though regarded as perfectly serious by the performers themselves and the rest of their tribe, appear absolutely ludicrous to the civilised onlookers. The Buffalo dance, for instance, is supposed to represent a grand hunt. o_e of the braves fixes tbe skull and boms of a buffalo on his he.tr?, and skips about as the others try to catch him, dancing the while. Theu, there is the Snake dance of the Mosquis, the Scalp dance of thc Sioux, Apaches, and Cheyennes, the Bain dance of tbe Blackfeet, and the Ghost dance, which wos the main cause of the Indisn rising m the North West a year or two ago, when the famous chief Sitting Bull lost his life. On the occasion of a young Sioux being admitted to the ranks of the braves, a Sun dance is executed, during which the new-comer undergoes the most frightful torture, m order to test his efficiency as a warrior. Notwithstanding ths rapid advance of civilisation m Australia, the aboriginals s+ill continue to perform a Kangaroo dance, m which the chase of that r.nimal is accurately depicted from the start to finish by means of dumb show. TLe Hare dance of Siberia and the Ostrich dance of Africa are eclipsed by the one m which two Siamese fall upon their bands and knees and furiously attack one another, fully convinced for the time being tbat they are elephant 9 , while tbe onlookers dance round. The Hindoos accompany nearly every religious ceremony with furious dancing, and, m f<ct, go absolutely out of their minds on some oec siong. The mo3t notorious religious fanatics, however, are the Whirling Dervishes, the Mohammedan priests, who spin round on their feet for hours at a time without experiencing any injurious effects, A scarcely less marvellous dance, though one not of a religious nature, is that known at the Egg dance, performed by tho young wom*»n of Bhopal, India. Upon the head of the dancer is placed a large wheel of wicker-work from the ndes of which, at equal distances apart, hang threads with elipknots. In her ha r d she carries a basket of eggs, aDd her object is to insert an egg m each slip-knot while the strings are extended <ut all roun . by meaDS of her rapid circular motion. This done, and the more delicate task of returning the eggs to her basket successfully completed, the dance ends. Scotland may truthfully be said to have produced the most unique of all national dances, for while no trouble has .boen experienced by the inhabitants of this and otber c untries m performing the quadrills of Belgium, the waltz of Germany, and t v « oolka of Hungary, the*e is no one ua earth who can dance the Scotch reel with tin ease and grace with which it is accomplished by the Highlander. The dance which most nearly approaches it m its unique character is the Italian Tarantella, which has attained notoriety more by the wide-spread natnra of the legeud attached to its origin than by the actuil features of tho dance itself. The story runs that early m the fifteenth century a superstition arose amongst the Italians that whoever was bitten by a tarantula spider would go out of his mind, and that the ouly certain cure for this form of madness was constant and furious dancing. As a matter of fact the Tarantellia was a dance first performed at Taranto ; hence its name, and from that spot it spread all over Italy m a very short space of time. The music was decidedly good, but the actions of the dancers were simply those of men and women m a violent state of frenzy. The national dance of Spain is the Faudango or Bolero, and that of Poland the Polanaise. The Irishman claims the jig for his personal delectation, and the Frenchman that of the minuet, the favoured dance of his forefathers, is still without a rival. England has no national dance, unless we can call Sir Roger de Coverley by that mmc. The easiest reference to dancing occurs m the Bible, m the soner of Miriam the prophetess, who • took a timbrel m her hand, and ali the women went out after her with timbrel- and dances.' Tn tbe early Chris' ian churches spaces were provided for dancers, but the prac- , tice of dancing during the service soon fell into disfavour, and was discontinued.