DANCES OF HEBREWS AND ARABS
Biblical allusions; sacred dances; the Salome episode and its
modern influence--The Arabs; Moorish florescence in the Middle
Ages; characteristics of the Moorish dances; the dance in daily
life; the harem, the Dance of Greeting; pictorial quality of the
Arab dances.
I
That dancing was practiced in temples and homes of the ancient Hebrews
is evident from numerous Biblical allusions, and is only natural when
we consider that they were educated in Egypt, the cradle of dancing.
Some scholars maintain that dancing was a part of Hebrew worship,
pointing as a proof of their theory to David’s dancing before the Ark
of the Covenant and the fact that Moses, after the crossing of the
Red Sea, bade the children of Israel to dance. Others, basing their
arguments on the Talmud, deny this. It is very likely that the dancing
which the Hebrews had learned in Egypt soon degenerated into crude
shows, due to their long nomadic desert life, far from civilization.
Only now and then did some of their kings indulge in dancing and try
to revive the vanishing art. David and Solomon introduced dancing at
their courts and in the temple, as we can see in the Bible: ‘Praise
the Lord--praise him with timbrel and dance.’ ‘Then shall the virgin
rejoice in the dance.’ ‘Thou shalt be again adorned with thy tabrets,
and shalt go forth in the dances,’ etc. On another occasion we read
how the sons of Benjamin were taught to capture their wives. ‘If the
daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of
the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife.--And the children of
Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number of them
that danced, whom they caught.’
The Dance of the Golden Calf, which was plausibly an imitation of
the Egyptian Apis Dance, was most severely forbidden by Moses. Since
this dance was one of the principal ceremonial dances of Egypt, it is
evident that it had rooted deep into the soul of the people and Moses
had to resort to violent methods in order to abolish it entirely.
We read in the Bible that to honor the slayer of Goliath, the women
came out from all the cities of Israel and received him with singing
and dancing. Other historic sources tell us that the ancient Hebrews
frequently hired dancers and musicians for their social ceremonies.
There are various Byzantine designs and inscriptions of the fifth and
sixth centuries, in which King David is depicted as a ballet master,
with a lyre in his hand, surrounded by dancing men and women. We read
that when Solomon finished the New Temple in Jerusalem it was dedicated
with singing and dancing. It is evident that the ancient Hebrew sacred
dances were performed by men, while women figured exclusively in the
social dancing. The Jews in Morocco employ professional dancers for the
celebration of the marriage ceremony to-day.
The best known of the ancient Hebrew dances is that of the celebrated
Salome. Thus we read in a chapter of St. Matthew of the beheading of
John the Baptist: ‘But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of
Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised
with an oath to give her whatever she would ask.’ These short remarks
of the New Testament describe a gruesome tragedy that has inspired
hundreds of artists to amplify with their imagination what has been
left unsaid in the Gospel. Moreau, Botticelli, Dolci, Reno and Stuck
have produced immortal paintings of Salome. Some of them have depicted
her as a stately society lady of her times, the others show her either
frivolous, abnormal or under the spell of narcotics and wine. Many
gruesome legends have risen about the death of Salome, according to
which she committed suicide by drowning. But an accurate historic
investigation has revealed that she was married to the Tetrarch Philip,
after whose death she became the wife of Aristobul, the son of Herod,
and died at the age of 54.
Be that as it may, the Salome episode is an eloquent proof that dancing
was cultivated by the Hebrews and that their daughters were educated in
this art either by Egyptian or Greek masters. Several other historic
allusions show that Greek dancers went often to Jerusalem to give there
performances during the national festivals. Plutarch writes that rich
Hebrews came to the Olympic and Dionysian Festivals and were eager to
learn Greek music and dancing. But evidently the Greek arts had the
least influence upon the Hebrews, whose minds had been trained in the
strict Mosaic code of morals to follow only the autocratic commandments
of the Lord, and to leave all the arts of other races alone. Like the
Confucian philosophy in China, the Mosaic ethics in Palestine put a
stamp of æsthetic stagnation on Hebrew national life. For this very
reason the Hebrews never developed a national art, particularly a
national music or national dance.
The _Salome_ of Richard Strauss has inspired many of our Western
dancers to personify the ancient heroine. With the exception of Ida
Rubinstein and Natasha Trouhanova, the Salome dances of all the
European or American aspirants have been of no importance. There are
characteristics to be seen in a few old inscriptions of dancing Hebrew
priests which express most forcibly their peculiar nervous poses and
quick gestures. European choreography has for the most part failed to
grasp the principal features of the vanished Hebrew dances.
II
Of all living Oriental races the Arabs show the most innate instinct
for dancing. Judging from the ruins of the architecture that the
Moors have left in Spain we can see that they knew more than the mere
elementary rules of æsthetic line and form, which is the very essential
of a dance. The ruins of the majestic Alhambra speak a language that
fills us with an awe. No architects of other races, either dead or
living, have reached that harmony of line which is plainly visible in
this structural masterpiece of humanity. Since, according to the views
of all æsthetic psychologists, dancing and architecture develop as
allied arts, the Moors must have developed a high degree of dancing in
the Middle Ages, when the rest of the world was shaken by barbaric wars
and ruled by ecclesiastic fanaticism. However, the Mohammedan religion
prohibits painting and sculpture, therefore we find no frescoes or
decorations in the walls of the Moorish castles or Mosques that could
give an idea of the style and perfection of the dancing that was taught
in Cadiz.
The Greek and Roman writers allude frequently to the fiery and
passionate dances that were exhibited by the graduates of Cadiz, ‘which
surpassed anything the people had seen before.’ We know that the Moors
taught dancing to their boys and girls alike. Furthermore, we know
that their dances differed distinctly from those of the Greeks and
Egyptians. The dancing teachers at Cadiz emphasized agility of legs,
softness and grace of the body and a vivid technique of imitation.
Passion was the principal theme of their feminine dances, and was
expressed with the technique of virtuosity. It is said that the Califs
of Seville kept a staff of fifty trained dancers at their court.
The essential feature of Arabian dancing was the graphic production
of pictorial episodes, in rich harmonious lines of the body, sensuous
grace of the poses and sinuous elegance of movement. A special emphasis
was placed upon the exhibition of the most perfect womanly beauty. To
complete the task of architectural perfection an Arabic dancer was
taught to study carefully the geometric laws of nature and eliminate
the crudities acquired in everyday life. The principal musical
instrument of the Moorish dancers was the African guitar, which was
their national invention. Most of the great Arab dancers were women,
who preferred to dance without a masculine partner. Ordinarily they
danced to the music of two or three differently tuned guitars, and only
on festival occasions or in appearances at court was the music supplied
by an orchestra of ten or more. Already the Arabs had their musical
notation, set in three colors: red, green, and blue. Fragments of their
mediæval music notation were recently discovered by a French scholar
and were successfully deciphered. It appears that many of the dance
melodies still in use in Spain are of Moorish descent. The Kinneys,[A]
who seemingly have made a study of Spanish and modern Arab dancing,
write of it graphically, as follows:
[A] Troy and Margaret West Kinney: The Dance (New York, 1914).
‘Of formulated dances the Arab has few, and those no more set than are
the words of our stories: the point must not be missed, but we may
choose our own vocabulary. In terms of the dance, the Arab entertainer
tells stories; in the case of known and popular stories she follows
the accepted narrative, but improvises the movements and poses that
express it, exactly as though they were spoken words instead of
pantomime. Somewhat less freedom necessarily obtains in the narration
of dance-poems than in the recital of trifling incidents; but within
the necessary limits, originality is prized. In the mimetic vocabulary
are certain phrases that are depended upon to convey their definite
meanings. New word-equivalents, however, are always in order, if they
can stand the searching test of eyes educated in beauty and minds
trained to exact thinking.
‘Nearly unlimited as it is in scope, delightful as it unfailingly is
to those who know it, Arabic dancing suits occasions of a variety of
which the dances of Europe never dreamed. In the café it diverts and
sometimes demoralizes. In his house the master watches the dancing
of his slaves, dreaming under the narcotic spell of rhythm. On those
rare occasions when the demands of diplomacy or business compel him to
bring a guest into his house, the dancing of slaves is depended upon
to entertain. His wives dance before him to please his eye, and to
cajole him into conformity with their desires. Even the news of the
day is danced, since the doctrines of Mohammed deprecate the printing
of almost everything except the Koran. Reports of current events reach
the male population in the market and the café. At home men talk little
of outside affairs, and women do not get out except to visit others of
their kind, as isolated from the world as themselves. But they get all
the news that is likely to interest them, none the less; at least the
happenings in the world of Mohammedanism.
‘As vendors of information of passing events, there are women that
wander in pairs from city to city, from harem to harem, like bards of
the early North. As women they are admitted to women’s apartments.
There, while one rhythmically pantomimes deeds of war to the cloistered
ones that never saw a soldier, or graphically imitates the punishment
of a malefactor in the market place, her companion chants, with
falsetto whines, a descriptive and rhythmic accompaniment. Thus is the
harem protected against the risk of narrowness.
‘In the daily life of the harem, dancing is one of the favored
pastimes. Women dance to amuse themselves and to entertain one another.
In the dance, as in music and embroidery, there is endless interest,
and a spirit of emulation usually friendly.
‘One of the comparatively formalized mimetic expressions is the
“Dance of Greeting,” the function of which is to honor a guest when
occasion brings him into the house. Let it be imagined that coffee
and cigarettes have been served to two grave gentlemen; that one has
expressed bewilderment at the magnificence of the establishment, and
his opinion that too great honor has been done him in permitting him
to enter it; that the host has duly made reply that his grandchildren
will tell with pride of the day when the poor house was so honored that
such a one set his foot within it. After which a sherbet, more coffee
and cigarettes. When the time seems propitious, the host suggests to
the guest that if in his great kindness he will look at her, he--the
host--would like permission to order a slave to try to entertain with a
dance.
‘The musicians squatting against the wall begin the wailing of the
flute, the hypnotic throb of “darabukkeh.” She who is designed to dance
the Greeting enters holding before her a long scarf that half conceals
her; the expression on her face is surprise, as though honor had fallen
to her beyond her merits or expectation. Upon reaching her place she
extends her arms forward, then slowly moves them, and with them the
scarf, to one side, until she is revealed. When a nod confirms the
command to dance, she quickly drops the scarf to the floor, advances to
a place before the guest and near him, and honors him with a slave’s
salutation. Then arising she proceeds to her silent Greeting. * * *
‘The Arabian dance is not a dance of movement; it is a dance of
pictures, to which movement is wholly subordinate. Each bar of the
music accompanies a picture complete in itself. Within the measure
of each bar the dancer has time for the movements leading from one
picture to the next, and to hold the picture for the instant necessary
to give emphasis. At whatever moment she may be stopped, therefore,
she is within less than a moment’s pose so perfectly balanced that it
appears as a natural termination of the dance. The Oriental’s general
indifference to the forces of accumulation and climax are consistent
with such a capricious ending. In his dance each phrase is complete
in itself; it may be likened to one of those serial stories in our
magazines, in which each installment of the story is self-sufficient.
‘To the Occidental unused to Oriental art, the absence of crescendo
and climax, and the substituted iteration carried on endlessly,
is uninteresting. Nevertheless, a few days of life among Oriental
conditions suffice to throw many a scoffer into attunement with the
Oriental art idea, which is to soothe, not to stimulate. Moorish
ornament is an indefinitely repeated series of marvellously designed
units, each complete in itself, yet inextricably interwoven with its
neighbors. In music the beats continue unchanging through bar after
bar, phrase after phrase. The rhythmic repetition of the tile-designs
on the wall, the decorative repetition of the beats of music, produce a
spell of dreamy visioning comparable only to the effect of some potent
but harmless narcotic.’
From all modern observations and ancient records it is evident that
the Arabs’ dances differed essentially from their Eastern neighbors.
Spain undoubtedly is the only Occidental country that has preserved
in its vivid national dances, _Jotas_, _Boleros_, _Seguidillas_ and
_Fandangos_, the mutilated and deformed elements of the vanished
choreography of Cadiz. Though the Moor has left so few records of
his highly cultivated art of dancing, yet his spectral shadow hangs
over the race beyond the Pyrenees. Of all the living civilized nations
the Spaniards, more than any others, are justly the very incarnation
of the vanished magic Arabs in dance. A studious observer finds in
Spanish dances all the hysteria, magic, seductiveness and softness that
was practiced by mediæval Arab dancers. And then the costumes--most
picturesque and romantic--that the Spanish women use in their dances
are similar in their lines and colors to those that were worn by the
Moorish girls who entertained with their magic dances a Cleopatra and a
Cæsar.