Dabke, The Dance of the Village
The dance originated from the processing of grapes into grape juice or wine. The music starts to play, and the fresh September evening breeze is everywhere. Some men and women hold hands and start to dance to the daloonah tune, the base of all Dabkes (to stomp the ground with ones feet), while others clap their hands creating the appropriate mood. This opens the way to improvised singing; a woman enters the scene with a jug balanced on her head and is joined by others, as if competing. The men join in with their swords, doing the sword dance to the rhythm of the mijwiz. As time passes by, and the mood becomes very tempting, the elders join in, holding hands with the youngsters forming a line and doing the same step. The man and woman at the opposite ends of the lines make different steps on the theme to show how competent, agile and graceful they are. The rest of the company clap and cheer to reveal their happiness. Luckily, this Lebanese tradition did not die. The Dabke is a national Lebanese dance that is carried out in nearly every nightclub, restaurant, or party you attend. On Prince Edward Island the Dabke is preformed at the annual New Year's Levee held shortly after New Years Day.