Reed and Samba Dance

Reed and Samba Dance

Introduction

Dance is considered as the most prominent and leading aspect of any culture. It is because of the reason that, different types of dances may help in understanding the culture and norms of different countries or states. Dance is referred as the most prominent and famous kinds of art that incorporates the movement of body, usually to music and rhythmic (Mwakikagile, 2008). Researches and studies demonstrate that, dance is usually performed in different cultures or nations, in order to express various emotions, exercises, spiritual values and social interaction. In most of the situations, it is also observed that dance is often used to tell certain incident or any story. Dance can also be referred as the nonverbal communication, which effectively helps in conveying ideas, themes and thoughts. It is also observed that, types of dance may depend on different cultural and social norms, values and moral, artistic and aesthetic sensibilities (Reily, 2000).

Researches demonstrate that, the dance that is the feature of religious ritual is referred as ritual dance (Clark, 2000). Ceremonial dance or ritual dance is considered as one of the most famous classifications or categories of dance styles or dance types. It is observed that, ceremonial or ritual dance often incorporates ritualistic or ceremonial purpose (ABC-CLIO, n.d.). The proceeding discussion incorporates the comparison between two ritual dances, named as reed dance and samba dance. In addition to this, the prominent cultural values of these dances are also incorporated in the proceeding discussion. In addition to this the brief over view of both kinds of dances is also included in the paper.

Discussion

Reed Dance

Reed dance is referred as the kind of ritual dance which takes place in the month of September. In this event of cultural dance, the young girls dress themselves only with laced skirts and use to gather at the riverside (Reily, 2000). During this event, each and every young girl use to dance near the palace of king while picking a reed or cane. It is necessary for every girl that, she must reach the age of sixteen to twenty years. Furthermore, it is also considered as the most important point that, she must be a virgin girl (Mwakikagile, 2008). According to the tradition of Zulu, if the reed or cane of the girl breaks, then it is a symptom that, she is sinful and is not virgin. Basically, the main purpose of this dance is to promote and encourage chastity, loyalty and marriage. Recent reports demonstrate that, this dancing practice was abandoned for several years until the current king of Zulu introduced it back (Clark, 2000). It is because of the reason that, the present king of Zulu aims to control HIV/AIDS in his state. It is also observed that, at the end of the dance, the king of Zulu chooses a girl from all dancing girls and marry her (ABC-CLIO, n.d.).

Reed dance is considered as the most prominent norm of South African culture. This dance often takes place ...