Are morris dancers annoying? Does dance include kata and choreographed kung fu fights? Let’s examine some sword dances from around the world for a quick comparison.
Machete Dance
One of my stage combat students recently introduced me to a traditional Mexican dance in which each dancer wields two machetes. They clang them together, and even toss them to each other like jugglers.
Like me, you’ve probably heard of other sword dances from around the world.
Scottish Sword Dance
The form that I am most familiar with is the Scottish Sword Dance, which is a solo dance with crossed swords on the floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjXYfDax_-0
Morris Dancing
Much maligned by many English, and unknown in much of the world, morris dancing probably dates back to medieval dances and has official recording to the 17th century. Cotswold morris includes sticks and handkerchiefs to accompany the hand movements, but other varieties include Longsword dancing and “Rapper” from Nothumberland which includes short, flexible steel swords.
For more on European sword dances, check out this blog: http://starofswords.wordpress.com/
Arab Sword Dances
There are many other cultures that feature sword dances, some of them with authentic blades, and most of them with blunt replicas or merely symbolic blades. In the Ottoman Empire, sword dancing was outlawed for a time as it was believed that the swords recovered from war were being claimed by dancers, and the sultan was afraid they were organizing a revolt.
Chinese Forms
Wu Shu and Tai Chi are martial arts that include many weapons, including straight and curved swords, spears and poles. Although some may argue the point, I’d say that a choreographed demonstration, whether by one performer or a group, should be considered a dance. If music is involved, I don’t think there’s any controversy.
Some may argue that the choreographed forms are merely part of the training of a fighter, I’d say that other sword dances that we’ve seen also include this aspect. All of these dances were either part of training with a sword, or celebrating and commemorating battles that permitted their culture to survive.
Gaining full mastery over your motion, including the most effective ways of using various weapons, is a goal of stage combat, martial arts and many forms of dance. I love teaching dancers how to fight because they already have knowledge of their posture and motion, they take direction and incorporate even small changes with mindfulness, and they remember choreography easily.
Certification in September
Our next stage combat certification course, Combat Acting, will begin on 15-September and run for 8 weeks to give you over 60 hours of training and practice with sword, quarterstaff and unarmed fighting. Actors who want to become action heroes for film, TV, or live performance should sign up for one of the limited spots. Read more here.